Dear National Bowel Cancer Screening Program,
I have just learned that the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program
Register is planning to communicate with GPs on paper. As I understand
it, the Register is intending to send GPs paper forms to complete,
intending to ask GPs to write to it on paper about patients and
intending to deliver test results on paper.
Did you know that the federal government has devoted millions of dollars
to e-Health, that almost all general practices receive their pathology
results electronically and that there is massive activity around the
country in implementing electronic clinical messaging systems that are
helping to improve the quality of care by making communication faster,
cheaper and more reliable and the communicated information more useable?
In view of these developments in electronic communication within the
health system, can you explain the reasons for your decision to
communicate on paper or via a Web page that is merely the electronic
equivalent of filling in a paper form?
What GPs want, need and expect from the National Bowel Cancer Screening
Program Register is intelligent electronic communication as the default
method of communication. Intelligent electronic communication is
happening now by using templates that automatically assemble for
transmission the required information about each patient from that which
we have already entered into our practice computer systems, and then
sending that assembled information via an electronic clinical messaging
system.
There are a number electronic clinical messaging systems available in
Australia. The Argus clinical messaging system is the leader in
desirable features, including the facts that it is the only
non-commercial system in wide use and that it imposes no charges to send
or receive messages. I suggest that the National Bowel Cancer Screening
Program Register urgently discusses its messaging needs with the
provider of Argus, ArgusConnect (www.argusconnect.com.au).
Please will you reply and let me know the Program's and the Register's
attitude to this issue and what action the Program and the Register are
taking to implement intelligent electronic communication with GPs?
--
Oliver Frank, general practitioner
255 North East Road, Hampstead Gardens, South Australia 5086
Phone 08 8261 1355 Fax 08 8266 5149 Mobile 0407 181 683
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