Triton Hearing’s new ground-breaking store in the Auckland suburb of Newmarket is the first of its kind to open in the Southern Hemisphere.

Triton World of Hearing offers a completely new interactive experience when it comes to hearing checks and high-tech solutions.

E-Referrals can now be made to Triton World of Hearing using HealthLink’s CareSelect service.

Visitors to the new store use interactive screens to learn about the latest innovations in hearing technology. A team of expert audiologists is also on hand to help and offer advice.

The store, which opened in February, compliments Triton Hearing’s existing clinics around New Zealand, including its nine across Auckland.

Triton Hearing’s Audiology and Innovation Head Craig Lett says the new store offers a “surround sound experience” for people looking for solutions to hearing difficulties.

Many Kiwis are reluctant to seek help for hearing difficulties because they worry about being thought of as “old”.

“It’s very much a hidden health issue. Almost 900,000 Kiwis, or about one in six, suffer from hearing difficulties and many people put off seeking help because of the stigma associated with hearing loss,” Craig says.

Hearing loss can impact wellbeing

Craig says even mild cases of hearing loss can significantly affect a person’s health and wellbeing.

“People who struggle to hear can become socially isolated. They often don’t interact with others as much as they used to and, for some, this can lead to depression.”

Research shows that on average people wait seven years to seek help for hearing issues.

“Loud noise and age are the most common factors leading to hearing difficulty, but most people even in their twenties are no longer able to hear high frequency sounds.”

As well as the stigma associated with hearing loss, Craig says cost and accessibility to care are also barriers to seeking help.

“For people who worry about being seen as old, we have totally invisible hearing aid options which can connect to phones and live stream music.

“For those concerned about cost, we offer a ‘Pay as you Hear’ subscription service across all levels of technology which customers can pay in monthly instalments.”

How to refer to Triton World of Hearing:

• open the patient record
• select the HealthLink icon
• use the CareSelect search bar, type “Triton Hearing”
• click “Compose Referral”.

E-Referrals to Bowel Cancer New Zealand can now be made using CareSelect.

Referrals were previously sent via email, phone or Bowel Cancer New Zealand’s website.

Bowel cancer is the second highest cause of cancer death in New Zealand and kills as many people as breast and prostate cancer combined. And we have one of the highest rates of bowel cancer in the world.

Bowel Cancer New Zealand nurse support co-ordinator and registered nurse Victoria Thompson says that while these statistics are sobering, there is hope.

“Bowel cancer is treatable and beatable if it’s detected early enough,” she says.

“The more people affected by bowel cancer that we can support, the better. The new e-Referral form will make it easier for patients to be referred to us so they can get the support they need.”

Variety of support available

Bowel Cancer New Zealand provides support for people living with bowel cancer and those recovering from treatment, as well as their whānau.

“We offer funded support in the form of free rehabilitative physiotherapy and counselling sessions, as well as support services, resources and patient and whānau support groups.”

Victoria is also available to answer non-urgent inquiries via the website, the 0800 BCNZ NURSE phone number or email, Monday to Thursday from 10am-4pm.

Bowel cancer affects any age group

Victoria says bowel cancer can affect anyone at any age.

“Bowel cancer is not just something elderly people can develop. It also affects a lot of young people too. Around 30 Kiwis aged 50 or under are diagnosed with bowel cancer each month.”

She says it’s crucial that people are aware of the symptoms of bowel cancer, which may include:

• rectal bleeding
• change of bowel motions/habits that come and go over several weeks
• anaemia
• severe persistent or periodic abdominal pain
• a lump or mass in the abdomen
• tiredness and loss of weight for no obvious reason.

Bowel Cancer New Zealand’s Never Too Young campaign runs through the month of August and highlights the fact that bowel cancer affects young people too, she says.

“If a young person presents with bowel cancer symptoms, it shouldn’t be dismissed because of their age. It should be investigated further.”

How to refer to Bowel Cancer New Zealand:

• open the patient record
• select the HealthLink icon
• use the CareSelect search bar, type “Bowel Cancer New Zealand”
• click “Compose Referral”.

My Aged Care e-Referral Q & A with Dr. Eric Davey

Dr Eric Davey has been working as a GP at Clarence Medical Centre in Maclean, NSW for nine years. He’s been using My Aged Care e-Referral forms for a few months now and highly recommends them to other practices.

What are the benefits of using My Aged Care e-Referrals?

I can ensure the information I feel is important is included and I’m confident the information is going directly to My Aged Care. The e-Referrals are also confidential and easily amended.

