Secure Message Delivery
Secure Message Delivery (SMD) allows health professionals to electronically send confidential patient communication from one health service to another. SMD vendors seamlessly integrate into compatible software and can transmit documents such as letters, referrals and patient reports.
Designed to suit the whole range of healthcare providers from GP practices and specialists, to large hospitals, from pathology and radiology providers to allied health, SMD keeps message exchange simple and consistent across the healthcare spectrum.
Secure Message Delivery Factsheets
Less paper handling
Integrated into your software
Acknowledgement of successful message delivery
Consistent with data privacy
There are many secure messaging vendors that will enable point-to-point communication between health services. Please note you can have subscriptions to multiple secure messaging vendors at a time. It is recommended that you have a variety of products to increase your reach.
Contact the vendors below for specific advice:
Health Link
For support phone: 1800 125 036
www.healthlink.net/en_NZ
Argus
For support phone: (03) 9037 1000
www.telstrahealth.com/argus
Medical Objects
For support phone: 07 5456 6000
www.medical-objects.com.au
ReferralNet
For support phone: (03) 9675 0600
www.referralnet.com.au
Interoperability is the ability to move information easily between people, organisations and system. At the moment, there is no interoperability between secure messaging vendors. This means that if you have a subscription to X vendor, you cannot send messages to Y vendor. Due to this, it is encouraged that practices have licences to multiple secure messaging platforms to increase their reach. The Australian Digital Health Agency is currently running an interoperability program that aims to connect these different systems.
To get the best return on your investment it is important that all practice staff are aware that your preferred method of communication is Secure Messaging.
Each Secure Messaging vendor will provide over-the-phone support as part of their installation package. Check with the vendor to see if they have videos or online training environments that your practice can use.
Guides on how to use Secure Messaging in your software can be found on each vendors website which can be used for training and creating your internal procedures.
If you still require training on how to use Secure Messaging, contact the Sydney North Health Network Digital Health team:
E: digitalhealth@snhn.org.au
T: 02 9432 8244
SNHN has also developed some ‘Secure Message Delivery Quick Guides’ that can be accessed below:
You can accelerate the benefits of secure messaging by advertising your preferred contact details to your referral network. Your referral network must be notified of your secure messaging contact details before two-way electronic communication can occur. Following are examples of how some practices have done this:
Promoting secure messaging through your existing communication channels
Update your email signature, website and report templates to include a statement encouraging use of secure messaging.
Example:
Our practice prefers secure messaging for confidential patient information.
HealthLink EDI: practicex
Argus Address: practicex@argus
Directly contacting your referral network
Sending an email, letter or ring the health professionals you frequently communicate with. Try starting with the top 10 practices you communicate with.
Elect a secure messaging lead within your practice
Do you have a staff member that is particularly interested in secure messaging? This person could be responsible for maintaining the address book entries and training new staff on your messaging procedures.
Secure Messaging Troubleshooting
SNHN has developed a troubleshooting guide for your use.
Secure Message delivery vendors also provide technical support for troubleshooting Secure Messaging issues. Support is offered via phone and/or knowledgebases. Knowledgebases provide information on how to best navigate and manage different technologies.
Click on the logos below to access Knowledgebases of Secure Message Delivery vendors:
(Scroll down to Training and Support Tab)
