Digital preparedness

A key aspect of setting up a private practice is being digitally prepared. The ever-evolving digital landscape provides opportunities for private practice psychiatrists to manage their practice more efficiently, providing a better experience for patients.

This section provides an overview of being digitally prepared as a private psychiatrist. It includes:

introduction to key digital concepts and considerations
benefits and risks of technological systems.

Hardware and software for private practice

Hardware

Hardware refers to physical technology tools that run software, including:

Computer systems - for example, desktop computers and laptops.
Servers - servers are dedicated computer(s) used as a central repository for databases, interfaces, and applications. They can be housed and managed within your clinic, which will require dedicated space in your private practice that is secured away from patients and staff. Alternatively, servers can be housed and managed off site by a third party and accessed over a private network via the internet (for example, via an external data centre).
Network equipment - includes your modem, router and switch.
Peripheral equipment - includes printers, scanners, microphones and cameras.
Mobile devices - includes tablets, smartphones and remote monitoring devices.

If you require assistance setting up hardware in your private practice, it is recommended that you seek further guidance from an Information Technology (IT) professional regarding your specific requirements.

Software

Software refers to a set of computer programs and data that runs on hardware (i.e., a computer device).

Secure management of patient information

The secure management of patient information is a critical component of private practice. This involves the collection, storage, retrieval, definition, evaluation, protection, and distribution of patient health data using software. Tools and technology used to manage patient information can fall into three broad categories:

The collection, storage, and sharing of patient information.
The informing and supporting decision making.
The facilitation of care, expertise, and education.

If you require assistance setting up software in your private practice, it is recommended that you seek further guidance from an IT professional regarding your specific requirements.

Cloud computing

Cloud computing is the use of data storage, databases, networking, and software over the internet instead of being housed in your practice using hard drives on a computer.

When you are setting up your IT systems, it’s imperative to consider the benefits and potential security risks of cloud computing, including data breaches, ownership rights to the data and ongoing data access.

Cloud-based services can improve your practice’s ability to communicate and may increase efficiencies through:

sharing of records
the ability to access patient records outside of your practice
creating more flexible work practices through the ability to quickly and easily access data
regular and automated updates or upgrades included in your contract
improved backups and restoration that can be much simpler and timelier.

For more information, please see the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Information Security in general practice or contact an IT professional.

Information security

Your private practice will inevitably store highly sensitive data entrusted to you by healthcare consumers. Failure to implement information security processes may result in cyber-attacks, which could lead to significant financial loss, possible legal liability, reputational damage, and your customers’ personal information may be misused for fraudulent purposes.

For a guide on information security when setting up your private practice, please refer to the Australian Digital Health Agency’s Information security guide for small healthcare businesses.

For responding to a cyber-attack, please refer to the RACG’s Responding to a cyber security incident factsheet.

Clinical Information Systems (CIS)

Computer Information Systems allow clinicians to immediately access patient data such as clinical notes, lab reports, and medication history. The major aim of a CIS is to capture, store, process, and transfer patient information to clinicians in a timely manner to allow for rapid and correct decision making. A range of CIS products are available for clinicians in private practice. For psychiatrists in Australia, it is essential that the CIS is conformant with national digital health requirements.

CISs contain various capabilities such as being able to interact with other specialist software to send and receive secure messages (see secure message delivery below), generate electronic prescriptions (see electronic prescribing below), and link patient records with Healthcare Identifiers via the My Health Record system.

Examples of core functions of a CIS include the following:

Management of patient’s personal details and their demographic information
Recording healthcare and social history of the patient along with risk factors and allergies they may have
Securely exchange clinical and non-clinical information via a SMD
Management of patient medication and generation of electronic prescriptions via electronic prescription software.

Booking, billing and claiming systems

Your private practice will need systems to:

book patients
bill patients and issue receipts
interact with Medicare, including submitting claims.

Your patient booking system allows you to manage patient flow. You may want to integrate this with your CIS.

Your patient billing system should ideally be integrated with your practice management software to streamline your billing processes.

Health Professional Online Services (HPOS) is a secure way for health professionals to interact with Medicare, the following features include:

make online claims
view reports
manage your details
access patient information
access MBS and PBS functions
apply for subsequent provider number locations or close a location.

To register for HPOS, you need a Provider Digital Access (PRODA) account.

Provider Digital Access (PRODA)

PRODA is an identity verification and authentication system that enables clinicians to securely access Australian government online services.

These services include:

Health provider services

National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provider services

Department of Veteran Affairs provider services

To access the above services using PRODA, psychiatrists will need to register as an individual to get their own PRODA account. Please follow the instructions detailed by Services Australia to register for an individual PRODA account.

To access a service via PRODA on behalf of an organisation, the organisation must be registered in PRODA. Before you can register an organisation in PRODA, you will need to ensure that you have registered for an individual PRODA account, are an authorised contact/associate of the organisation as listed in the Australian Business Register (ABR), and the name on the organisations ABR matches your individual PRODA account name. Please see the instructions by Services Australia on how to register an organisation in PRODA.

Additional educational resources on PRODA and HPOS can be accessed on Services Australia using the links below:

Please visit Services Australia for instructions on how to manage your organisation in PRODA.

More information

Psychiatrists in Australia are recommended to seek further information on medical practice management, clinical information system, secure message delivery, and electronic prescribing software from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Information Security in general practice.

For information on technology and information management requirements in New Zealand, please see the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP), General Practice Ownership manual.

In developing these resources, the RANZCP has taken guidance from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Australian Digital Health Agency.