What’s the number one thing you love most about them?

I get to determine which information is passed onto the My Aged Care team.

How did you previously send referrals?

I faxed them using a template in our medical software.

How does faxing compare with the new e-Referral form?

Faxing was much more time-consuming and less flexible.

Can you imagine going back to the old way?

No.

How do e-Referrals benefit patients?

E-Referrals expedite the referral process so patients are assessed much quicker.

How many e-Referrals do you send on average each week?

About one per week.

How much time do you save using e-Referral forms?

I save about 10-15 minutes per referral.

Are they user-friendly?

Yes.

Did it take long to learn how to use them?

No.

What practice management system do you use?

Best Practice.

Would you recommend e-Referral forms to other practices?

Yes, because e-Referrals can be done seamlessly within a normal consult.

The use of My Aged Care e-Referral forms is continuing to increase across Australia with more than 2,000 general practices now using them to refer patients.

In total, over 20,000 My Aged Care e-Referral forms have been submitted since the national service launched in September 2019. More than 90 new practices are signing up each month to use the solution.

My Aged Care is the entry point for older Australians to access government-funded aged care. My Aged Care e-Referral forms use HealthLink technology developed by health IT solutions company, Clanwilliam Health.

My Aged Care e-Referral forms are integrated into practice management systems, allowing patient information to be pre-populated, which saves time and reduces the risk of data input errors.

This integration means the forms take only a few minutes to complete and are processed instantly once submitted to My Aged Care. This is the fastest, easiest, and most secure way to refer patients to My Aged Care.

Clanwilliam Health’s My Aged Care account manager Jean-Christophe Meunier says feedback from GPs and the My Aged Care online service team has been overwhelmingly positive.

“GPs have commended being able to pre-populate data from the patient’s record. This makes the referral process much faster, especially when compared to sending referrals by fax or via the My Aged Care website.”

He says the My Aged Care team can process e-Referrals quickly and efficiently at their end.

“e-Referrals remove additional manual processing of patient referrals meaning a large reduction in waiting time for patients to be referred for an assessment,” Mr Meunier says.

Glowing feedback from users

Chandlers Hill Surgery in South Australia was part of the 2019 pilot programme trialling My Aged Care e-Referral forms and has continued using them ever since.

Nurse manager Casey Franchi says she would recommend the forms to any general practice.

“Life is so much easier now… the time saved means I can focus on the important stuff like caring for patients and not filling out forms.”

Dr William Poh from Malvern Road Medical Centre in New South Wales says the forms mean it’s “quick and easy to complete a complex referral”.

Practice manager Kay Stragalinos works at Station Square Medical Centre in Victoria and says My Aged Care e-Referral forms reduce a lot of doubling up.

“It makes referrals to My Aged Care so seamless, being integrated into our medical software. We love how it auto-populates patient information and that we can attach relevant documents.”

My Aged Care e-Referral forms are easily accessed from the four main practice management systems used in Australia – Best Practice, Medical Director, Genie and Medtech.

Thinking outside the box

Thinking outside the box is nothing new for health IT company, Clanwilliam Health. But its latest software development is literally doing just that.

Clanwilliam Health has developed HealthLink SecureIT Cloud, which enables health professionals in New Zealand to access the private Connected Health network from the Cloud.

Health professionals have traditionally needed a HealthLink SecureIT Gateway black box physically installed on their premises to access Connected Health.

Connected Health is a standards-based, commercial model for the delivery of universal connectivity across the New Zealand health sector.

It operates over a network delivered by a number of private service providers and allows health professionals to safely share patients’ health information without using the internet.

New Zealand is the only country in the world that has a private network for transferring health information.

Busting the myth

Clanwilliam Health Chief Technology Officer John Carter says there is a myth that accessing Connected Health from the Cloud is impossible.

“That’s simply not true. We’ve developed the technology to connect to Connected Health from the Cloud in an affordable, secure and easy way,” he says.

Mr Carter says many organisations and businesses are moving to the Cloud and there’s been a lot of frustration with not being able to modernise the ability to connect to Connected Health.

“So, we came up with a solution with our Cloud-friendly deployment that’s the same cost as the black box. Plus, we will manage it for customers,” he explains.

He says health organisations and businesses wanting to move to the Cloud don’t have to worry now about not having access to Connected Health.

“It’s affordable, easy to do and you’ll still have the ability to do exactly the same things.”

He says the entire health sector will benefit from this development.