Clinical Information Systems provide connection to other digital health products and can improve and support administrative, clinical and service evaluation tasks while enhancing client experience and compliance with legal and best practice requirements.

Whether you’re selecting a system or reviewing your current setup, this page provides practical guidance to help your decision making.

 

What are Clinical Information Systems?

Clinical Information Systems (CIS) is the preferred term for software that supports operational and clinical care management in an allied practice. They are also referred to as practice management systems or electronic health record systems.

A CIS may include features that help with:

  • Clinical documentation

  • Administration tasks such as appointment scheduling and reminders invoicing

  • Compliance requirements such as meeting privacy and security requirements, data reporting and auditing

  • Quality improvement: tracking outcomes at client, practitioner and practice levels

  • Communication: creating and sharing of documents and information with client’s, their care team, other health professionals and systems such as My Health Record.  

Why allied health practices need a CIS

Clinical Information Systems play an important role in supporting everyday practice.

They can help:

  • Maintain clear and consistent clinical records

  • Improve efficiency across administration, client information gathering and recording, reporting, referrals, communication with care teams and clients, data collection and analysis and compliance requirements

  • Support continuity of care across providers and integrate allied health professionals into multidisciplinary care teams

  • Enable safer sharing of health information

  • Improve service quality to encourage practice growth and enhanced client experience

  • Access and share information via national digital products.

Choosing software that supports connected care

Not all clinical information systems support connection to national digital health products and/or the ability to share important consumer information between systems.

Choosing software that supports these connections helps ensure your practice is ready to participate in safe, secure and coordinated care; improving the professionalism, digital visibility and recognition of your service.

Software which is connected to and enables the use of national digital health products is referred to as conformant software.  

The Australian Digital Health Agency maintains a register of conformant software that can connect to and enable use of My Health Record, secure messaging and electronic prescribing.

Please note:

Some software products may allow connection and use via third party apps, you need to check with software vendors directly to determine these options.

Vendors participating in the Australian Digital Health Agency’s Software Industry Offer will soon be My Health Record conformant.

If your current software is not yet conformant, ask your vendor directly about their plans – this is a reasonable and important question when reviewing or selecting software.

view the conformance register
View the Industry offer list

What to consider when selecting a Clinical Information System

Selecting a Clinical Information System is an important decision for your practice. It should support your clinical work, day-to-day operations and connection to digital health products.

A checklist of features which may be included in a CIS are summarised below and in detail in a downloadable PDF. Not all CIS include all features.

This information can guide conversations with software vendors as you determine which CIS will best meet your needs.

Use the list to identify and prioritise CIS requirements relative to:  

  • Your clinical and administrative needs

  • Practice size and team structure

  • Budget, including setup and ongoing costs

  • Integration with other tools you already use

  • Availability of training and support

  • Ability to connect to digital health products, including conformant software

Hardware requirements

Supports your digital foundations and system performance

    • Does the system work across devices such as laptops, tablets and phones?

    • Is it compatible with different operating systems?

    • Can it be accessed securely from different locations if needed?‍

    • Is the system cloud-based, locally hosted, or both?

    • Is data stored in Australia or offshore?

    • Are there clear data backup and recovery processes?

    • Can data be accessed across multiple locations or sites?

    • Does the system support remote or mobile access where required?

    • Can information be exported if needed?

    • Does the system perform efficiently during day-to-day use?

    • Are there delays when loading records or switching between screens?

    • Can it handle multiple users without slowing down?

Clinical functionality

Supports delivery of safe, high-quality care

    • Does the system support structured and consistent clinical data entry (and provide a link to our standards page)?

    • Can the system populate both publicly available mandated forms and customised forms as required?

    • Can outcomes be recorded and monitored over time in at consumer, practitioner and service levels?

    • Can valid and reliable PROMs and PREMs be integrated?

Practice management

Supports scheduling, billing and day-to-day operations

    • Does it support appointment scheduling and reminders?

    • Can it manage cancellations and rescheduling efficiently?

    • Can you communicate with clients in accessible formats according to their preferences?

    • Does it support Medicare, NDIS and private billing?

    • Are reporting functions available for business and clinical insights?

Digital health and interoperability

Supports connected care and information sharing

    • Does the system connect using conformant software?

    • Can you view and upload information within your workflow?

    • If your current system is not conformant, consider the long-term implications — future participation in My Health Record, secure messaging and electronic prescribing will depend on it.

    Find out more about My Health Record

    • Can it send and receive information securely with other providers?

    • Does the system support electronic prescribing? (Relevant for professions with prescribing rights, such as podiatrists and optometrists.)

    • Is it integrated with the national Active Script List (ASL)?

    Find out more about Electronic Prescribing

    • Does the system support HI Service integration, including Individual Healthcare Identifier (IHI) verification and provider identifiers (HPI-I / HPI-O)?

    Find out more about Healthcare Identifiers

    • Does it integrate with other digital software systems used in your practice?

Privacy & security

Supports safe and trusted handling of health information

    • Can access be managed by user role?

    • Are audit logs available?

    • How is data stored and protected?

    • Does it support your cyber security obligations?

Usability and support

Supports adoption and day-to-day use

    • Is the system intuitive for clinicians and admin staff?

    • Does it suit your practice size and structure?

    • What onboarding and training is provided?

    • Is ongoing support available when needed?

Download the full Clinical Information Systems Selection Checklist
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