CareConnect CMDHB

Being able to access a person’s full health information is vital if they are to receive better, sooner, and more convenient health care.  Big strides are being made in the electronic storage of health information so it can be accessed from any location by everyone caring for a person – including their GP, hospital doctor, nurse, specialist and pharmacist.

CareConnect is the new online information service provided by the DHBs for sharing information between primary healthcare and hospital services.  GPs may be familiar with the TestSafe service which has been renamed to "CareConnect TestSafe" to fit within the family brand that CareConnect incorporates.

Healthcare providers can now see the "full picture" of a patient’s recent and past test results, no matter who requested them.  They can use this information to make the best decisions about a patient’s care. 

CareConnect brings together a number of initiatives which are being demonstrated to help general practice and includes: 

• eReferrals – integrates with the GP PMS to generate and send referrals electronically, improving information transfer primary healthcare and hospital services.
   
• TestSafe – an electronic database that brings together results from DHB and community laboratories, DHB and community radiology services, along with records on medications dispensed from community pharmacies. This includes "CareConnect CMDHB", which provides access to additional hospital information for Counties Manukau GPs.
   
• eMedrec – part of the government’s National Mediations Programme (NMP), allows clinicians to see an up to date list of a patient’s medications and provides an alert for any discrepancies.
   
• Clinical Documents – an electronic filing cabinet of selected clinical documents that can be viewed by healthcare professionals involved in a patient’s care. 

It is the aim of the Ministry of Health National IT Board that by 2014:

• New Zealanders have electronic access to their own health information.
• All health professionals caring for a person, no matter where they are in the country, have secure electronic access to that person’s full health information.

CareConnect CMDHB

Discharge Summaries and Clinic Letters (including unapproved documents) in the Clinical Document Viewer (CDV)

Laboratory results in Web Éclair

Patient activity information (including clinic appointments and waiting list) in i.PM Web (aka PiMS)

Patient surgical notes in Plato

For more information and an overview of the additional information available to CMDHB GPs, see CareConnect CMDHB.