Digital health Archives | South Western Sydney PHN

13 May 2026

Practice managers are being urged to check with their IT support provider or website administrator following a cPanel cyber security alert issued by the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA).

The alert relates to a security vulnerability affecting cPanel and Web Host Manager – systems commonly used to manage websites, web hosting and online services.

According to the ADHA, the vulnerability could allow cyber attackers to gain administrator access without needing a password. Practices which use cPanel may be at risk, including websites or other hosted data and services.

What practices should do:

contact your IT support provider or website administrator as soon as possible
ask them to check whether your practice uses cPanel
ensure any affected systems are updated and secured
ask them to review for any signs of suspicious activity or compromise

The ADHA advises organisations to apply security patches urgently and restrict external access where required.

Read full security alert

12 May 2026

SWSPHN is offering fully funded Husky licences for up to 100 general practices across the region.

Husky, available via POLAR Explorer, provides practices with real-time insights to support:

identification of patients requiring follow-up or review
quality improvement and accreditation activities
improved preventative care and chronic disease management
streamlined practice workflows and reporting

Practices which register before 30 June and enter the code FIRST100SWS at checkout will receive a 30-day free trial, followed by 12 months of Husky at no cost, funded by SWSPHN.

All SWSPHN practices are eligible to participate. The offer is available to the first 100 practices which register and activate their subscription.

Simply log into POLAR Explorer and click “subscribe here!”, select a yearly subscription and enter the code FIRST100SWS at checkout.

To support onboarding, practices are encouraged to book a one-on-one demonstration using their own practice data, where the Husky team will walk through key features and use cases relevant to your clinic.

Please note: This offer is limited to the first 100 practices. Following the funded period, an ongoing subscription of $960 plus GST per year will apply.

Book a demo

07 May 2026

The National Allied Health Digital Uplift Plan aims to improve digital capability for the allied health workforce and allow care teams to share key information.

Developed by the Australian Digital Health Agency, in partnership with the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing and Allied Health Professions Australia, the plan offers training and support to start using tools such as My Health Record and Provider Connect Australia.

Improving the way health information is shared and accessed allows more timely, coordinated and personalised care, and better support and outcomes for patients.

Providers can email questions to digitalhealth@swsphn.com.au.

Find out more

08 April 2026

When digital health services are connected, authorised residential aged care staff and healthcare providers have immediate access to a resident’s key health information.

Services such as My Health Record, electronic prescriptions, Active Script List and telehealth enable aged care homes to offer their residents better continuity of care and allows GPs to expand their treatment base, ensuring better health outcomes.

More than 90 per cent of eligible residential aged care homes in South Western Sydney have accepted an offer of telehealth equipment from SWSPHN. Onsite workshops and webinars were conducted and reinforced by one-on-one training of staff and clinicians.

Questions? Reach out to the digital health team at DigitalHealth@swsphn.com.au.

Find out more

Watch the video

07 April 2026

Electronic prescribing is an alternative to paper prescriptions, providing patients with convenient access to their medicines and reducing the risk of errors. Patients have a choice to receive either an electronic or a paper prescription – but not both.

Sent directly to the patient’s mobile phone or email by their GP, electronic prescribing promises secure and efficient supply of vital medicines.

They can also be added to an Active Script List if patients register for one. It’s a digital list of your electronic prescriptions and barcoded paper prescriptions, and a convenient option for those who take multiple medications.

Find out more

23 March 2026

MyMedicare is a voluntary patient registration system which aims to strengthen the bond between GPs, primary care teams and patients.

Practices can access:

more information about regular patients, making it easier to tailor services to fit patient needs

longer telehealth items linked to MyMedicare including MBS-funded phone calls and a triple bulk billing incentive for longer MBS telehealth consultations for children under 16, pensioners and concession card holders

Key messages for patient discussions:

reassure patients their care remains unchanged if they choose not to register

ensure patients provide informed consent before being registered for MyMedicare

let patients know the benefits of registering, for them and the practice

Patients need a Medicare or Veterans card. To register with a specific general practice, they must have made at least two face-to-face visits in the last 24 months.

