What is SecureDome eReferral?
SecureDome eReferral is a secure, online service for referring patients and managing patient cases or care plans.

 

What is an eReferral?

An eReferral is an electronic referral, and is created via the SecureDome eReferral online service.

Who uses SecureDome eReferral?
Divisions of General Practice, health agencies, general practitioners, specialists and other health service providers all use SecureDome eReferral as a tool to create and manage referrals, patient cases (or plans) and to provide reporting.

 

How do I join SecureDome eReferral?
The SecureDome eReferral service is contracted at the Division of General Practice (DGP) or Agency level. This means that the DGP or Agency needs to have a contract with SecureDome before individual providers can use the SecureDome eReferral service. Unfortunately, we cannot take registrations from individual providers.

 

Why is SecureDome eReferral contracted at the Division of General Practice or Agency level?
The DGP or Agency needs to approve all users of the SecureDome eReferral service, as this is an end-to-end referral and data management system. By maintaining user access to the system, the Division or Agency ensures the most secure environment for the transmission of, and access to, patient data.

 

What do I need to do before joining SecureDome eReferral?
All users of the SecureDome eReferral service need to apply for an individual certificate from the Health eSignature Authority (HeSA) before they can access the SecureDome eReferral service. This includes staff from the divisions or agencies that will be Administrators in SecureDome eReferral. For more information or to apply for an individual health certificate, please visit http://www.hesa.gov.au

 

What is HeSA?
The Health eSignature Authority (HeSA) is the section responsible for Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) registrations in the health sector. Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is an Information Technology (IT) infrastructure that enables the secure exchange of data and has been adopted by the Australian Government to provide a robust system of security for online health transactions.

 

How does the SecureDome eReferral service work?
At a high-level, the user logs onto their computer using an individual certificate (smartcard/ikey) issued by HeSA (see previous FAQ). They then go to our SecureDome eReferral service at www.eReferral.com.au where we can detect that they have a certificate installed on their computer. We use this certificate to verify the credentials of the user against the HeSA server. Once the credentials of the user are verified, the SecureDome eReferral system ascertains the user’s role and allows the user to access the features of the system that the role is associated with.

 

What do I do once my HeSA individual certificate is activated and ready for use?
First, contact the project manager at the division or agency that you belong to. Once they have given clearance, please go to www.eReferral.com.au and click on the ‘log-in’ button. The first time you enter SecureDome eReferral, you will need to fill out a registration form. This form allows the division or agency to approve your access to the system.

 

How do I log-in to SecureDome eReferral?
There is no log-in to SecureDome eReferral. This means you don’t need to remember any user ids or passwords. As soon as you go to our website at www.eReferral.com.au and click on the ‘Log-in’ button we will detect that you have a certificate installed on your computer and we will authenticate you against the HeSA server. Once the authentication step is complete, you are automatically logged-in to the site and presented with the features available to your user type.

 

Does SecureDome eReferral require any other special computer software or hardware?
SecureDome eReferral does not require you to install special software or hardware. The service can be accessed using your usual web browser, so if you have Internet access and can surf the web, then you can access the SecureDome eReferral service. We recommend minimum browser versions as follows: Internet Explorer 6.0, Netscape Navigator X.0 and Firefox X.o

Please note: HeSA individual certificates do have minimum computer requirements for installation. Please go to HeSA http://www.hesa.gov.au for more information.

 

How secure is SecureDome eReferral?
SecureDome eReferral is one of the most secure health referral solutions on the market. It uses both encryption and authentication to ensure the security and privacy of patient data.

 

What is encryption?
Encryption is a method of scrambling data so that it becomes unintelligible. You have probably seen encrypted data before. It looks like this: agd6fweerahfusy6fhfjfjhsufist89t5r.

By encrypting data when it is passed between users and when it is stored in our databases, we ensure that unauthorised access will not result in breaches of sensitive information.

 

What is authentication?
Authentication is a means of ascertaining the identity of a user before allowing them access to information. SecureDome eReferral works by utilising government (Medicare) issued Health eSignature Authority (HeSA) individual certificates to authenticate users accessing our system.

 

What does a combination of encryption and authentication mean for patient confidentiality?
A combination of encryption and authentication means that patient information (such as name, address, date of birth and other identifying information) is only viewable by the referring GP and by the Specialist (referee). This is because the identifying data is only decrypted when the individual certificates of the GP and Specialist users are present and have been authenticated. In fact, not even the Division’s Project Managers or SecureDome technical developers can view patient information, as all information is stored in an encrypted format and can only be decrypted with the referring GP’s and Specialist’s individual certificates.

 

Who manages users on SecureDome eReferral?
The Project Manager at the division or agency usually manages users on SecureDome eReferral.

 

Is SecureDome eReferral convenient to use?
Yes, feedback from providers and divisions has been very positive. Because SecureDome eReferral is a web-based technology, the interfaces are user friendly and intuitive to use. SecureDome eReferral is such a professional-looking system that GPs create referrals in SecureDome eReferral while their patients are looking on.

 

Why should we use SecureDome eReferral over email?
Providers can encrypt information, such as referrals, and send it via email using their HeSA certificate. In the vast majority of instances, providers are responsible when dealing with sensitive information; however there have been cases where patient information has been sent via email in an unencrypted format, rendering the patient information available if intercepted over the Internet. Apart from the security concerns associated with sending information over the Internet, email programs do not allow providers or divisions to store and manage data in a central place. Email is merely a means of communication and is not a workflow or data management tool.

 

Who can receive referrals from GPs using SecureDome eReferral?
Specialists who have been approached by a division or agency to register for SecureDome eReferral can join this service and receive referrals from GPs via this service. Specialists may register under a number of divisions, and can thus increase the number of referrals they receive.

What training will SecureDome provide for SecureDome eReferral?
SecureDome will provide initial training sessions for all new users of SecureDome eReferral.

 

Please contact us for more information.