Table of Contents
Providing integrated care for patients from referral to treatment
Delays in referrals and pre-admission often disrupts the flow of care, leaving patients to navigate a confusing path between their GP, specialist and clinic – resulting in delays to treatment.
GP’s wanting to make a referral to Wandi Nerida had to negotiate very manual processes, involving a lot of back and forth with the clinic team.
This resulted in:
- overwhelm for patients and families
- waits on referrals and the triage of patients – delaying vital treatment
“When people are in the depths of their eating disorder and they’re struggling both medically and psychology, filling out forms can be too much. Having a platform like Personify Care…everything is easy and it’s at their fingertip,” says Danielle Dougherty, Wandi Nerida’s Operations Director.
Connecting the path from referral to treatment
Connecting Consultmed’s cloud-based referral platform with Personify Care’s digital patient pathway links the patient journey from the first GP visit and referral to a specialist service, to triage, pre-admission, consent and treatment.
The integrated digital medical record (DMR) system has allowed linking every stage of the patient journey.
Integrated care for faster referrals and treatment access
The introduction of digital pathways at Wandi Nerida has resulted in a number of benefits for patients, their families and healthcare teams:
Efficiency
GP’s and other primary care providers now send an electronic referral directly to a specialist centre using Consultmed’s web portal or from their own practice management software. Clinicians can triage referrals and provide specialist advice and guidance all on the one platform.
Once the referral is accepted, scheduled or waitlisted, a patient is automatically enrolled into an integrated and personalised Personify Care digital patient pathway.
This has resulted in reduced administrative pressure for the clinic, going from a need for 12 admission roles to two part time staff members.
Connected patient experience
With the new pathway, the referral and triage process is much smoother, resulting in more efficient process for patients and families to onboard to the clinic.
Personify Care’s patient education pathway has resulted in patients and families receiving clear and timely communication when it’s relevant on the one digital platform.
Patients experience better outcomes by being more informed and prepared, and the pathway allows them to be assessed earlier and for clinical teams to have improved visibility of their progress.
“Coming to treatment for two or three months is enormous and really scary. So, the more information we can give to patients in a digestible way, the safer people will feel when they come to us,” says Danielle Dougherty, Operations Director at Wandi Nerida.
Enhanced clinical care
Designed for smoother, more efficient care, the the integrated pathway provides clinicians with comprehensive participant records exactly when they need them.
It also supports secure, Azure-based case conferences, where Wandi Nerida staff receive clear, real-time oversight of every referral.
Improved pre-admission uptake
The clinical team can use the personalised care pathway to help prepare patients for their first appointment or admission, obtain consent and collect patient reported outcome measures (PROMs).
“We are finally now able to get the information we need, and the participant gets the information they need to feel safe to come to us,” says Danielle.
The pathway has improved patient flow through:
- More accessibility to patients
- All information in one area
- Ability to have visibility of patient
- Monitoring of interactions with resources.
Why connecting care is vital for health outcomes
Digital pathways represent more than a tech upgrade for health facilities – they’re fundamentally transforming the patient and clinician experience.
For leaders seeking to reduce fragmentation, an integrated and personalised digital patient pathway is a powerful way to streamline workflows, support staff, and create seamless communication between health services and patients.
The result is a more connected, responsive path for patients where real-time feedback and coordinated care become the norm.
