Clinical Advice & Guidance™
Advanced technology that enables seamless, real-time communication between healthcare providers
What is Advice & Guidance™?
Advice & Guidance™(A&G) is a secure digital product, delivered through Consultmed’s platform. It enables primary care providers to seek rapid clinical advice from hospital specialists. Instead of referring a patient straight to an outpatient clinic, GPs and other primary care providers can send a structured query through the platform and receive tailored guidance, often within days.
Advice & Guidance™ models have been adopted worldwide and are sometimes called eConsultation or secondary consult. Evidence shows they improve access to specialist advice, reduce pressure on outpatient clinics, and enhance patient and provider satisfaction.
Why health systems are adopting Advice & Guidance™
- Faster access to expertise
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GPs and other primary care providers (e.g. nurse practitioners, allied health, pharmacists) receive timely input from specialists, with median response times typically 1–2 days.
- Managing demand on clinics
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Many queries can be resolved digitally, helping hospitals reduce pressure on outpatient appointments.
- Better care in the community
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Patients avoid unnecessary hospital trips and continue care with their trusted primary care provider.
- Smarter triage
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Specialists can review queries digitally and prioritise patients based on urgency, so those most in need are seen first.
- Secure image and document sharing
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Primary care providers can attach photos, scans, and reports, giving specialists the context to provide safe, tailored advice.
- Data and insights for improvement
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Health services gain visibility into referral patterns, outcomes, and feedback to guide service planning.
Intelligent virtual triage
Advice & Guidance™ supports healthcare providers to triage patients digitally using customisable referral access criteria and data-driven insights. Specialists can review requests, assess patient needs, and prioritise care according to urgency.
This helps hospitals manage demand more effectively, while allowing patients most in need of care to be seen first.
Share imaging and diagnostics
Advice & Guidance™ makes it simple to share the right clinical context with every request. Healthcare providers can securely upload diagnostic reports and clinical images, including DICOM file types, for specialist review.
Attachments can also be added directly from GP, allied health and specialist practice management systems, reducing duplication and saving time by pulling files straight from the clinical record.
QR scanning technology allows for pictures and documents to be uploaded directly using a phone camera. Files are sent securely to the platform without being stored on the device.
All attachments are managed through Microsoft Azure’s cloud health services, with full data protection, compliance with local privacy regulations, and accessibility for authorised users.
Strengthening multidisciplinary care with case conferencing
Consultmed’s Advice & Guidance™ platform embeds Case Conferencing directly into the referral workflow, making multidisciplinary collaboration simple and secure.
With a single click, services can start a Case Conference, notify the referrer, and invite specialists, allied health providers, nurses, and GPs into one shared thread. All discussions are securely captured, time-stamped, and exportable as a PDF, while outcomes flow back into GP and specialist practice management systems.
This enables active collaboration, less duplication, and better coordinated care for patients.
Provider and patient feedback
Advice & Guidance™ includes feedback tools that capture how the service is working for both clinicians and patients.
- Provider feedback shows how advice influenced care, whether a referral was avoided, and how requesting providers rate the specialist response.
- Patient feedback (via SMS or email) gives families a chance to share their experience, helping services understand the impact on care.
Together, these insights create a continuous improvement loop that strengthens the service over time.
Case Study: Mater eConsultant Service
Mater eConsultant is a Queensland state-wide service that provides primary care providers with rapid access to hospital specialists through Consultmed’s Advice & Guidance™ platform. Covering eight specialties (endocrinology, cardiology, dermatology, nephrology, haematology, respiratory and sleep, neurology, and obstetric medicine), the service delivers a mean response time of 1.7 days.
Results have shown around 82% of requests avoid a face-to-face appointment and 66% lead to a change in patient care, keeping patients supported locally while reducing travel and unnecessary clinic demand.
Bring Advice & Guidance™ to your service
Contact us to learn more about our work with hospitals and health services to make specialist advice accessible to primary care providers, reduce pressure on clinics, and improve care for patients.