Health sector collaboration drives Provider Connect update

The Australian Digital Health Agency has released an update to Provider Connect Australia (PCA), an initiative that helps healthcare providers and business partners maintain accurate and up-to-date business information in a single place.

CEO Amanda Cattermole PSM said the latest upgrade was driven by close collaboration with the healthcare sector.

Mental health care initiative

“PCA serves as a one-stop shop which reduces the need for multiple phone calls, emails or faxes to business partners when updating healthcare service and provider information. To achieve this, the Agency works closely with stakeholders and industry partners across the entire healthcare sector, such as PHNs, software vendors, peak bodies and professional associations,” Cattermole said.

“These valuable relationships led to a welcome suggestion from COORDINARE — South Eastern NSW Primary Health Network (PHN), to integrate a mental health initial assessment and referral (IAR) tool into PCA to ensure patients were referred to the appropriate mental healthcare services.”

The IAR tool supports mental health care across the primary care sector and enables healthcare providers to conduct an assessment of a consumer’s mental health needs and preferences to generate a tailored referral to the most suitable service available in their region.

Process improvement

COORDINARE CEO Prudence Buist welcomed the Agency’s responsiveness to the needs of the healthcare sector.

“The integration of the IAR into PCA is a pivotal development for COORDINARE and providers in our region. This enhancement will simplify the process for healthcare professionals to locate and engage with the most suitable mental health service for their patients. It ensures timely, appropriate and location-specific care,” Buist said.

Amanda Cattermole said the PCA upgrade had also opened a door for Clinical Information Systems (CIS) to connect through a SMART on FHIR interface. “I encourage CIS software vendors to seize this opportunity to integrate with PCA as they develop and upgrade their products, as PHNs and practice managers across Australia are eager to see this priority connection that will save them significant time when updating healthcare practitioner information,” Cattermole said.

PCA will also play a foundational role in the Health Information Exchange (HIE) that is under development by the Agency by leveraging it to receive complete, accurate and up-to-date information about healthcare providers, the services they provide and the places that those services are delivered, according to Cattermole.

“The HIE will create and use a consolidated directory of all healthcare provider organisations and practitioners, the services they deliver and the places those services are delivered — leveraging PCA and other existing services to receive complete, accurate and up-to-date healthcare provider information,” Cattermole said.

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