Over the past year, the Outpatient Reform Directorate within the WA Department of Health has developed SmartForms to improve how referrals into WA public outpatient services are generated, submitted and allocated to hospital sites.
Four SmartForms have been developed and are ready to pilot. These forms include a:
- generic adult referral form
- generic paediatric referral form
- urology referral form
- direct access to gastrointestinal endoscopy referral form.
The SmartForms are accessed via HealthLink from within the Best Practice, Medical Director, Genie and Communicare practice management software and have many advantages, including:
- auto-population of the patient demographic information, medication lists and past medical history into the body of the referral
- prompts for relevant clinical information
- embedded referral access criteria
- ability to attach documents such as pathology & imaging reports
- visibility of the status of each referral.
The ability to provide additional information in a pre-existing referral form, negating the need to submit an entirely new referral. This new way of submitting an outpatient referral is intended to reduce the administrative burden on GPs with the current referral processes and to reduce number of referrals that are returned to GP clinics.
Last month the WA Department of Health circulated an Expression of Interest to general practices to ascertain interest in participating in the pilot. Of the 30 submissions received, 21 GP clinics and Aboriginal Health Services from across Western Australia have been selected by WA Department of Health to participate in the three-month pilot commencing in September.
From Newman in the East Pilbara, to Albany in the Great Southern and Tjuntjuntjara in the Great Victoria Desert, the perspectives of metropolitan, regional and remote GP practices will be represented.
At the conclusion of the pilot in November, WA Primary Health Alliance will work with the WA Department of Health to evaluate the outcome of the pilot study. The results will inform future approaches to introducing SmartForms across Western Australia.
Update from WA Health on public outpatient Referral Access Criteria
The approach to Referral Access Criteria (RAC) is being refined to align with the broader Outpatient Reform strategic direction, supporting more consistent, equitable and patient centred processes and improving the experience for patients navigating outpatient care.
This includes a shift towards delivering referral guidance through digital SmartForms via HealthLink, supporting improved referral quality and more efficient outpatient care across Western Australia.
The following direction has been agreed:
- RACs will no longer be mandated requirements through the Central referral Service, but will continue as clinical guidance as of 30 October 2026.
- Priority will shift to SmartForm development and digital integration.
- Existing RAC content will be progressively incorporated into SmartForms.
- Triaging clinicians can continue to use RACs to support referral and triage decisions.