Dunedin GP makes one millionth electronic referral

Wednesday 23 March 2016

Dunedin GP makes one millionth electronic referral

Dunedin GP Dr Jan Cottle at Musselburgh Medical Centre Ltd has made the one millionth electronic referral or requests for specialist advice using the South Island Electronic Request Management System (ERMS). This represents a significant step towards delivering better health outcomes for South Island residents.

Dr Cottle is delighted to be the one millionth referrer and said that, “the ERMS system provides a smoother health journey for my patients. It’s fast, it’s reliable, it’s really visually easy to access and doesn’t require too much effort on our behalf as the patient template is already there.”

Photo above: Dr Jan Cottle

Development of ERMS began in Canterbury in 2009. Through a collaboration between district health boards, the South Island Alliance implemented the system across the entire South Island, effectively enabling referrals across DHB boundaries anywhere in the South Island, and offering a faster, smoother health journey to over a million people.

Using ERMS, general practice teams make a referral or request for specialist advice via an electronic form, which is submitted directly to a secure referrals database. From there, requests are delivered automatically to any one of over 700 community and hospital services, both public and private.

“ERMS is infinitely more efficient than the old paper-based referral system,” says Andrew Bowers, Chair of the South Island Information Services Service Level Alliance. “GPs and other referrers can select the most appropriate and convenient specialist provider and will be able to track their referrals, which provides certainty, clarity and transparency across the system.

“It’s been really positive witnessing how the five South Island DHBs have worked together to reach this point. We now have one system across the whole region, which means more than a million people now have better access to high quality care when they need it.”

ERMS provides healthcare providers across the South Island health system with an unprecedented level of connectedness. It also supports general practice and other community-based providers in their role as the central point for all patient care needs and strengthens their ability to provide care closer to home and help people stay well in their communities for longer.

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