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Telstra Health, Australia’s largest digital health technology company, today announced its latest partnership with Consultmed, a leading digital referral platform. This integration allows GPs to create and send fast, secure eReferrals directly from within MedicalDirector Clinical via the Smartbar – a convenient, in-platform widget – available at no additional cost.
Unlike other systems that require GPs to navigate outside their practice management software (PMS), Consultmed is embedded directly into the referral workflow, enabling seamless adoption with minimal disruption to clinical routines.
The Consultmed widget is the latest addition to Telstra Health’s Smartbar – a sidebar feature unique to MedicalDirector Clinical that gives clinicians access to a suite of powerful tools from one central location.
Solving a Longstanding Challenge in Primary Care
Referral workflows have long been a pain point for GPs, often plagued by manual paperwork, printing, faxing and limited visibility into outcomes. These inefficiencies fragment care and increase administrative burden.
A national study of 1,935 GPs found that referrals accounted for 8% of non-billable time, with an additional 12% spent discussing patient care with specialists. Despite nearly all GPs being connected to My Health Record, fax remains a dominant method of communication, especially where systems lack interoperability.
Consultmed directly addresses these challenges by enabling GPs to:
- create and send secure, trackable eReferrals without leaving the software
- request Clinical Advice & Guidance™ from participating healthcare networks
- attach supporting documents such as pathology and radiology reports
- access a built-in health service and specialist directory
- receive communications directly from specialists, requesting missing information or offer pre-appointment Advice & Guidance, enabling more coordinated care
- receive referral acknowledgements, letters, reports and discharge summaries straight into the MedicalDirector inbox.
A Seamless Experience for Clinicians and Patients
Consultmed’s cloud-based, FHIR-enabled digital referral platform is seeing rapid adoption across the Australian healthcare sector. It currently supports over 45,000 health professionals and is deployed across more than 15 major public and private health networks — including Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, South Western Sydney LHD, Alfred Health, and Amplar Health.
Consultmed’s Advice & Guidance technology enables secure, bi-directional communication between healthcare providers. By improving timely access to specialist input, this model of care empowers clinicians to manage more care in the community. Consultmed is now available directly within MedicalDirector, allowing GPs to send referrals, receive correspondence, and manage attachments without leaving their clinical system.
Empowering GPs and Connecting Care Nationwide
“At Telstra Health, we’re committed to building a seamless, interoperable and patient-centred digital health ecosystem to support better clinical decisions and continuity of care,” said Dr Chris Tan, Clinical Director at Telstra Health. “Our integration with Consultmed is part of our broader strategy to modernise healthcare delivery and improve patient and provider experiences through value-based care. With over 20,000 MedicalDirector Clinical users now able to send and track referrals digitally, we’re transforming how care is coordinated across Australia.”
A Vision for Connected, Patient-Centric Care
“We’ve been looking forward to launching Consultmed in Medical Directors’ Smart Marketplace. It has been a pleasure to work with Telstra Health’s team and to streamline referral management for GPs.” said Associate Professor Vikram Palit, Paediatric Respiratory Physician and CEO of Consultmed. “Our sidebar integration is fully embedded within MedicalDirector, allowing GPs to send referrals, receive correspondence, and import attachments — all without switching systems. This streamlined workflow reduces administrative burden, saves time, and supports better continuity of care for patients”
Dr Tony Girgis added, “Consultmed is helping put an end to faxed referrals. For busy GPs, their MedicalDirector widget is the smartest way to refer. It is easy to use, integrated, and quicker than sending a paper referral via fax.”
To find out more about the integration, visit www.medicaldirector.com/consultmed