Topic: Digital health

SWSPHN is working with the Australian Digital Health Agency’s initiative, Provider Connect Australia (PCA), to improve data accuracy and support better digital health connections across Australia.

More healthcare providers and business partners are using this free service to reduce administration and improve efficiency.

Healthcare providers can update key business details – such as opening hours, contact information, and services – in one place. PCA then shares these updates with business partners and patients automatically, saving time and effort.

After registering, providers can send updates directly to all their business partners. This removes the need to manually update details across multiple platforms.

Registered providers can also publish their details to the PHN and the National Health Services Directory’s Service Finder on the same day, helping patients find them more easily.

To register, you’ll need a PRODA account. Once logged in, select the Provider Connect Australia tile to get started.

Already have a PRODA account? Login and begin your registration.

Need help? Access the step-by-step guide or call the Digital Adoption Support team at 6223 0741 (option 3). You can also email SWSPHN’s Digital Health team at digitalhealth@swsphn.com.au.

For organisations that rely on current provider information, PCA can make registration processes faster and more accurate. Automatic updates reduce manual data entry and errors.

 

Overview of how PCA works

 

Email pca@digitalhealth.gov.au for more details or to book a meeting to become a Provider Connect Australia Business Partner.

 

Business partner benefits

 

Learn more about Provider Connect Australia and how it can simplify your workflow.

Telehealth training in September has left healthcare providers in South Western Sydney better equipped than ever to embrace the digital future of healthcare.

GPs, nurses and Residential Aged Care Home (RACH) staff from across the region took part in the SWSPHN-hosted session to enhance their telehealth capabilities to improve patient outcomes and streamline healthcare delivery.

The session aimed to bridge the gap between traditional healthcare practices and modern telehealth solutions, ensuring all participants were well prepared to leverage the telehealth equipment provided to RACHs by SWSPHN.

The training session, held on Wednesday, 25 September, covered topics designed to build confidence and competence in telehealth.

 

What did the training include?

Key areas of focus included:

• utilise effective communication skills required to manage the aged care/GP interface in a telehealth environment
• describe the ISBAR4AC communication protocol and its benefits in standardising communications
• recognise and describe the deteriorating resident in a RACH and the triggers for escalation to medical consultation/care
• discuss and identify the ‘goals of care’ in the management of the RACH resident

 

Feedback from participants

Feedback from those at the session included comments such as:

“It crystalises what are the basics of good aged care communication”

“Very informative”

“Beautiful demonstration on other side of the coin”

“Presentation was very impressive and practical”

“Good refresher on telehealth in RACH”

“Through, educational and interesting”

“Very informative and important for telehealth”

“Good learning opportunity”

 

How do I take part in the next training session?

The last telehealth training for the year will be held on Thursday, 7 November, from 6.30pm to 9.30pm at Park Proxi Gibraltar Bowral.

Session will be presented by Simon Gould from Medics for Life and is suitable for GPs, GP registrars and practice nurses.

There’s a one-off incentive payment of $300 for each GP or GP registrar practicing in South Western Sydney and $160 for each nurse or RACH staff member. This activity has been approved for two RACGP CPD education activity hours.

 

Register now for the last training session of the year.

SafeScript NSW is a real-time prescription monitoring system which provides prescribers and pharmacists with access to a patient’s prescription and dispensing history for high-risk medicines, known as monitored medicines, such as opioids, benzodiazepines and sleeping aids. 

It aims to support clinical decision-making and improve patient safety. 

SafeScript NSW assists prescribers and pharmacists to: 

• review patients’ prescribing and dispensing history for monitored medicines
• identify patients who are receiving prescriptions for monitored medicines from multiple prescribers, placing them at increased risk of harm
• consider patients’ total daily dose of opioids when making decisions about their care
• identify patients who may be taking concurrent potentially harmful medications

 

Who can access the system? 

All prescribers (medical practitioners and nurse practitioners) and pharmacists who are registered with Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) are able to access SafeScript NSW, once invited to register. 

Prescribers and pharmacists can only use information held in SafeScript NSW for the purpose of: 

• providing treatment to an individual patient by reviewing the monitored medicines prescribed or supplied to the patient
• providing advice to a prescriber or a pharmacist on the treatment of an individual patient

Use for other purposes is not permitted. 

