Australia
New Zealand
Grampians Health is taking a major leap forward in modernising referral management with the rollout of HealthLink’s SmartForms eReferral platform, marking the organisation as the ninth Victorian hospital group to implement the solution. This move places Grampians Health alongside progressive health districts across Australia that are replacing legacy fax-based workflows with fully digital, secure, and integrated referral pathways.
Grampians Health launched the HealthLink eReferral system in April 2026, and impressive usage statistics have already been achieved, with 50 plus practices exchanging over 600 eReferrals. This builds on the momentum seen in Victoria and other states, where Grampians Health is adopting a solution proven to dramatically improve efficiency, visibility, and communication across the care continuum. HealthLink brings deep experience to this implementation, having already delivered SmartForm eReferral systems across Victoria since 2017, including Austin Health, Eastern Health, Northern Health, Monash Health, and others. Several of these services now accept only HealthLink eReferrals into their specialist clinics, reflecting strong GP adoption and trust.
In other implementations of the leading technology, clinicians have gained the ability to triage referrals from anywhere in the hospital, or even from home supported by comprehensive metrics and dashboards that improved service planning and workload management. These changes have provided such confidence in the digital process that many districts have made the decision to retire fax referrals entirely, making electronic referral the sole accepted method for external referrals
With a catchment of more than 400,000 people, the rollout represents a major step in improving the consistency, security, and efficiency of referral pathways across the Grampians region. Referencing the Cancer Services Optimal Care Pathways, and localised criteria, the initiative is backed by HealthLink’s extensive experience deploying eReferral solutions across Victoria.
For Grampians Health, the new platform will integrate directly with GPs’ practice management software, with demographic data, medical history, medications and alerts auto populated to streamline referral creation.
For Grampians GPs, this means:
- Seamless integration with Best Practice, Medical Director Clinical, Genie, Medtech Artia, Zedmed, Shexie Platinum, Communicare and more via HealthLink SmartForms
- Free access for all GPs — as with other SmartForms services in Victoria
- Consistent statewide and national experience, with HealthLink SmartForms already used for My Aged Care, Medicare Mental Health, Hearing Australia, Lifehouse Cancer Centre, Cervin S&R Private Specialist Referrals, and Transport for NSW Fitness to Drive assessments
With HealthLink’s acquisition of long-time regional messaging provider Argus, the organisation has also ensured continuity and support for referrers across the Grampians region who are transitioning to the new digital platform.
“A lot of hard work, dedication and trust goes into supporting GPs with a comprehensive eReferral service. Our goal has always been to enable a consistent, auditable and easy to use service from the safety of the GP electronic medical record system. It’s important we remain laser focused and build upon this step change in digital infrastructure to continue connecting more health service systems and workflows across Australia to deliver the best possible healthcare experience,” says Jean-Christophe Meunier, National Manager, HealthLink
“Our roadmap is driven by a set of key priorities that will transition HealthLink into a more modern, platform-based experience. At the centre of this is HealthLink Pro, alongside our next generation Portal and Directory Services, with a shift to a FHIR-first architecture. This is enabling faster network-wide communication, and stronger capabilities for organisations across the network, including GPs, Specialists and Allied Health to better manage workflows through features such as message tracking, analytics and streamlined administrative functionalities.
On eReferrals, with FHIR, we are strengthening interoperability and alignment with national infrastructure and provider directories. This is enabling richer two way communication, including referral updates, addendums, and eConsult Requests for Advice, while embedding state-wide referral access criteria directly into workflows. Clinicians are seeing more complete and consistent referral information, less manual handling and faster connections to the right services.
The result is a more connected and transparent referral experience, where communication flows both ways, directory information is accurate at the point of care, and organisations have greater visibility and control. This supports more consistent referral quality, reduces delays, and helps patients move more smoothly through the healthcare system,” says Sahif Ali, Product Director, HealthLink.
By implementing HealthLink eReferrals, Grampians Health is positioning itself at the forefront of digital healthcare delivery, improving patient experiences, strengthening communication between hospitals and primary care, and reducing the administrative burden for clinicians across the region.
