Novari Health is pleased to announce that its Novari eRequest referral management and waiting list technology has demonstrated effectiveness in helping a major Australian health network centralise and improve organisational efficiency. The software is helping the endoscopy program at the Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN) to efficiently provide timely and appropriate patient care.  

Novari’s award-winning eRequest referral management and wait list technology has enabled CALHN to restructure its intake, triage, and wait list processes to eliminate the reliance on paper forms and ensure maximum efficiency, so patients aren’t exposed to unnecessary treatments and experience overall shorter wait times. 

As a result, CALHN is not only able to meet national clinical care standards, but also collect important evidence on the specific indications for colonoscopy, use of bidirectional endoscopy, and other key indicators that can help improve the care delivery.  

The technology is also leading to critical improvements in the referral process for routine gastrointestinal scopes, turning seven system entry points into a single, streamlined centralised queue.  

This digital-first transformation strategy has allowed the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital to revamp the way administrative, nursing, and medical staff work, resulting in improved efficiencies and care improvements that are aligned with international best practices and national guidelines.  

Key improvements achieved by Novari Health’s unique digital health solutions include:  

• An overall reduction in time from patient referral to pathway exit, with built-in mechanisms to identify any anomalies that need immediate attention. 
• A 40% reduction in referrals to gastroenterology and colorectal surgery specialty outpatient clinics since the pathway went live, thanks to improved triage processes. 
• A 25% reduction in referrals requiring a procedure, thanks to more consistent triage practices that are aligned with gold standard medical guidelines.  
• The elimination of paper forms. 
• Assurance that all notes made during triage and assessment remain linked to the referral for better documentation quality. 
• Enhanced patient experience, with the vast majority able to avoid unnecessary outpatient visits. 
• Easy and accurate visibility of referral on and off rates to help allocate staff resources.  

Referral workflows for these specialised services are complex, varied and still paper-based at most Australian hospitals. Leveraging artificial intelligence, the Novari Health technology provides frontline staff, clinicians, and administrators with accurate and real-time data on the volumes of referrals, the status of every patient’s referral, and the identification of bottlenecks in the system. 

The Commonwealth, states and territories, regional health authorities, and hospitals across Australia have been working to improve access to care for patients and reduce waiting times. Having a modern referral management, central intake, waiting list management, and electronic workflow system complements these efforts and helps embed practice aligned with standards.  

Novari Health’s innovative and unique access to care technologies are live at hospitals and regional health authorities across Canada, which has a similar health care system with many of the same challenges faced by Australia.  

Novari’s access to care platform is leading to improved care access, shorter wait times, and greater system efficiency, benefitting clinicians and patients in need of surgery, mental health and addictions support, cardiac care and more.  

Novari technologies are completely customisable, meaning they can be integrated with a variety of third-party systems, including PAS, eReferral systems, client registries, EMRs, etc. 

“At the end of the day, these improvements translate to better patient care. Our partnership with CALHN has been particularly rewarding as our highly adaptable technologies have enabled the transformation of their intake and referral management processes. The transformation streamlined workflows and removed paper-based processes for clerical staff, clinicians, and administrators,” said John Sinclair, CPHIMS, Chief Executive Officer, Novari Health.