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Table of Contents
1Introduction
1.1HealthLink Service and Support
2Before you begin
2.1System Requirements for MedTech
2.2System Requirements for HealthLink
3How does HealthLink messaging work?
4Outpatient Referral Process
4.1Cancelling Referrals
4.2Urgent Referrals
5Setting up the MedTech address book
6Creating a new referral: New patient document
6.1Specifying referral status
6.2Specifying referral period
7Sending referral: Send via message transfer
8How do I know that my referral has been sent and received?
9Referral status messages sent to GPs
1Introduction
1.1HealthLink Service and Support
The HealthLink Help Desk is always just a phone call away, whenever you need help with any issues or questions you may encounter. Please refer to the contact number printed on the back of this guide when contacting the HealthLink Help Desk.
HealthLink is supporting ACT Health and participating pilot sites in the transition to electronic referrals into the Ambulatory Care Department.
2Before you begin
2.1System Requirements for MedTech
Your HealthLink representative will assist you in ensuring that MedTech is configured correctly to send and receive HL7 referral messages.
2.2System Requirements for HealthLink
Your HealthLink representative will assist you in ensuring that HealthLink is configured correctly to send and receive HL7 referral messages.
3How does HealthLink messaging work?
Your practice has been allocated an EDI Account (known as HealthLink Box in Medtech32), located within HealthLinks' Messaging Exchange.
This account holds all your outgoing and incoming messages that are collected on a regular basis.
All message transfer happens through HealthLinks’ secure network over an internet connection at your surgery.
4Outpatient Referral Process
The patient referral arrives in theOutpatient Department and Admin staff checktheir database forReferrals to be Registered.
Each referral is reviewed to ensure that all relevant data fields are completed. If any critical information is missing they will RETURN it to the GP in the form of a status message.
If all information is present the referral will be processed anda TRIAGE category will be assigned depending on the clinical priority and severity of the patient referred.
According to the Triage category the referral will be booked and a status message with the Triage Category date and time of the booking, Specialist, speciality, etc. Will be sent to the GP.
Please note: From the date that the referral arrives to the date a booking is processed should be achieved within a 7 day timeframe. However someoutpatient departments have a waiting list of up to 2 years before a booking becomes available.
4.1Cancelling Referrals
To cancel a patient referral please contact the relevant Outpatient Department.
4.2Urgent Referrals
If areferral is URGENT please fax in the referral and also phone the relevant Outpatient Department. There are times when the relevant Specialist can be contacted.
5Setting up the MedTech address book
Each specialist that you wish to send referrals to needs to have an address book entry.
To add a new practice address book entry, go to Setup / Agencies / Address Book. Click on the New icon.
Fill in the appropriate details. Click the OK button.
To edit an existing specialist address book entry, go to Setup / Agencies / Address Book. Click on the Open icon.
Select the More tab and enter the EDI Account name in HealthLink Box field.
Check Messaging as a Preferred Contact Method
Press OK to save.
6Creating a new referral: New patient document
Select the correct patient and perform the following
- Click on the New patient document icon or press Ctrl+F2
- In document details select the document drop down button and select Appointment Request (APPREQ)
- Choosethe letter template that you wish to use from the Document field and use the To field for your recipient name.
The fields will auto populate with the required details of your patient, the specialist and the referring practitioner.
6.1Specifying referral status
It is important that you specify whether this referral is new, reviewed or an updated referral.
UPDATED REFERRALS: Will be requested specifically from the outpatient department via a status message (appearing in the patient/provider inbox) for the purpose of providing additional or alternate information. Please modify existing referral enter update in this field and resend this document via the message transfer process.
6.2Specifying referral period
Please specify the period for which this referral is valid.
A standard referral is valid for 12 months.
7Sending referral: Send via message transfer
Once your referral is complete, click Send Via and select Message transfer.
The EDI Account will appear automatically from youraddress book entry.Choose the ‘HealthLink RSDAU(H)’ option from the Messaging Platform field.
Choose Referral Letter as the message type. Click OK.
8How do I know that my referral has been sent and received?
It is important if you are sending referrals or any other types of messages, to check that they are actually being received by the recipient.
Once you have sent a message, the recipient’s system will inform you, by way of an acknowledgment to let you that it has been successfully received.
To check whether messages have been successful or not, click onTools / Message Transfer / Messages Lodged.
This screen will display a status of “acknowledged” indicating that the referral was successfully received.
9Referral statusmessages sent to GPs
To inform you about the progress of your referral ACT outpatient department will return status messages that can be reviewed in the patient/provider inbox.
For every standard referral the following statuses will be returned in the course of time:
- Triaged with triage category.
- Booked with triage category, date and time of appointment and Specialist.
- ExpiredReferral.
Every time a triage category is changed there will be a message sent to the GP.
Every time there is an appointment date or time change there will be a message sent to the GP.
Other status messages include:
Returned to GP - With free form text stating what information is missing.
Did Not Attend (DNA) - Specifying reason for non attendance.
Cancelled - When the referral is cancelled.
NOTES
NOTES
Australia
Phone toll free: 1800 125 036
7.00am – 7.00pm Monday-Friday (AEST)
Australian Fax Toll Free - 1800 151 146
Email:
If there is a communication problem
Make it our problem
ACT eReferral HealthLink project support
Nikki Breslin
Email:
Mobile: 0401 383 544
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