Download and use
The HMR referral form, and the templates that fill it in for you
You do not need our form. A Home Medicines Review referral can be a letter on your own letterhead. What you do need is the right information on it, and a way of sending it that does not cost your reception staff 10 minutes. Both are below, free, with nothing to sign.
Templates
Install once, then it is 2 clicks forever.
Each of these is a word processor template for your clinical software. It auto-fills the patient demographics, the medicines list and your provider number from the record you already have open, so the only thing you type is the reason for referral.
Best Practice
Save into your Word processor templates folder, then it appears under Letter, New, Templates.
MedicalDirector
Import through Letter Writer, Templates, Import. Nothing else to configure.
Zedmed
Add through Clinical, Tools, Letter Templates. Works with the standard merge fields.
Using Helix, Medtech Evolution or something else? Ring us and we will build the template for your system and send it back the same day. There is no charge for that either.
If you would rather write your own
What has to be on the referral.
There is no prescribed national form. A referral is valid if it carries the information the reviewing pharmacist needs to do the job and the information the program needs to pay for it.
If something on this list is missing we will ring the practice rather than send the referral back, so nothing sits in a queue waiting on a detail.
- Patient name, date of birth and address, and a contact number we can actually reach them on
- Medicare or DVA number
- Referring GP name and provider number
- Date of the referral. The 90 day clock starts here
- Reason for referral, which is the assessment item 900 asks for: a chronic condition or a complex regimen, with therapeutic goals not being met
- Current medicines list, including doses
- Relevant history and recent pathology, particularly renal function
- Allergies and adverse reactions
- Patient consent to the referral, and whether it covers My Health Record
Sending it
Four ways, all of them fine.
Use whichever your practice already uses. We are not going to make you adopt a portal.
HealthLink
Straight out of your clinical software. Same as any other secure referral.
Medical Objects
Also native. The report comes back down the same channel.
ReferralNet
Supported, including for the returned report.
Phone
Ring 1800 701 520 and we will take the details and send you a written confirmation.
Receipt is confirmed the same day. You will know the referral arrived, who it was allocated to, and roughly when the visit will happen, without having to chase anyone.
Questions about referring
Is there an official HMR referral form?
No. There is no single prescribed national form. The Program Rules require the referral to contain enough clinical information for the review, and MBS item 900 requires you to provide the relevant clinical information. A letter on your own letterhead is perfectly valid. The templates on this page simply save the typing.
How long is an HMR referral valid for?
The patient interview has to take place within 90 days of the referral date. After that the service cannot be paid for under the program and a new referral is needed. We track the expiry on every referral we hold and chase it before it lapses.
Can a pharmacist or the patient start the referral?
No. A Home Medicines Review has to be initiated by a medical practitioner. A pharmacist cannot self-refer and neither can the patient. Patients can and do ask their GP for one, which is usually how it starts.
Does the patient have to consent before you contact them?
Yes. Consent to the referral is part of item 900. We confirm it again when we ring to arrange the visit, and we take written consent at the visit itself.
What happens after you get the referral?
We confirm receipt with the practice the same day, ring the patient to arrange a time, visit them at home, and send the written report back to you within 7 days of the visit. Then we ring you to discuss it, which is the part item 900 requires.
Do you send the report back through the same channel?
Yes, unless you tell us otherwise. HealthLink in, HealthLink out. If you would rather have it another way, the practice preference sheet in the free practice kit lets you set that once and we honour it every time.
Send one and see
One referral is enough to judge the report, the turnaround and whether it saves you anything.