Co-located GP clinics

NSW Health is now able to provide General Practitioners (GPs) and General Practices in Far West NSW with view-only access to a consenting patient's NSW Health medical information. This information is available via a clinical portal known as HealtheNet.

The Challenge

Many clinicians in regional and remote areas provide health care in both General Practice (the community) and NSW Health facilities. However, there are issues accessing and sharing patient information between current systems and across providers which impacts transfer of care and patient experience.

Sharing NSW Health medical information with a patient's nominated GP or General Practice aims to improve continuity and quality of care, and overall patient experience.

The Plan

eHealth NSW partnered with Western NSW LHD, Far West LHD (FWLHD), Western NSW Primary Health Network, Royal Flying Doctor Service and Aboriginal Medical Services to understand the specific challenges and deliver an information sharing solution in line with the current Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (HRIP Act).

A patient must consent at a NSW Health facility, within FWLHD for their NSW Health information to be viewed by their nominated GP or General Practice. NSW Health clinicians must receive and document the patient’s consent in the electronic medical record (eMR).

GPs and General Practices in FWLHD are required to sign a contractual agreement to ensure patient privacy and security in viewing NSW Health information.

A secure digital connection will be made between the FWLHD clinical information system and a GP or General Practice to allow view-only access via HealtheNet.

The Co-located GP clinics project uses the federally recognised Provider Digital Access (PRODA) portal for GPs to verify their identification using two-factor authentication before being able to view the NSW Health clinical information.

Having access to a patient’s NSW Health medical information will improve continuity of care and treatment in the community. It will save time and costs by reducing duplicate tests and provide a holistic view of the patient’s treatment at NSW Health facilities - Dr Josh Crase, General Practitioner, Maari Ma Aboriginal Health Corporation

The Outcome

The Co-located GP clinics project is being trialled in FWLHD from June 2024. This will leverage existing systems to share patient information between NSW Health and non-NSW Health services and providers of care.

With a patient's consent, NSW Health will make the following health information electronically available to their nominated GP or General Practice:

Patient demographics (e.g. date of birth, address)
Allergies and adverse reactions
Clinical summary (of inpatient, emergency, outpatient and community health treatment)
Patient documentation (including radiology reports)
Pathology results
Hospital prescribed medications.

This clinical information will include recent data and historical information from health districts across NSW.

Given the number of doctors that visit our service, it would be a huge benefit for them to see my medical history and test results so the best health outcome can be achieved. - Consumer representative, Far West NSW Local Health District, 2024

The Benefits

Sharing NSW Health medical information with a patient's nominated GP or General Practice aims to improve continuity and quality of care, overall patient experience and health outcomes.

Benefits include:

Improved continuity and transfer of care between health care providers
Greater sharing of comprehensive medical information
Streamlined clinical workflow and coordination of care
Saving time and cost with reduced duplication of tests
Reduced clinical risk with increased health information at the point of care
Increased consumer and clinician satisfaction.