 

To get started, prescribers and pharmacists will need to: 

• register for SafeScript NSW (registration is simple and takes less than 10 minutes to complete)
• enable SafeScript NSW in your prescribing or dispensing software (if using integrated clinical software)

Already registered? 

Log in and start using SafeScript NSW 

 

To support the rollout of SafeScript NSW, prescribers and pharmacists are invited to: 

• Complete the accredited eLearning modules (NPS MedicineWise sign-in required)
• Learn about the support available, including a dedicated 24/7 clinical advice line (1800 776 633), Online Help
• Access local HealthPathways, including:

• SafeScript NSW 
• SafeScript NSW – Clinical Support for General Practitioners 
• SafeScript NSW – Clinical Support for Pharmacists 

 

SafeScript NSW has created new resources to support health practitioners, including a clinician guide and consumer factsheet. 

• using SafeScript NSW in clinical practice
• supporting the safe use of high-risk medicines

 

If you have questions, or need assistance registering for SafeScript NSW, contact SWSPHN’s Digital Health team at DigitalHealth@swsphn.com.au

SWSPHN is delivering telehealth training to bolster the digital health literacy and telehealth proficiency of healthcare professionals in our region.

GPs, practice nurses and Residential Aged Care Home (RACH) staff came together for a face-to-face session on Tuesday, 30 July, aimed at enhancing their telehealth capabilities to improve patient outcomes and streamline healthcare delivery.

The session focused on bridging the gap between traditional healthcare practices and modern telehealth solutions, and ensuring all participants are well-prepared to leverage the telehealth equipment SWSPHN has provided to RACHs.

The training will be repeated on 25 September and 7 November.

What did the training include?

The training session covered a wide array of topics designed to build confidence and competence in telehealth.

Key areas of focus included:

• utilising effective communication skills required to manage the aged care/GP interface in a telehealth environment
• describing the ISBAR4AC communication protocol and its benefits in standardising communications
• recognising and describing the deteriorating resident in a RACH and the triggers for escalation to medical consultation/care
• discussing and identifying the Goals of Care in the management of the RACH resident

What was the feedback from participants?

Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive: “excellent, informative lecture”, “very knowledgeable presenter and informative”, “learned new areas of communication like summarisation technique and 40/20 rule”, “useful, improves communication which is key to good care”, “very informative, very useful, especially for GPs involved in RACH resident care”, “informative session, very important skills for GP, very helpful for improving telehealth communications”.

How do I take part in a training session?

Sessions will be held on Wednesday, 25 September, from 7pm to 9.30pm, at Harringtons Bar and Grill, 1 Forestgrove Drive, Harrington Park and on Thursday, 7 November at Park Proxi Gibraltar, 7 Boronia Street, Bowral, from 6.30pm to 9pm.

Each session will be presented by Simon Gould from Medics for Life and is suitable for GPs, GP registrars and practice nurses.

There’s a one-off incentive payment of $300 for each GP or GP registrar practicing in South Western Sydney and $160 for each nurse or RACH staff member. This activity has been approved for two RACGP CPD education activity hours.

Register now for September. Registrations open soon for November so save the date.

• 96 per cent of all data breaches are the results of human actions with the remaining 4 per cent caused by system faults
• 91 per cent of all cyber-attacks begin with an email to an unsuspecting victim in an attack called phishing

Despite this, according to a recent survey conducted by SWSPHN, 92 per cent of South Western Sydney practices are still using fax to send confidential patient information instead of using secure messaging.

Not sure where to start?

The Australian Digital Health Agency has recently updated its website with resources to assist with informing practices of the most common ways cyber-criminals attempt to steal information and strategies to prevent this from happening.

The site has useful guides and fact sheets which can be used to inform staff, as well as online training which is free for staff to register and complete.

Find out more

Have more questions?

Please email digitalhealth@swsphn.com.au

The start of 2024 has been busy with the expiry of NASH (National Authentication Service for Health) certificates for many general practices, specialists, pharmacies and allied health providers.

Many of these organisations would have received an email from SWSPHN a month before their certificates expired, reminding them to renew and offering assistance with downloading and installing their certificates.

What is NASH?

NASH was introduced in 2012 and is a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) solution used to access digital health services such as:

• Electronic prescribing
• My Health Record
• Secure messaging
• Healthcare Identifiers (HI) Service

Why is it used?

NASH is used by healthcare provider organisations and supporting organisations to:

• authenticate and securely access digital health services
• digitally sign documents and other transactions
• encrypt health information for secure exchange