14 October 2024
Attention GPs and general practice managers – Victorian public hospitals are working to improve the identification of the correct GP and practice for sending clinical and administrative documentation.
Public hospitals use the National Health Services Directory (NHSD) – Health Direct to obtain current GP, practice and private specialist contact information. NHSD data is automatically sent to and integrated with our IT systems allowing our health services to update GP details on an ongoing basis.
How can you help?
General practices are responsible for keeping their own contact details accurate and up to date within NHSD. Please regularly review your GP and practice contact details in NHSD, particularly when GPs commence work or leave your practice location. https://about.healthdirect.gov.au/review-your-nhsd-listing
Please provide all GP details on NHSD including:
- GP name
- GP provider number
- GP clinic telephone, fax and email address
- HealthLink ‘electronic digital identifier’ code (EDI)
- Argus information
Existing service updates:
Every service that is already listed can access the service update form, by going to their listing on Service Finder and clicking ‘suggest an edit’. This also provides an opportunity for the service to review other details they have published at this time and provide any additional updates. Review and edit your current listing by following the steps below to request an update.
- Search for your service via the Healthdirect Service Finder: https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/australian-health-services
- Review your listing
- Click ‘suggest an edit’ and complete the form as required
- Include all information you wish to update (including practitioner information)
If your practice and your GPs are not listed on the NHSD
If your practice and your GPs are not listed on this Directory, then public hospitals won’t receive your current contact details and you may not automatically receive your patient’s information (NB: You can chose for GP details to not be visible on the public web site). This means that you may have to contact each hospital directly to ask for the correspondence each time you need information about your patient, and this may involve completing a patient information request each time in order to receive this information. This wastes your practice’s time and delays crucial clinical information coming automatically to your practice for your GPs. Most importantly this is a clinical risk to your patient.
You can either register directly on the NHSD: https://about.healthdirect.gov.au/nhsd/about/register-with-the-nhsd or register through Provider Connect Australia™ (PCA) but you will need to consent to your data being sent to the NHSD via PCA. The sooner you register and update your contact details and lists of GPs on NHSD, then the sooner you will receive correspondence from public hospitals more reliably. NB: Provider Connect Australia™ allows providers to update their details on the NHSD in real time.
More from the National Health Services Directory – Health Direct.
https://about.healthdirect.gov.au/nhsd
The NHSD is a government supported comprehensive listing of health and social services including GPs, private specialists, hospitals and allied health practitioners. GPs and general public can use the directory to search for services according to area or service type.
The consumer face of the NHSD is linked to the Better Health Channel website.
If you have any questions about the NHSD, please email: nhsd@healthdirect.org.au
Provider Connect Australia™(PCA)
Your Primary Health Network (PHN) can assist with registering your practice and GPs on PCA.
EMPHN: https://emphn.org.au/for-health-professionals/digital-enablement/provider-connect-australia/
NWMPHN: https://nwmphn.org.au/for-primary-care/digital-health/provider-connect-australia/