Specialists: Are your details up-to-date in GP referral directories?
GP referral directories like Healthshare’s are comprehensive and include the details of every private practicing Specialist in Australia, but Specialist practitioners shouldn’t assume that their information is automatically up-to date across all referral directories.
Integrated into MedicalDirector since 2014 and Helix in 2018, Healthshare’s Specialist Referrals Directory is accessible to approximately 65% of GPs Australia-wide when referring patients to a Specialist. Uniquely, Healthshare also performs monthly verification to dynamically update referral information, being immensely valuable to its GP users.
From this directory, GPs are able to compare Specialists’ special interest areas, practice locations, hospital affiliations, languages spoken and other important considerations to enable them to make the best referral decision for their patients.
But while Healthshare’s directory includes the details of every private practicing Specialist in Australia, practitioners shouldn’t assume that their information is automatically up-to date across all referral directories. GPs legacy address books are not automatically updated, nor do they allow specialists to differentiate their unique services or the reputation they have worked hard to build.
Business Unit Manager, Practitioner Solutions at Healthshare, Rhys Staley recommends Specialists verify their details at least a few times a year.
“It is common for Specialists to add new practice locations, upload patient ratings, update their qualifications and add additional special interest areas so we always advise them to verify their details with Healthshare,” he says.
Another benefit of verifying these details is that the reach for Specialists extends beyond MedicalDirector GP software. The directory is also available on Healthshare’s consumer platform, visited by over half a million patients and consumers per month, and in the Practitioner Directories of Australia’s leading Private Health Insurers.
And unlike traditional forms of Specialist-to-GP engagement, Healthshare’s Referrals Directory enables GPs to access Specialist details when they are in consultation with patients. GPs can also write referral letters, view contact details and email referral information to patients from within MedicalDirector.
In the last 12 months, patients and GPs ‘clicked to call’ a healthcare practitioner 1.7 million times across Healthshare’s GP and consumer platforms, Healthshare reports. This is a powerful metric for Specialists looking to increase their reach to patients and referring GPs, so there’s no better time to ensure details are up to date and live in the directory.
To verify your details, search for your name on Healthshare and follow the ‘Claim your profile’ prompts, located in the Bio section. If you have already claimed your Healthshare profile, simply log in and edit your profile.
