Refer to Mater using secure messaging
You can now refer patients to Mater using secure electronic messaging. For GPs who already send with Medical-Objects or HealthLink, there are no additional costs to refer to Mater.
Upon receipt of your referral, you will receive an automated reply.
Secure messaging is available for public patients referred to the Mater Specialist Outpatient Clinics and Mater Mothers' Antenatal Clinics.
Please note: Referrals to the Emergency Department should not be sent to this address.
Where do I get templates and instructions?
Instructions and forms can be found by following the links:
- Mater Specialist Outpatient Clinic forms and instructions
- Mater Mothers' Antenatal Referral forms and instructions
Support
Referral enquiries and technical support
For information on referrals, criteria, scheduled appointments or technical support for our templates we have implemented a GP Priority phone line: 07 3163 2200.
General enquiries
For further information on the referral process and secure messaging at Mater please contact our General Practice Liaison Officer on:
E-health support for your practice
The Brisbane South PHN Digital Health team can provide additional support and resources for GP’s. For technical support and training, please contact your relevant secure messaging vendor.
Phone: 1300 467 265
Email: eHealth BSPHN
How do I send e-referrals via secure messaging?
The secure messaging addresses for Mater Outpatient Referral and Antenatal Clinic Referral forms are:
| Medical Objects ID | HealthLink EDI |
| HM4101000R8 | materref |
Our address can be found in the Medical Objects address book by searching 'Mater Brisbane Central Referrals'. It is also embedded in the template for your convenience Using the latest templates will ensure that your Medical Objects referral client can pick up the patient’s name correctly – this is the name you will see in your automated reply message | Instructions for adding our EDI in your address book can be found in the HealthLink support product guides for supported practice management software packages. If you have Medical Director and intend to send via HealthLink, you will need to contact us with your own HealthLink EDI address to receive the automated acknowledgment reply. Contact us on 07 3163 2200 and choose the Technical Support option. |
If you need assistance with Medical Objects, you can contact them by phoning 07 5456 6000 or via email Medical Objects Helpdesk For instructions on how to use Medical Objects as your referral client, please visit: Using the Referral Client - Knowledgebase - Medical-Objects Knowledgebase | If you need assistance with setting up your address book or sending via HealthLink, call 1800 125 036 or email HealthLink Helpdesk |
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the Secure Messaging address details for Mater referrals?
- If you use Medical Objects, please send to HM4101000R8, or search on 'Mater' in the Medical Objects address book and choose the address for 'Mater Brisbane Central Referrals'. Our Medical Objects ID is also embedded in our latest referral templates.
- If you want to send using HealthLink, please add the EDI 'materref' to your address book entry for Mater referrals.
- If you have Medical Director and are planning to send by HealthLink, please contact us so that we can set our system up with your HealthLink EDI address for your reply messages. Call the Priority GP Phone Line on 07 3163 2200 and choose the technical support option.
How do I upload the referral templates into my practice management system?
- There are instruction sheets available with the templates, found here.
- Tip: Referral templates should never be opened in Microsoft Word or any other application that the Practice Management System (PMS). Opening the template outside of the PMS will result in the data merge fields failing to populate the information from within the PMS. When downloading the templates, it is best to right-click then choose 'Save target as', which will help prevent accidentally opening the template in Microsoft Word.
- You can also contact your PMS vendor (for example Best Practice, Medical Director etc.) for assistance installing templates.
Why doesn't the referral template we installed automatically populate patient data?
The referral template has likely been opened in Microsoft Word which breaks the links for patient data updates. To resolve this, remove the template from the system, then upload again as per the instructions.
Can I send attachments or photos? How do I send an item that hasn't come across into the template?
Attachments and photos cannot be attached to the referral for electronic transmission. External correspondence or any investigation/s that doesn't come across from your PMS into the referral template will need to be faxed to Mater. The fax numbers are:
- Mater Specialist Outpatient Clinics: 07 3163 8548
- Mater Mother's Antenatal Clinics: 07 3163 8053
Why haven't I received a reply message (acknowledgement receipt) when I sent my referral by secure messaging?
- Please allow up to four hours from time your referral was sent before contacting us about a reply message.
- If you still haven't received a reply message after that time, it is worthwhile checking with your secure messaging provider that there is no issues with messaging in general at your practice.
- If you have ruled out general messaging issues at your practice, please contact us on the GP Priority Phone line: 07 3163 2200, choose the technical support option, and we will investigate further.
- If you have Medical Director and are planning to send by HealthLink, please contact us so that we can set our system up with your HealthLink EDI address for your reply messages. Call the Priority GP Phone Line on 07 3163 2200 and choose the technical support option.
I have received my automated reply, but it doesn't have the patient's name in the reply - it has some words from the referral, but not the patient's name - why did this happen?
This can happen if you use our old referral templates and send via Medical Objects. You need to install the latest referral templates for either or both Adult Outpatient Clinics or Antenatal Clinics.
We will have received your referral intact and the Referral Management Centre will still see the patient's name in the body of the referral - this only affects the name in the reply message sent back to you.
Why this happens:
Medical Objects looks for specific keywords in your referral text to help it extract the patient's name. If it can't find the keywords, Medical Objects gets confused and will select other words in the referral as the patient's name.
We have updated our latest Best Practice and Medical Director referrals to include these keywords:
- Patient details (we have inserted this at the top of the patient demographics section in our templates, which helps Medical Objects find the demographics in the referral text).
- Re: ("Re:" identifies to Medical Objects that it is a referral).
If you have updated to our latest referral templates and are still having this problem, please call the GP Priority Phone Line on 07 3163 2200. Select the option for template assistance, and we will investigate.
I have received my automated reply, and now I would like to know more about the status of my referral. How can I find out?
If you would like to check the status of a referral, whether your patient has an appointment, why a referral was rejected, or to discuss referral criteria you can do so.
- To discuss a referral to Mater Specialist Outpatient Clinics please phone the GP Priority phone line on 07 3163 2200
- To discuss a referral to Mater Mothers' Antenatal Clinic please phone 07 3163 8330.
Where can I get e-health support for my practice?
The Brisbane South Primary Health Network (BSPHN) digital health team can provide additional support, training and resources for GPs.
Contact details for the BSPHN digital health team are:
Phone: 1300 467 265
Email: ehealth@bsphn.org.au or visit their website
Web: https://bsphn.org.au/practice-support/digital-health
