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Point To Point (P2P) Service

Archived document

The HealthConnect NT Point to Point (P2P) service is being implemented by the Top End Division of General Practice and the Central Australian Division of Primary Health Care.

The P2P service provides an easy, fast and secure way of communicating between health providers. It uses existing email systems and provides encryption and proof of delivery. This means that transmitting confidential patient information using email is now secure.

Benefits of P2P:

Security: All messages are secured using Medicare Australia issued Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to encrypt clinical information.

Fast communication: Rather than hand deliver or wait for regular mail, email is virtually instantaneous.

Proof of delivery: Alerts advise whether messages have actually arrived and attempt to resend if they didn’t.

Integration: Messages can be configured to be sent directly from provider system clinical package and when messages are received they can be imported automatically.

Communications with NT Public Hospitals: Enables secure transmission to and from the hospital system to general practices including automated Emergency Department (ED) discharge summaries, inpatient discharge summaries, referrals in; Outpatients and radiology reports and notifications.

Health Provider Registry (HPRy): All participating health providers are able to access the HPRy as a contact database for referrals. This facilitates more timely and accurate transfer of clinical information via electronic documents such as referral letters, admission notifications, discharge summaries, specialist reports, medication charts, electronic scripts, medication contracts and general correspondence. The register includes GPs in the NT, SA, Broken Hill and the western regions of Victoria. It also includes all other health professionals in the NT who participate in the P2P service.

50 sites in the Darwin area are currently participating in the P2P project with implementation scheduled to accelerate now that a new version of Argus Messaging has been tested and functioning.

Implementation at Royal Darwin hospital is imminent with system testing finalised and working. This will facilitate implementation in all public hospital systems in the Territory.

The Electronic Transfer of Prescriptions (ETP) project reached a major milestone in December 2006 when the first prescriptions ever sent electronically in Australia incorporating the use of electronic digital signatures and secure messaging using PKI encryption were sent between 2 GPs, Terrace Gardens Aged Care in Palmerston and Stuart Park Pharmacy. During 2007, further pilots will lead to an expansion of the project and allow more GPs and pharmacists to participate.