Argus for Medical Specialists

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Would you like to be able to send your medical letters and reports to your referring doctors by a simple means that will make your referrers' lives easier and probably reduce your costs?
Would you like to be able to receive referrals and progress letters from referring doctors, pathology and radiology reports, discharge notifications and hospital discharge medical summaries, all by electronic communication using the same simple mechanism?
Would you like to be able to view the reports, file them, and be able to retrieve them on your computer simply and safely?
Argus is a software product that can provide all these facilities and is growing rapidly in popularity amongst GPs, specialists and hospitals, designed specifically for clinical needs.

Not only can Argus be used to send specialist reports to referring doctors but it can also deliver to you pathology and radiology reports, hospital discharge summaries and notifications etc, all at almost no cost to you.
You can use any of the most popular clinical software packages to create your report letters and other clinical correspondence and send these directly from within your letter writing facility via secure email using Argus. The list of clinical software packages that achieve this is expanding all the time.
Alternatively, if you do not operate an electronic patient record system you can still send your reports electronically, simply by having Microsoft Word® connected to Argus. Similarly, specialists without a clinical records system may still receive electronic referrals as well as pathology and radiology reports using a free document viewer called ArgusMail.

Key Benefits

• For many thousands of specialists and GPs, Argus software is available free of charge.
  
• There is no paying per message for sending or receiving messages by anyone: GP, specialist pathology practice, radiology provider or hospital.
• When Argus is used between a specialist and a GP, there is no need to scan documents; details are loaded directly into a patient record on the existing clinical system.
• Argus seamlessly integrates with existing email services, internet service providers and clinical software.
• Argus uses HeSA (HIC) approved methods for securing data transfer and encrypting records; it is the same encryption process as HIC Online, so if you are using HIC Online you are ready to start using Argus now.

What is Argus?

Argus is a program that provides safe, simple and secure transfer of clinical and patient data via email.
It runs on any doctor's computer alongside existing software that you use and enhances internet email with additional features for clinical needs such as security through use of PKI encryption, HL7 Standard formatting of the clinical data for computer-to-computer interoperability and additional mechanisms that ensure all documents are received reliably by the intended recipient.
ArgusMessenger is the core of the Argus product which manages the sending and receiving of encrypted messages.  Argus software is licenced free of charge to specialists in Australia.
Because Argus uses open, commonly-used internet technologies (e.g. email), other doctors and healthcare organisations can implement Argus easily and cheaply. Also, doctors can use any Internet Service Provider they choose, and may utilise either dial-up or permanent broadband connection.

Argus Features

• Utilises standard internet email to send and receive clinical messages.
• Adds PKI encryption and assurance of message delivery for additional security, especially for clinical requirements.
• Can be used with dial-up or broadband internet connection.
• Interfaces with a wide range of clinical software for receiving clinical reports and sending documents plus an exclusive Argus/Microsoft Word interface for practices with a medical typist.
• Runs on most Windows, Macintosh or Linux computers.
• Provides a local address book of clinicians and organisations with access to their PKI public key to encrypt their messages plus recipient email addresses.
• Access to an Australian Argus Users Directory via the internet to update address book entries.
• The software is licenced free of charge to specialists.

How can Argus help me?

Argus helps your practice by using the existing technology solutions you have in place to send and receive secure and encrypted data to the health professionals you wish to report to and receive reports from.
If your referring GPs are pressing you to start sending reports to them electronically, Argus is the ideal solution for you. It is inexpensive for both your practice and the GP practice, it is secure and it is reliable. More importantly, GPs prefer receiving reports via Argus because reports can be automatically inserted into their patient record system rather than requiring time-consuming cutting and pasting which would be necessary if ordinary email was used.
A growing number of specialists are choosing to send reports electronically rather than by mail, and in those cases, the specialists are enjoying significant reductions in postage costs.
In addition, by using Argus, it is possible for you to receive pathology and radiology reports from diagnostic service providers that have adopted Argus as one of their means for distributing reports. The list of providers that are adopting Argus is growing rapidly. This means of receiving reports can be more efficient and convenient and the filing and retrieval of patient reports can be greatly improved.
Once you have started using Argus, the range of communications can be expanded as more and more other medical providers start using Argus and commence sending and receiving documents in the same way.
The aim of Argus is not to change the way you work, but to make the administrative and referral work you do easier, faster and more reliable.

Security Highlights

Argus encrypts all data sent by email and decrypts all received messages using HeSA Public Key Encryption. The HeSA PKI system is the same as used by the HIC for their electronic claiming through 'HIC Online'.
Security of sending clinical data is also dependent upon ensuring that anything sent is actually received by the intended recipient. Argus utilises the international Standard HL7 method of ensuring that a message has arrived at the receiver's mailbox, by automatic acknowledgement of receipt by the recipient's Argus to the sender's Argus.

What support is available?

Product support is available to specialists during regular business hours (EST). Both phone Help Desk and email support are available.
There is a growing network of Argus Certified Installers who are trained in Argus installation and they can assist you in getting set up and started. Contact ArgusConnect for a referral to one of these Argus Certified Installers.
Regular updates to the product are issued periodically with enhancements that are based on user feedback and other identified opportunities to improve Argus.

Recommended Minimum Requirements for Argus Installation

It's easy to start using Argus, and if you use HIC On-line you probably meet the minimum requirements already.

• PC with Windows 98, 2000 or XP, Linux or Apple Macintosh with OSX - any PC in your network will do, Argus does not need a separate server
• Clinical software with pathology report receipt capability - PIT or HL7 format (most clinical software has this capability) or Microsoft Word® with special Argus template and interface
• Internet connectivity from you practice network - dial up or permanent connection with a speed of 28K up to broadband
• Email address for the practice, dedicated to clinical messaging (ie, different from doctor's or practice personnel email addresses)
• HeSA PKI certificates for the practice