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Overview
We have embarked on an exciting digital journey where all referrals enter our Electronic Management System. This digital pathway has:
- significantly reduced clinical risk of manual paper processes, and
- streamlined patient flow to ensure referrals are registered within 3 days and triaged within 5 days.
The next step in our digital journey is to only accept eReferrals.
What to expect when you come to Emergency
We use a triage system to ensure that we always treat the sickest patients first. This means you may wait longer than someone who arrives after you.
On arrival
When you arrive in Emergency, you will be greeted by a clerk or nurse. The role of the nurse is to assess your medical condition and determine the urgency for a doctor's assessment and treatment. You will be allocated a triage category (urgency level) and then asked to wait to see a doctor.
You must not eat or drink anything from the time you arrive in Emergency until you are advised otherwise by your doctor or nurse.
Registration
You will be registered by the clerk at the reception desk. The details they collect are used to identify you. They will place an identification wristband on your wrist.
You will also be asked for your Medicare card number and whether you have private health insurance. Overseas patients may have to pay for medical care provided. Australia's Medicare system has reciprocal medical care agreements with Finland, Ireland, Italy, Malta, The Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Find out more about paying for services.
Waiting for treatment
After you have been seen by the nurse you will need to wait to be seen by a doctor. You may be asked to take a seat in the waiting room or you may be placed on a trolley and taken into one of the clinical areas. Blood tests, x-rays and scans may be started while you're waiting.
We treat the sickest patients first. This means you may wait longer than someone who arrives after you. Patients on trolleys or who arrive by ambulance are not necessarily seen first.
Whilst in the waiting room, please direct all questions to the triage nurse. If you have been taken through to one of the clinical areas, please direct all questions to the nurse who is looking after you.
Let the nurse know if your condition changes while you're waiting.
Treatment
We have seven different areas for treatment. You'll be treated in the most appropriate area by one or several members of our team.
As soon as possible, a clinician (such as a doctor, nurse practitioner or physiotherapist) will assess you. You will be asked many questions including those that other clinicians have already asked. It's important to tell the clinician:
- Your reason for coming to the hospital
- Current medical problems
- Past medical problems and operations
- Current medications
- Any allergies to medications
Be honest in answering any questions as the information will assist the clinician to make the correct assessment and take the most appropriate next steps to treat you.
Remember that any information you give is strictly confidential and will not be passed on to any other person in accordance with Australia's privacy laws.
Outcome
Once the clinician has taken your history, you may require further tests. If you are unsure why a test is being done, ask the doctor or nurse caring for you. Tests may include blood tests, x-rays or CT scans.
There may be a waiting period to have some tests depending on the number of people who need the same test.
Once the results of the tests are available, the doctor will inform you of the result and explain your ongoing management plan. If you have any questions, ask the doctor or nurse caring for you.
Most people are able to go home after treatment. Some people may be admitted to hospital if further treatment is needed.
How to set up eReferrals
We encourage GPs to engage with our digital journey by registering for a free HealthLink Portal Licence.
Get help with eReferrals
HealthLink new account registration and setup
Email: request@healthlink.net
HealthLink helpdesk
Email: helpdesk@healthlink.net
Phone: 1300 145 456 (option 4)
Watch the HealthLink eReferral tutorial videos (quick start guides)
We are transitioning away from producing PDF copies of our guides for sending SmartForms.
This ensures we can more easily manage:
- version control of all the guides
- updates where we have our customers linking to these resources.
- changes/updates to any of these Practice Software, our Portal, and any eReferral launch points
The following guides are being used to assist with usage promotion:
Referral next steps
Accepted referrals are triaged as urgent or routine:
- For urgent referrals, Specialist Clinics will contact the patient to make an appointment for within 30 days.
- For routine referrals, Specialist Clinics will send a letter to the referrer and the patient detailing the next steps.
Where a referral is incomplete or declined, Specialist Clinics will send a letter to the referrer (and the patient in the case of a declined referral) notifying them of the outcome.
Please note:
- If you are in the process of setting up eReferrals and in the interim still faxing referrals, please ensure you do not fax multiple patient referrals in one transaction.
- We do not accept referrals by email.
Referral validity periods
Referral validity periods begin from the date the first non-admitted specialist service is provided. Guidelines on validity periods for referring and requesting Medicare services (Services Australia) also apply to all other referrals to Victorian public health services.
Indefinite referrals are appropriate for partnership care between the patient, their GP and the health service (for example, patients with chronic or progressive conditions requiring ongoing specialist advice or services to improve and optimise a person’s function and participation in their daily living) and associated care referrals.
