Central region to buy single eReferrals and scheduling solution

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

The six central region DHBs have gone to market for an electronic referral and intelligent scheduling solution to replace the disjointed and legacy systems currently in place.

MidCentral DHB has issued the RFP on behalf of the Central region which covers Capital & Coast; Hutt Valley; Wairarapa; Whanganui; and Hawkes Bay DHBs and says the programme of work has been recognised as a “critical priority”.

The DHBs are looking for a smart e-referrals, intelligent scheduling and appointment booking platform to reduce fragmentation within the care system, and deliver better patient outcomes by efficiently coordinating, communicating and integrating patient care flows, the RFP says.

The patient referrals capabilities will also be used by all Primary Health Organisation general practices within the 6 DHB areas via their Patient Management Systems, as well as by community care providers.

Across the central region DHB, primary and community care landscape more than 500,000 patient referrals to hospital and more than 100,000 community radiology investigations are processed every year using the current e-referrals processes and systems.

However, these disparate systems, processes and legacy technologies are disjointed, many are no longer fit for purpose, and nearly a third of referrals are still received using paper, fax and email.

“This impacts on quality of patient care, care flow and introduces service performance inefficiencies,” the RFP says.

“Between 10 -20% of referrals are either rejected or cancelled across various hospital services due to insufficient information or are preventable referrals that do not require a patient visit to the hospital.

“The legacy and fragmented nature of our referrals, patient administration and patient scheduling technology platforms across the 6DHBs care settings makes it costly and time consuming to integrate flow of care efficiently.”

Current referral forms also lack “smart” insights for quicker triaging and acceptance, or the capability to provide a health equity lens to identify patients from vulnerable communities, those that have to deal with disabilities or acute conditions.

The RFP says managing patient referrals is a focus for the 6 DHBs and they also plan to improve the end-to-end processes to “seamlessly connect electronic referrals, workflow, shared care, communications and service coordination activities across and within care settings”

By having a shared platform they can ensure care is integrated and patients don’t get lost in the system, while reducing administrative overheads and therefore the overall cost of care. The DHBs want to reduce wait times and avoidable referrals for patients, as well as save patient time navigating the system.

“This foundational capability is a vital starting point for realising a common and ubiquitous health referrals system and care platform between all aspects of care services,” the RFP says.

“It will also become a key enabler for delivering care closer to the home and within community settings as the models of care evolve over time.”

The RFP says the proposed solution does not necessarily have to be a single monolithic system solution, but can be a collection of technology capabilities that also orchestrate electronic communications between care participants, and care process flows guided by service performance parameters.

Responses are due by 5pm January 24, 2022.

If you would like to provide feedback on this news story, please contact the editor Rebecca McBeth.

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