Brisbane, Australia, June 2017— Metro North, the largest public health service in the Australian State of Queensland has gone live with the Orion Health (OHE:NZX/ASX) Clinical Referrals platform.

Metro North Hospital and Health Service serves over 900,000 people, and employs more than 17,000 staff in five hospitals and 13 community health centres, along with oral and mental health facilities. 

This week the health service has gone live with the Clinical Referrals platform which enables healthcare professionals and central intake teams to digitally submit, track and manage outpatient referrals across multiple facilities and specialities– one of the first electronic referrals systems of its kind to be implemented in Australia.

Orion Health Executive Vice President for Asia Pacific, Darren Jones, says that the Metro North go-live provides Orion Health with a good opportunity to act on their ongoing goal to provide their customers with greater flexibility. He explains that Metro North required a data platform that could accommodate the addition of new solutions over time because the organisation serves one of the fastest population growth areas in Australia.

“Metro North has the ability to extend the Clinical Referral functionality to include community based referrals and shared care functionality through the addition of other modules that support better care coordination between its hospitals, community health centres and other healthcare providers,” he says.

“We are excited to be working with such a strategic health care provider who requires a future-proofed platform. We look forward to helping Metro North support the patient as they move between home and hospital with high quality care.”

The solution has replaced an in-house referrals system, laying the foundational elements to allow for the creation of living electronic documents across both primary and secondary care givers for safe and rapid clinical transitions. By integrating information across the whole health system, standardising referral templates, and simplifying workflows, Metro North clinicians are able to immediately view relevant referral information, reduce duplication and errors, and process referrals faster. 

Metro North Chief Information Officer David Black says the electronic referral management is part of a broader strategy for interoperability across the health service. It will incorporate multisystem integration with Queensland Health patient administration and scheduling systems via the Orion Rhapsody integration platform.  

“Close collaboration between Metro North clinicians and Orion Health has ensured the new electronic referral management system and supporting integration platform delivers key enabling functionality to meet the growing needs of the health service,” Mr Black says.

“Looking forward, the solution will interoperate with future electronic referrals in line with the Queensland Health Specialist Outpatient Strategy.”

For more information:
Koren Cryer
Asia Pacific Marketing Manager
M: +64 21 485 625
E: koren.cryer@orionhealth.com