Referral Guidelines and Resources
E-referral is a practical and secure solution to sharing consumer information. Swan Hill Distric
t Health (SHDH) use both Connectingcare and Argus programs for sending and receiving E-referrals. Connectingcare is used for agency referrals and Argus for GP referrals.
Best practice in e-referral and service coordination
E-referral standards have been developed to achieve best practice in agency-to agency referrals. These standards are an in-built feature of the Connectingcare system.
Best practice in e-referral is achieved by the:
-Use of the online SCTT forms (or attachments) to securely transfer consumer information between agencies.
-Completion of key sections of the SCTT forms to achieve standardisation in the information shared between agencies.
-Provision of consumer information and receipt of consumer consent in accordance with Commonwealth privacy guidelines and Department of Human Services requirements.
-Compliance with the agreed response times for the making of and responding to consumer referrals.
-Feedback to the referring agency on the outcome of the received referral, including eligibility and waiting times.
Connectingcare uses a Commonwealth approved security framework called Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), which requires agencies that receive e-referrals to have specific business processes and privacy safeguards in place.
Sending any consumer-identifying information by ordinary email should be avoided at all times as it does not meet privacy guidelines.
http://www.connectingcare.com.au
ARGUS
-Argus is a program that provides safe, simple and secure transfer of clinical and patient data via email. Argus interfaces with a wide range of clinical software for receiving clinical reports and sending documents plus an exclusive Argus/Microsoft Word interface
-Basically Argus allows the GP’s (as well as many other providers) and the Primary Care Department to exchange information easily and safely.
Argus has been installed on our system and is now used for GP client feedback and will shortly be used for incoming GP referrals.
http://www.argusconnect.com.au
