Digital health Archives | Page 8 of 8 | South Western Sydney PHN

14 March 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the introduction of additional funding to improve access to telehealth services via general practice and other health services, to reduce transmission of the virus.

Two years on, many GPs are now also using electronic prescribing to complement their telehealth services.

In the past, a patient had to visit a GP to receive a paper prescription which was handed over at the pharmacy so medications could be dispensed.

With telehealth, a patient consults with their GP via telephone or video, but until recently, still had to visit the practice to pick up their prescription.

This is where electronic prescribing is useful.

With electronic prescribing, a GP can send a 2D barcode via an SMS or an email. The 2D barcode contains the prescription details. The patient can either visit a pharmacy to have the barcode scanned and have the medications dispensed, or forward the barcode to a pharmacy and have their medications delivered.

Electronic prescribing makes telehealth appointments with a GP and accessing medications more convenient. It also eliminates cross infections between patients in waiting rooms and between GPs and patients.

The 2D barcode is specific to a patient so medications cannot be dispensed to another person. If the barcode isn’t received or is lost, the patient can inform the medical practice and have the barcode re-sent.

The widespread use of telehealth and electronic prescribing are still relatively new, but with time, will become the norm in general practice.

Learn more about electronic prescribing

19 October 2021

South Western Sydney patients are no longer exempt from the “existing relationship requirement” for MBS telehealth services after the region was taken off the Commonwealth-declared hotspot list on Monday, 18 October.

The temporary MBS telehealth items put in place to reduce the risk of community transmission of COVID-19 and provide protection for patients and healthcare providers, will continue to be available until 31 December 2021.

Under current requirements, GPs can only perform a telehealth or telephone service where they have an established clinical relationship with the patient.

There are limited exemptions to this requirement, including:

the patient is in COVID-19 isolation because of a State or Territory public health order
the patient is in COVID-19 quarantine because of a State or Territory public health order
the patient is located in a Commonwealth-declared COVID-19 hotspot

This means that people who are not in isolation or quarantine, and are in a location which is no longer a Commonwealth-declared hotspot, are no longer be regarded as in a COVID-19 impacted area for the purposes of being exempt from the existing relationship requirement.

The MBS items for people in COVID-19 hotspots which are no longer in effect in South Western Sydney are 92746 and 92747.

What is COVID-19 isolation?

A person with COVID-19 or suspected to have it must enter mandatory isolation.

What is COVID-19 quarantine?

When a person is well but may have been in contact with someone with COVID-19, they are required to isolate from other people to prevent the spread of the virus. The quarantine period is 14 days from when they may have been in contact with the virus.

What is a Commonwealth-declared hotspot?

The list of hotspots declared by the Chief Medical Officer is available on the Department of Health website.

Download COVID-19 Temporary MBS Telehealth Services factsheet

29 October 2020

The Australian Department of Health has extended the Healthdirect Video Call Service Pilot Program to 30 June 2021. If you already have an account set up, SWSPHN’s Digital Health team encourages you to continue using this secure video consulting platform which has been purpose-built for primary health settings.

The eligibility for access to the Video Call Service Pilot remains consistent with the current pilot. The program provides Video Call licenses free of charge for use by GP and non-GP type primary care services classed as Mental Health, Aged Care, Maternity, Indigenous Health and Allied Health services, which includes:

General practice; general practice after hours services; paediatrics and child health palliative medicine; psychiatry; chiropractors; diabetes educators; exercise physiologists; mental health workers; midwives; nurses; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners and health worker; nurse practitioners; clinical psychologist; psychologist; occupational therapist; social worker; speech pathologist; and physiotherapy.

For GPs in private practice wanting to start using the service, please register here for a free licence.
For GPs in ACCHOs wanting to start using the service, please register here for a free licence.
For all other eligible services, please register here for a free licence.

Please share these developments with your peers and colleagues who may benefit from the use of Healthdirect Video Call.

The Australian Department of Health is currently reviewing the eligibility criteria for this program and if there are any changes to the program eligibility, we will communicate these changes to you.

02 October 2020

ePrescribing is now being rolled out across Australia, including South Western Sydney, and we’ve compiled some information to help healthcare providers better understand the new electronic prescribing arrangements.

Electronic prescribing allows prescribers and their patients to issue/use an electronic Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) prescription. Electronic prescribing will not fundamentally change existing prescribing and dispensing processes. Patients can still choose which pharmacy they attend to fill their prescription.

Prescribers and patients can choose an electronic prescription instead of a paper prescription. Paper prescriptions will still exist. However, choosing an electronic prescription helps with telehealth consultations, helps protect the community and healthcare workers from exposure to infectious diseases, may reduce dispensing errors and makes the prescribing/dispensing process more efficient.

Please note, if your practice would like to start using electronic prescriptions, contact your local pharmacies and make sure they are activated to be able to dispense the electronic prescriptions.

To activate ePrescribing in your clinical software, visit the Australian Digital Health Agency website and/or contact your SWSPHN Practice Support Officer.

02 October 2020

An assessment of My Health Record security governance at 22 healthcare organisations has reported areas of good privacy practice and identified areas for improvement.

