PHN Exchange - Current licensing agreement#

PHNs using the PHN Exchange under current licensing agreements receive

  • Access to the fully hosted and supported web platform www.phnexchange.com.au
  • Hosted within Australian Territory and all data protected and is backed up through the Microsoft Azure cloud system
  • System uptime of 99.9% availability (as per Microsoft Azure hosting) https://azure.microsoft.com/en-au/support/legal/sla/summary/
  • One year of access, maintenance and hosting managed by PHN Exchange Developer staff

Support and resources#

PHN Exchange staff will assist you to configure and populate data into PHN Exchange, support and resources included in the licensing agreement include

  • Direct telephone support will be provided to key administrators PHN developers and systems support staff
  • Short ‘how to’ videos for your administrative staff to configure and manage data inputs into PHN Exchange

Each PHN governs it's own data and information#

For the components your PHN has licensed, your nominated staff are provided with administration access for your PHN, this gives you total control to

  • manage the connection of the PHN Exchange to your general practice extracted data base
  • input and manage your own specific data where required
  • manage your licensing agreements (EULAs, data sharing, consent) to relevant external parties

Automated features#

Once your administrator has connected the PHN Exchange to your general practice extracted data base, the PHN Exchange automatically;

  • creates individual practice areas within the PHN Exchange
  • populates information about practices in the practice profile
  • configures to generate individual practice reports
  • uses the same login and password as the PATCAT system
  • presents a general practice report to each individual practice when they login to the system
  • only allows a practice to view their own data
  • automatically aggregates and averages all practices using the PHN Exchange to provide benchmarking
  • automatic PIP QI dashboarding for PHN administrators

The ABS Atlas is a mapping system linked live to the Australian Bureau of Statistics data sets - the ABS atlas automatically displays the latest information available - information is available by region, PHN, LGA SA1/2/3 as ABS statistical areas

PHN Exchange developer staff will assist in automating as many data feeds as possible. However in many cases, the external custodians of these data sets do not provide interfaces allowing automation. Currently in Victoria is is possible to automatically update information for mthe Victorian Health Information Surveillance System (VHISS).

Minimum Requirements#

The PHN Exchange is a fully supported web based system. Access to most of the PHN Exchange is open to the community; permissioned login access is required to access restricted data.

Most web enabled devices are able to access the PHN Exchange. It is recommended that the most recent versions of web browsers are used.

Other systems used in conjunction with the PHN Exchange by PHNs are listed below. Each Practice Coordinator (the PHN staff member interacting with general practice) should check with their manager as to which systems their PHN uses and to which they need login access:

  • PHN Exchange – Administration status - GP data report;
  • PHN National SharePoint;
  • PATCAT;
  • PenCS Uploads dashboard;
  • POLAR Explorer;
  • Primary Sense;
  • Armchair Medical;
  • HealthPathways;
  • PHN Learning Management System;
  • PHN Stream in-house HOW TO videos.

Minimum proficiencies and knowledge base#

Practice Coordinators should know how to:

  • Access the PATCAT / Polar / Primary Sense;
  • Access the PHN Exchange GP Data report;
  • Compare key information to ensure the GP Data report is accurate;
  • Enable Practice Coordinator support of the Practices in their use of the PHN Exchange GP Data report.