A new digital referral solution is improving the referral experience for patients, referrers, and clinicians in outpatient services across South Eastern Sydney and Western Sydney.
The Engage Outpatients solution went live at over 100 outpatient clinics in South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (SESLHD) and 16 outpatient clinics in Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) in November.
Part of the solution allows General Practitioners (GPs) to submit standardised eReferral forms into the electronic referral management system (eRMS). The eRMS enables outpatient clinics to receive, manage, and triage referrals electronically. Both referrers and patients are notified of referral outcomes.
Engage Outpatients solution
Engage Outpatients is a digital referral management solution developed by eHealth NSW in partnership with the Ministry of Health, stakeholders from Local Health Districts (LHDs) and Specialty Health Networks (SHNs).
It aims to improve referral and outpatient service management by sharing referral information electronically, reducing the need for paper/faxed referrals. The streamlined process improves the continuity of care for patients.
According to Principal Policy Officer at the Ministry of Health, Jo Burdajewicz, the streamlined process improves the continuity of care for patients.
"Engage Outpatients is a significant step in improving patient care and the efficiency of outpatient clinics in NSW, the benefits include improved data quality, reduced manual processing and better continuity of care.”
Improving communication between referrers and hospitals
GPs and other primary care referrers can now send standardised eReferral forms from their practice management software to select outpatient clinics at SESLHD and WSLHD. This ensures the correct and complete capture of patient data from the outset, providing a consistent user experience for GPs.
Associate Professor Naren Gunja, Chief Medical Information Officer at WSLHD, said there are numerous benefits from digitising referrals.
“eReferrals help to ensure that accurate patient medical information, including relevant test results, medical history, and current medication is captured correctly at the point of referral,” Associate Professor Gunja said.
“Digitising referrals will improve visibility and accuracy of communication between referrers in the community and our hospital clinics.”
Integration with the electronic Medical Record (eMR)
SESLHD and WSLHD are the first districts in NSW to integrate the eRMS with their electronic Medical Record (eMR).
Integration between the eRMS and the eMR allows for the automated sharing of a patient’s referral documents in preparation for their outpatient visit. This will help to streamline information sharing and reduces the need for manual data entry for clinicians and administration staff.
The Engage Outpatients program has engaged with a range of stakeholders across the state, including NSW Health clinicians and administrative staff, consumers and GPs to develop the solution.
Planning is underway for the remaining LHDs who have expressed interest, to begin roll out of the Engage Outpatients program in 2024.
For more information
Please visit the Engage Outpatients webpage or the NSW Health electronic referral forms page
