eCommunications in Practice
In developing the comprehensive national e-health system, the Australian Governments are working to ensure the benefits of e-health can be realised as early as possible. To achieve this, four priority communication areas have been targeted which will deliver early e-health services for the most commonly exchanged health information.
Find out more about:
- e-Pathology: seamless pathology results
- e-Discharge Summaries: immediate, accurate patient records
- e-Referrals: streamlining the handover of care
- e-Mediaction Management: reducing the risks involved
Categories
eDischarge Summaries ( 3 Files )
Discharge Summaries are the main form of communication between hospitals and the primary healthcare sector. So when a patient leaves a hospital-stay, information (called a Discharge Statement) is sent onto their doctor about their treatment. Presently, differing computer and reporting systems amongst the health sector often result in inaccurate information being disseminated. e-Discharge Summaries will enable an electronic exchange of comprehensive, accurate patient reports between the hospital and primary care sectors, and will benefit in the following ways.
Improved Continuity
eDischarge Summaries improve continuity of care and patient handover and offers security, accessibility and timeliness of health information.
Improved Safety
The electronic exchange of patient reports between the hospital and primary care sectors will ultimately lead to improved safety and quality and better patient outcomes.
We will work with healthcare organisations to understand the technologies and processes currently used for eDischarge Summaries, and determine what projects are the most effective. Once the most effective solution is established, the eDischarge Summary program will create recommendations to bring existing projects in line with national standards and establish a blueprint for future projects.
eMedication Management ( 53 Files )
Medication information is then securely available in a wide range of healthcare settings from hospitals to community health centres and pharmacies.
This will result in an improved use of medicines and a reduction of the number of adverse drug events.
We are currently working with Australian healthcare professionals and software vendors to develop the national specifications and standards that will enable the shared use of medications information.
More benefits of a nationwide e-Medication Management system include:
More appropriate prescriptions
Because the e-Medication Management system can track what drugs’ a patient is currently taking as well as the drugs a patient has been prescribed in the past, doctors can be confident the prescription they write will work appropriately with the patient’s other medications.
More efficient dispensing
A pharmacist will no longer have to decipher handwritten prescriptions and will save time in dispensing medications because the required dosage and strength, as well as any other specific information will all be contained in the electronic script.
Greater empowerment of patients
Patients will also have access to details of the drugs they are currently taking and all the medication they have been prescribed in the past which gives them a greater sense of control over their health records.
Avoid hospitalisation or death due to adverse effects
Because doctors will be aware of all the drugs a patient may be taking, the opportunity to diagnose adversely affecting drugs will be dramatically reduced.
eReferral ( 31 Files )
Healthcare in Australia is undergoing significant change in terms of what we are being treated for and how we are being treated. As now one in seven of us are living with a chronic disease, people are being treated by a wider range of healthcare providers such as general practitioners, specialists, allied health, and community health workers.
A referral is best described as the transfer of care from one practitioner to a specialised one. In order for the patient to receive the same quality of care when they are referred elsewhere, it is essential for the referring practitioner to pass on all of that patient’s relevant medical details.
At the moment, the referral process is one big paper trail. We are now working on making this process electronic. When this information is exchanged electronically, all the details of a patient’s treatment are sent and received exactly as the treating doctor intended. It also means that all the important information about the tests conducted and their corresponding results are securely contained on one repository system.