Friday, 6 October 2023

Welcome to the October issue of the GP CALHN Link, which aims to create and improve positive communication and engagement between CALHN and general practitioners.

In this edition you will find information about:

• eReferrals coming to CALHN
• RAHsearch 2023
• GP Integration Unit Support
• EMR documentation
• Gene therapy trial
• Latest research stories

As always, if you have suggestions for articles you would find helpful in future or feedback on how we can improve this newsletter for GPs and practice staff - send us an email at Health.CALHNGPIntegrationUnit@sa.gov.au.

Statewide eReferrals coming to CALHN

A single statewide electronic referral (eReferral) management system is being established across SA Health – with Women’s and Children's Network having implemented it in mid-September.

We are now excited to share that from Wednesday 25 October, all CALHN sites and locations will also go live on the eReferral management system – enabling you to refer patients to our outpatient services through the digital platform!

How does this impact you?

• Removes faxes, letters and the various ways you refer patients to outpatient services – just use HealthLink and find the eReferrals SmartForm.
• Enables you to manage referrals, streamlined workflows and is a secure, efficient platform.
• As we continue to rollout the program, CALHN stays committed to ensuring all referrals (irrespective of method received) will be managed appropriately and in timely fashion to ensure safe patient care.

Clinical prioritisation criteria (CPC)

As you may know, CPCs are the clinical decision-making support tools based on standardised statewide clinical referral criteria, for GPs to help them determine what information is valuable in making decisions about acuity and to assist with accurate and timely triage within SA Health.

Six CPCs are integrated in the program, with additional CPCs added as they become available.

Learn more about the program and get started!

• SA Health eReferrals website for training and user guides, FAQs and more.
• eReferrals and Clinical Prioritisation Criteria.
• Reach out to Health.StatewideReferralManagementSystem@sa.gov.au for questions or feedback.

Does your patient require a routine endoscopy or colonoscopy? 

Need to order a routine endoscopy or colonoscopy? CALHN has designed a single service, multi-site, digitally supported pathway to allow for better access to routine endoscopic procedures.

From 17 October, please use the electronic form located on the Royal Adelaide Hospital and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital websites. 

CALHN will still accept faxed paper referrals, please use this form and send to 08 6365 1978.

Join us at RAHsearch 2023!

You are invited to join Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN) for RAHsearch 2023.

Join us on Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 October 2023 to hear all about CALHN’s latest research, medical advancements and treatments.

We will take you behind the scenes, and into the minds, of some of our most extraordinary researchers, highlighting the fundamental link between research and better health outcomes for our community.

This event is proudly sponsored by The Hospital Research Foundation.

RAHsearch 2023 sessions

Come along to our free sessions to hear directly from our clinicians, who will share the facts about ground-breaking research in their fields. Each session will also feature patients talking about their experiences and treatment in kidney disease and sepsis.

Sessions are 60 minutes long with a panel discussion and a unique opportunity to ask questions of CALHN’s world-class researchers.

All sessions will be livestreamed, for those unable to attend in person. Bookings for all sessions are essential.

We hope to see you there!

The CALHN GPIU – have laptop, will travel

The CALHN GP Integration Unit is now able to come out to visit your practice and talk about how we can best help you. 

We would love to:

• Assist with your difficulties in navigating our system.
• Talk to you about eReferrals and how you can get help and training in using these.
• Show you the clinical prioritisation criteria that have been developed for SA and explain how they can help you write an effective referral.
• Help you add to your list of useful contact points for places to get help for your patients – otherwise known as CALHN GPIU phone a friend points.
• Hear from you on what does and does not work well in our system. 
• Hear your ideas about how we can work together.

Or anything else you have to share with us or would like us to talk to you about.

We can bring a member of the CICC (CALHN Integrated Care Coordinator) team with us, so you can meet the people who undertake the hospital avoidance trouble shooting in our system. 

If you would like us to visit, just send us an email at Health.CALHNGPIntegrationUnit@sa.gov.au, phone us on 0411 321 894 and we will gladly set up a time to suit you. 

Not our patient!

At CALHN, we recognise the importance of having the correct GP recorded for each patient on their electronic medical record (EMR) and policy is to check the GP every time the patient visits one of our facilities. For various reasons we may send information such as discharge summaries or letters to an old GP or a GP incorrectly selected on our system. 

Not only is this an imposition on the practice who receive a letter for a patient who has not been seen there, it is also a clinical risk, as it means that we haven’t communicated with the right practice and information important for that patient’s ongoing care hasn’t reached the GP responsible for that patient’s care. 

So, what to do with that clinical document? The answer is easy – send it to the GPIU. We accept faxes to 7074 6147, emails to Health.CALHNGPIntegrationUnit@sa.gov.au or phone calls to 7074 1341 or 0411 321 894.

The advantage of sending these documents to us is that we will:

• Remove your practice from EMR as the nominated GP (to ensure that you don’t get any more correspondence for this patient).
• Check with the patient as to who their actual nominated GP is.
• Update the medical record with the name of the correct GP.

Which all means that the information goes to the clinician who is caring for the patient.

We really appreciate the help of our GPs and GP practice staff in ensuring that this vital clinical handover gets to the correct GP – thank you for helping us to help you. 

Discover the research driving world-class care at CALHN with articles, videos, podcasts and information on key research dates and events. Sign-up to the monthly newsletter to receive updates direct to your inbox.

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