General Questions
Who is funding the HealthElink study?
Will it eventually cost GPs and patients to use the system?
Who will fund and sustain the system in the long-term?
Is the system secure? What about patient privacy?
What is HealthElink?
What is the HealthElink Study?
Can HealthElink be adapted or used for other diseases?
What are the potential benefits of HealthElink?
How can I be involved in the study?
GP Questions
What blood tests do I need to do prior to commencing treatment for Hepatitis C?
Is an APRI (AST : Platelet Ratio Index) sufficient for assessment of fibrosis prior to treatment?
Can my practice nurse enter patient details into the system?
How do I see and approve a treatment plan initiated by a nurse?
Specialist Questions
Can this system be used for nurse-led community treatment initiation?
How do I see and approve a treatment plan initiated by a nurse?
Who is funding the HealthElink study?
Currently the project is funded by four doctors with support from government (business innovative) and non government grants to develop the platform. We are also engaging the department of health and pharmaceutical companies for support to further develop and refine the platform, but it is with the understanding that they will no way interfere with the treatment algorithm which is based on national (ALA) guidelines. There will be no advertising from these companies on the platform.
Will it eventually cost GPs and patients to use the system?
No
Who will fund and sustain the system in the long-term?
Should the study display positive clinical and acceptability outcomes, we hope to source funding with our proof of concept data to allow GPs, other clinicians and patients to use it for free. Unfortunately, HealthELink will require funding to keep running (hosting, support). We hope this will eventually come from public sources (such as government). Other sources of funding that would be considered include department of health, primary health networks, hospitals through hospital avoidance and pharmaceutical companies.
Is the system secure? What about patient privacy?
Although no online system (including hospital, pathology and government databases) are 100% secure, the HealthElink system has been built with the highest security standards in mind. This includes storage on servers compliant to the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as well as database encryption to industry (256-bit key) standard. No clinical patient information is sent via email, and each user must login to the portal to view any information. This level of security may offer a higher degree of privacy that many traditional methods of communication such as email, fax and SMS. Only clinical information required for the purposes of treating hepatitis C by the treating specialist, nurse and GP is stored on the system (i.e. full medical records and other non-relevant history is not entered or stored).