Change to “GP Appeals Form” for surgical “Procedures Not Funded to be Routinely Performed”
From the Tasmanian Department of Health:
Tasmania has a set of defined procedures not routinely funded in Tasmanian public hospitals. However, some procedures can occur in exceptional circumstances, see here: Planned Surgery Access Policy.
If a patient is referred to a public hospital for a procedure listed in this policy and surgery is declined, an appeal can be requested by the patient via their General Practitioner (GP). The ‘Request for review of surgical decision’ form is available in Healthlink eReferral Smartforms. For more information about eReferral, email providersupport@primaryhealthtas.com.au
For GPs without access to eReferral, the reason for appeal and the patient’s clinical history can be faxed to the outpatient fax of the public hospital to which the patient was referred, and will be forwarded to the Clinical Director of Surgery.
Current process
If a patient is referred to a public hospital for a procedure that is not routinely performed and is denied approval, an appeal can be requested by the GP for their patient using the “GP Appeals” Form. Until recently, the appeal was made through a link to an online form, which is being removed (see link at the bottom of this page: Waitlists and waiting times | Tasmanian Department of Health). The reason for this change is because the IT server that contains the form, and distributes it securely to recipients, is being decommissioned.
New Process
The new process for GP appeals is through HealthLink (eReferral platform):
- The GP selects ‘Request for review of surgical decision’ in HealthLink and completes form (live as of Wednesday 25th September).
- The eReferral is allocated to the relevant regional Clinical Director of Surgery for review.
- Communication with the GP will be managed through the Referral Management System by the Clinical Director of Surgery.