Find out more

The MyMedicare Patient Privacy Notice has been updated to provide clearer information on how patient data is collected, used and shared across relevant government agencies. This update relates to how patient information is used, not practice information. MyMedicare privacy notice

17 March 2026

When it comes to improving the health of Australians, the role of digital innovation and connection is a vital part of a modern, accessible healthcare system.

The Australian Digital Health Agency’s Online Learning Portal offers a range of resources for GPs, aged care professionals and allied health practitioners.

Courses help you manage My Health Record and electronic prescriptions and cover subjects such as clinical safety and cyber security. There is also a range of additional resources.

Find out more:

General practice

Aged care

Allied health

10 March 2026

New laws have been introduced to allow more patient health information to be uploaded and available sooner in My Health Record.

Pathology results such as blood test and x-ray reports will be automatically added to My Health Record, unless you choose otherwise, and other results such as anatomical pathology or genetic testing can be viewed after five days, instead of the previous seven.

Results will still be sent directly to a patient’s GP or other healthcare provider. This ensures key health information is together in one secure place, making it easier to manage.

Information for healthcare providers

Information for consumers

Find out more

23 January 2026

The 1800MEDICARE app (formerly my health app) gives patients quick and easy accesss to their My Health Record information from their mobile devices.

It also gives patients access to electronic prescriptions and their Active Script List.

It also has other features to:

find and book a health service
search a symptom checker
access Medicare information as well as enrolment and claiming services

The app is available for mobile and tablet.

Find out more on the Australian Digital Health Agency website.

www.digitalhealth.gov.au

25 November 2025

The way practices in South Western Sydney request POLAR support has changed. This page details the new process for seeking support and why the procedure has changed.

Key points

Practices no longer contact South Western Sydney PHN to request support for POLAR.
Practices must now contact the software supplier – Outcome Health – by navigating to the Support menu in POLAR Explorer or by email to servicedesk@outcomehealth.org.au

When the following issues occur, lodge a support request through the Support menu in POLAR or email a support request to servicedesk@outcomehealth.org.au. A representative from the polar SOFTWARE SUPPLIER – Outcome Health will be in touch.

Request require technical support for:

login, data sync errors or system bugs issues
platform-specific troubleshooting
system performance and functionality problems
installation or uninstallation of Hummingbird/POLAR requests

What to expect

Support is provided by Outcome Health between 9-5pm, Monday to Friday (AEST), excluding public holidays.

Expect a response to your enquiry within 24 hours but due to the variability in support tickets, Outcome Health are unable to guarantee a resolution time.

When to contact SWSPHN’s Digital Health team

SWSPHN uses Outcome Health’s products but does not maintain them. We will continue to provide the following functions:

create new user accounts
delete user accounts
correct malformed UTF-8 data (item 6 errors)
change the practice name (excluding ABN, server, CIS or other technical details)
guide practices on how to lodge an enquiry
encourage practices to utilise POLAR frequently to assist with quality improvement activities

How SWSPHN’s Service Support team can help

Practices can reach out to their Practice Advancement officers (PAO), Practice Support officers (PSO) or their Clinical and Quality Improvement officers (CQI) for the same above functions.

Why the process has changed

This change reflects Outcome Health’s new licensing terms – which are compulsory for all licensees.

Outcome Health will monitor Hummingbird daily (or every second day) and will contact your practice directly if issues are detected.

While SWSPHN no longer proactively monitors POLAR dashboards or advises practices of system anomalies, we will be assisting Outcome Health as needed to resolve problems.

SWSPHN will receive a monthly report from Outcome Health and will monitor and evaluate the impacts of this new process. We will utilise this information to identify issues that may impact PIP QI submissions.

We appreciate your support as we transition to this new model.

These changes aim to streamline technical support through Outcome Health while allowing SWSPHN to focus on guidance, usage and escalation where needed.