HealthPathways is a new online clinical and referral information portal, launched in the ACT by Minister for Health Simon Corbell.
The system has been designed by GPs, specialists and other health care professionals to identify the most appropriate pathways for referral and treatment of patients in their regions.
Mr Corbell said in a press release “Supporting a patient means not only diagnosing a health condition and prescribing medication. It requires everything from arranging the right tests, to referring a patient to the right specialist or allied health provider, to providing ongoing assistance to help a patient manage a complex illness.”
“It will help more patients to get the right treatment or specialist care by explaining what services are available for the patient’s conditions. This should reduce waiting times and improve the quality and appropriateness of referrals,” Mr Corbell said
The online tool was originally rolled out in New Zealand and has been found to significantly reduced wait times for some services.
The HealthPathways portal covers over 550 conditions including diabetes, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, cardiology, deep vein thrombosis and sexual health with scope for more conditions to be added. The online system has been developed to be dynamic and features a feedback system to allow for continual improvements and refinement of pathways.
A HealthPathways community has been established and implemented throughout Australia and New Zealand to work together with more than 50 primary care and hospital care organisations to develop HealthPathways that reflect the arrangements and opinions of their local health communities.
For more information about HealthPathways please visit www.healthpathwayscommunity.org.
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