eHealth

Support for practices and allied health providers to prepare for eHealth

Are you ready for the eHealth component of the Practice Incentive Program? (PIP)

Don’t miss the 1 February deadline!

The PIP eHealth Incentive eligibility requirements have changed, and your practice must meet these requirements to receive future PIP payments.

The new eHealth PIP requirements and associated deadlines are:

1 February 2013:

  • Integrating healthcare identifiers into electronic practice records
  • Secure messaging
  • Data records and clinical coding
  • Electronic transfer of prescriptions

 1 May 2013:  

  • Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records (PCEHR)

There are dedicated staff members at Gippsland Medicare Local who can help you with this process and guide you through the forms and activities that are required.

Contact the GML eHealth team on ehealth@gml.org.au or call 5153 0383. We can attend your practice or provide support over the phone; whichever option is more convenient for you.

Resources

These resources have been developed by GML to provide a step by step guide to registering for eHealth

eHealth practice update

eHealth registration Step One

eHealth registration Step Two

eHealth Practice Incentive Program

Application – Seed organisation registration 

eHealth Record overview 

eHealth is “The combined use of electronic communication and information technology in the health sector.” (World Health Organisation)

eHealth will introduce electronic services to improve upon inefficient and difficult to access paper-based systems. In time, eHealth records will include information about a patient’s medical history, such as immunisations, allergies, test results, prescribed medications, hospital discharge summaries and specialists letters etc.

From July 2012 your patients can choose to register for the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR). But this is just the starting point, the system will grow as more individuals and healthcare organisations join.

Who can enter health information into an eHealth record?

Only identified health care professionals can enter information in the record, this ensures that it is clinically relevant and accurate.

Patients will have their own section in the PCEHR, separate from the clinical record. In this section they will be able to enter demographic and basic health information and keep notes for their own use.

Why participate in the eHealth record system?

  • Better access to accurate information about your patients, their medical history and treatment.
  • More time treating patients, less time spent tracking down records and test results.
  • Faster access to relevant information, helping you make better clinical decisions and save time.
  • Access to potentially life-saving patient information in an emergency situation.
  • To help patients, including those with chronic and complex conditions, better manage their health.
  • The more healthcare organisations that participate the better connected the network will become, and the better it will serve you and your patients.

Does it replace existing records?

Personally controlled electronic health records will not replace existing medical records. Healthcare professionals will continue to take and review clinical notes. More detailed patient information will be available on local clinical information systems as per current practice.

What now/next?

  • To participate in eHealth healthcare organisations (like GP clinics) need to register to get Healthcare Provider Identifier – Organisation (HPI-O) with Medicare. The eHealth support officers at Gippsland Medicare Local are available to both help and guide practices to apply for HPI-O as well as all other necessary paperwork to be able to participate in the uptake of PCEHR.
  • Soon after July 2012 medical software will be updated to be able to upload the medical summary of your patients to the PCEHR.

Telehealth

Under the Medicare Benefits Schedule Telehealth initiative Telehealth is defined as “A video consultation where a patient accompanied by an eligible medical practitioner, undertakes a consultation via video conferencing to an eligible specialist, consultant physician or psychiatrist”

Telehealth consultations are performed with the patient being either at a medical clinic or a residential aged care facility and with attendance of an eligible medical practitioner and a specialist on the other end. The aim of Telehealth is to provide specialists services to patients in outer metro and regional areas, these areas generally do not have access to many specialists.

The registration process is automatic and as soon as a GP/Specialist claims a Telehealth Medicare Benefits Schedule item with Medicare they get the on-board payments as well as all other incentives. Please note that specialists need to be at least 15km away from the patient at the time of the consultation. And that from November 2012 the on-board payment will be paid in two part payments.

Our advice to all our members is to discus with your peers as to what software they use. Currently Skype is the most commonly used software to do Telehealth consultations.

Gippsland Medicare Local with support from local GP practices has produced a directory of specialists that have participated or have shown an interest in participating in Telehealth consultations with local clinics. If you require the latest copy of the directory or would like to notify us of specialists that are not on the list please feel free to contact us via email.

If you have any more questions or would like to talk to the eHealth support officer from Gippsland Medicare Local please feel to contact us. Below are a few more links that go in further detail about the MBS items available and Telehealth in general.

More Information

For further information please have a look at the following sites and brochures.