Patients and general practitioners (GPs) are benefiting from a new Queensland Health initiative designed to improve post-hospital patient care, with some users labelling it a "game changer".
Better connecting GPs to public hospitals (also known as GP access to The Viewer) provides Queensland’s GPs with access to their patients’ public hospital healthcare information through a secure online portal. GPs can now see relevant clinical patient data such as pathology results, medications and diagnostic imaging reports and the patients' My Health Records.
Clinical Excellence Division’s Deputy Director-General Dr John Wakefield said the project was a first for Australia. "Queensland is the first state in the country to provide general practitioners with online, real-time access to their patients’ public hospital healthcare information," he said.
"Bridging the information gap between public hospitals and GPs will provide patients with better coordinated care, meaning they will be less likely to be re-admitted to hospital or undergo duplicate tests.
The portal went live mid-2017 and within three months had more than 1,000 GPs registering to use it.
AMA Queensland Chair of Board and Council Dr Shaun Rudd said the project would free-up more time for doctors to spend with patients. "The online portal means doctors can spend less time on administration and more time with their patients. It also enables doctors to make better-informed medical decisions about their patients’ ongoing care and treatment because they have access to more information," Dr Rudd said.
Dr Wakefield said the project was a key government commitment outlined in the $361.2 million Specialist Outpatient Strategy: Improving the patient journey by 2020 released late last year. "The Specialist Outpatient Strategy sets the foundation for improving the entire patient journey and this project is a major step towards that goal."
GPs can view the public hospital information after registering online and meeting personal and professional identification requirements.
Patients can opt out from their GP having access to their public hospital healthcare information by calling 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84).
