The Provider Connect Australia (PCA) program has celebrated its first allied peak body registration in its first year since inception, with the Australian Podiatry Association (APodA) signing up to the business information service.
A “foundation program” of the National Digital Health Strategy, PCA’s platform provides a safe and secure network for healthcare providers and organisations to maintain accurate and up-t0-date information about their services and available practitioners.
With APodA joined by healthcare technology company, Foxo, as the latest to register for the network, PCA has managed to double the number of healthcare services registered on its platform in the last six months, hitting 3,638 on 27 March.
“Our initial focus has been on supporting GPs and pharmacies to register but they are not the only healthcare providers that face large amounts of paperwork whenever health professionals join or leave their employment,” Australian Digital Health Agency Acting CEO, Peter O’Halloran, said.
“APodA’s registration to the PCA network underscores this service’s crucial role in ensuring the broader healthcare sector can benefit from the improved accuracy of provider and practitioner information, the reduced duplication and the streamlining of notifications that PCA offers.”
PCA has also seen a rise in the number of business partners signing up to the free service to keep connected with healthcare providers and streamline administrative information tasks.
“We can make significant strides forward by recognising how digital initiatives like Provider Connect Australia can reshape this landscape. It presents the profession with a clear opportunity to revolutionise how podiatrists manage their administrative requirements, alleviating some of the challenges,” APodA CEO, Hilary Shelton, said.
“The enhanced accessibility provided directly via PCA to Foxo’s community network plays a pivotal role in fostering external, real-time collaboration between healthcare disciplines including: primary, such as general practice and allied health; pharmacy; secondary care; and diagnostics,” Mani Sahihi, co-founder of Foxo, said.
“Almost 70 percent of the Australian healthcare and social assistance workforce is employed outside of the hospital environment and having a seamless, secure path of communication between these workforces and the hospital workforce is critical.”
