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- 1stGroup (1ST)has launched its St Vincent’s priority referral platform and a partnership with practice management software company Shexie
- Through the partnership, 1stGroup will market its MyHealth1st EasyReferrals product to the Shexie brand, allowing specialists, doctors and patients to access a digital medical referrals engine
- Already, 16 specialist practices have gone ‘live’ with the platform, which cuts down a specialist referral time from weeks or days to just a few minutes
- In other news from the company today, 1stGroup has succeeded in launching their live referrals database for St Vincent’s Priority in Sydney
- The hospital will now help patients find 21 different types of specialists for treatments in accordance with their availability, cutting down on the time required to book an appointment
- 1stGroup’s share price has jumped 2.74 per cent today as a result of the news, selling for 7.5 cents apiece at market close
It’s been a big day for digital health engine 1stGroup (1ST), with the launch of the company’s St Vincent’s priority referral platform and a partnership with leading practice management software company Shexie.
The ASX-listed company is focussed on building Australia’s leading digital health platform, MyHealth1st. They also operate a similar online referrals database for pets, known as PetYeti, as well as a corporate booking platform called GoBookings.
1stGroup’s share price has jumped 2.74 per cent today as a result of the news, selling for 7.5 cents apiece at market close.
Partnership with Shexie
1stGroup are poised to integrate their MyHealth1st platform with Shexie’s practice management software, providing patients with access to some 3500 medical specialists.
Through the partnership, 1stGroup will market its MyHealth1st EasyReferrals product to the Shexie brand, allowing specialists, doctors and patients to access a digital medical referrals engine.
The solution has been hailed as transformative, bringing the typical phone-and-address doctor’s directory from the pen and paper age into the digital world.
The EasyReferrals database will allow patients to customise their referral requests, see specialist’s availability in real-time and book appointments via an online portal.
Already, 16 specialist practices have gone ‘live’ with the platform, which cuts down a specialist referral time from weeks or days to just a few minutes.
“The existing GP to specialist referral process is ripe for disruption,” said 1stGroup managing director and co-founder Klaus Bartosch.
“The current process is a terrible experience for GP’s, patients and receiving specialists often resulting in significant unnecessary delays to care. The current process also often requires GP’s, their front desk staff or patients to shop around to find a suitable available appointment and a specialist with the right skills,” Klaus stated.
“Shexie have been fantastic to work with and were quick to engage with us. They really understand their market and, like us, they are eager to drive real transformation that benefits their customers, referring GP’s and patients,” he said.
Shexie has been in the business since 1998 and is currently the number 2 practice management software provider to the specialist market.
Randal Haligan, Co-Founder of Shexie, said he was excited to bring the MyHealth1st EasyReferrals product to the company’s customers
“Not only will our customers, who sign up to MyHealth1st, be able to receive referral bookings online 24/7 through their own websites via the MyHealth1st ‘Book Now’ facility, but GP’s will also be able to select specialists with greater accuracy and make bookings based on their availability through MyHealth1st.com.au,” Randall noted.
“We expect this will have a huge impact on improving patient care.”
St Vincent’s Priority Platform
In other news from the company today, 1stGroup has also succeeded in launching their live referrals database for St Vincent’s Priority in Sydney.
The hospital will now help patients find specialist referrals for treatments in accordance with their availability, cutting down on the time required to book an appointment.
The database also offers a ‘sub-specialty’ category which allows patients to select a specialist according to their expertise.
“The roll-out of our MyHealth1st EasyReferrals platform across the St Vincent’s Health network has validated our digital solution to this problem and demonstrated our ability to provide our services at scale,” Klaus continued.
Patients will be able to access specialists at St Vincent’s Priority from over 21 different categories – ranging from breast surgeons to cardiologists.
New software means those attending the St Vincent’s clinic can securely attach their referral documentation when applying to see a specialist, cutting out the hassle of attending and booking in person.
Lynne Fishwick, Director of Planning and Service Development at St Vincent’s
said the hospital had been looking for a partner to bring their vision for referral software to life, and that the team t 1stGroup knew exactly what they needed.
“We are delighted to launch Phase 1 and are now busy preparing the rollout of Phase 2 across the full private hospital specialist network over the coming months,” said Lynne.
