SECURING appointments for Barrington’s MRI Centre at Limerick’s Bon Secours Hospital is about to be fast-tracked by the introduction of a new electronic referral facility.
Up to now referrals have been made by fax, post or phone, leading to considerable time delays as well as human error. Family doctors and consultants will now be able to send their appointment request with the press of a button on the new system.
This can lead to patients potentially receiving appointments on the same day as their consultation, eliminating delays of up to four days in the process.
The new system has been introduced through a partnership between Raheen-based Alliance Medical, Barrington’s and Clanwilliam Health, the private practice management provider for consultants and GPs.
The system uses the HSE’s web-based messaging service, Healthlink, which provides for the secure transmission of clinical patient information, including referrals, between hospitals, health care agencies and GPs.
Adare-based Eimear O’Donnell of Alliance Medical said it was a very significant development for people whose GPs and Consultants need to refer them for scans at Barringtons and Alliance Medical locations around the country.
“We provide the quickest access to diagnostic appointments for patients but historically, there has been a delay in the referral process because of the manual effort required for GPs to send a referral via fax, telephone or post.
“This partnership with Clanwilliam Health means that doctors can now refer their patients for scans electronically through Healthlink while the patient is sitting in front of them. That gives instant access to the system and will result in appointments being offered potentially on the same day they are sought, cutting out a lot of delays in the process. The results of the scans will also be transmitted back to the referring doctors electronically through this system, speeding up patient diagnosis.
“This not alone significantly reduces the time it takes to get a referral but ultimately a more timely diagnosis. It also leads to a reduction in cost and enhances efficiencies for GP practices,” she explained.
Emmet Gilhooley of Clanwilliam Health said that to avail of the service, GPs simply need to follow the normal steps they would take when electronically referring a patient to a public hospital, except now they will have access to Barringtons MRI and all Alliance Medical sites throughout the country.
“This gives them same-day access to diagnostic scans whereas the reality up until now has been that the referral process could take anywhere between a few days to a week,” he added.