The Australian Digital Health Agency operates the My Health Record system and the Office of the Information Commissioner (OAIC) oversees the privacy aspects of the system.

The OAIC has reported areas of good privacy practice, with most organisations having My Health Record security policies, suitable access controls and training. They report broad compliance with processes for suspending or deactivating user accounts, and for identifying and responding to My Health Record-related security and privacy risks. The OAIC found that most of the assessment targets provided appropriate levels of initial and refresher training to their staff.

The OAIC also identified areas for improvement. They concluded that some providers did not have a written access security policy in place, had not implemented sufficient processes to deactivate accounts, had not provided appropriate initial or refresher training, or had not required sufficiently strong passwords with regard to the sensitive health information being accessed.

The agency encourages healthcare organisations to consider OAIC guidance which sets out better practice on how healthcare organisations can comply with their obligations regarding security and access.

The agency also publishes guidance to assist healthcare organisations to comply with their obligations, including guidance on security and account management, and training modules on cyber and security awareness for healthcare organisations. Healthcare providers can contact the Agency at education@digitalhealth.gov.au if they would like assistance in meeting their obligations and implementing security and access controls.

31 August 2020

The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) has been working closely with clinical software suppliers and clinical peak bodies to deliver paperless prescription known as ePrescription functionality for GPs and pharmacies.

At this stage, paperless prescriptions are only actively utilised if GPs and pharmacies in your region are part of an electronic prescribing ‘Community of Interest’ (COI). COI sites, including Moss Vale, are listed on the Digital Health Agency website.

Communities of Interest are testing the technology and clinical workflows to identify any issues or areas for improvement prior to broader use. This is to ensure any emerging issues are limited to these sites and remediated quickly. There is a real risk that if community pharmacies don’t have electronic prescriptions capability, patients will not be able to get their medicines dispensed and this will create additional work for practices when the patient has to return for a paper script.

The ADHA is working with pharmacies and their software suppliers to ensure they are ready as soon as possible and will advise GPs when there is broader pharmacy readiness. In the meantime, GPs are asked to encourage pharmacies to contact their dispensing software providers to activate electronic prescription dispensing functionality.

To find more information email help@digitalhealth.gov.au or call 1300 901 001.

26 August 2020

The Lumos project team is looking for consumer representatives for its Stakeholder Reference Group and Data Governance Committee.

APPLICATIONS CLOSE 11 SEPTEBMER

More information about Lumos, the roles and requirements can be found in the EOIs below.

Lumos Stakeholder Reference Group

Lumos Data Governance Committee

04 June 2020

“I was more relaxed in my consultation. I was in my familiar environment and the specialist and I were both at ease. I didn’t have the stress of getting the two people I care for sorted before the 90-minute drive to the city hospital for this appointment. I saved money on fuel and parking fees. I didn’t have to sit in a full waiting room. I didn’t have to turn down work for that entire day because of the travel time and waiting room time blowouts. The benefits of telehealth are immense.”

– Australia’s Health Panel respondent

The introduction of the expanded Telehealth Medicare benefit has drawn strong support from respondents to an Australia’s Health Panel survey, an initiative of the Consumers Health Forum (CHF).

The Telehealth services survey found that more than 80 per cent of those who were offered telehealth services used it. Of these, a similar proportion viewed the service as excellent or good quality.

“This response gives us any early indication of the value of telehealth particularly at a time of health anxiety as we are experiencing at present with COVID-19,” the CEO of Consumers Health Forum, Leanne Wells, said.

“As the respondent’s comments quoted above show, telehealth offers considerable medical and social benefits for the many patients who may need to consult a doctor but do not require physical examination.

“CHF has also recently completed a survey on a related issue of access to medical care – after hours services. This showed that while most people expect they should be able to get care after hours, many people encounter significant difficulties.

“While the telehealth survey was of modest size, the overwhelmingly favourable response indicates strong community support for the scheme to continue in the post-COVID era.

“An interesting result was that slightly more panellists said the telehealth consultations were better than face-to-face consultations compared to those who preferred face-to-face services.

“The survey found that key barriers to telehealth services were lack of access to required technology, unreliable internet access and non-awareness of the option.

“These sorts of issues will need to be resolved if telehealth services are available equally to all Australians. This initiative might have become imperative because of the necessities triggered by COVID but telehealth and digital technology generally is becoming routine and the way of the future.

“The survey on after hours care found more than two thirds of respondents had used after hours primary care at least once in the previous five years, with 43 per cent accessing services between 8pm and 11pm and 20 per cent between 11pm and 7am.

“There can be big differences from one region to another in availability of services, often with rural areas having meagre services. The great variation is shown by the survey results which found 24 per cent of respondents reported easy-to-access after-hours services, 18 per cent found it difficult and 25 per cent extremely difficult to get care outside of business hours.

“The results of these two surveys offer fresh impetus for the Government to exploit telehealth further in ways that bridge the gap in access to Medicare between city and country,” Ms Wells said.

MEDIA RELEASE – Consumers Health Forum of Australia