Patient Connect: Redefining Healthcare Conversations

Aim

To implement a secure, cloud-based messaging platform (Foxo) across key services within Gold Coast Health to streamline  patient communication, enhance traceability, and support scalable, sustainable models of care allowing chronic patients to communicate with the service to get information using their mobile devices without waiting on the phone for a long time or travelling.

Outcomes

• Faster triage and resolution of patient and family queries
• Improved visibility, traceability, and documentation of  communication
• Reduced phone/email volume and admin burden
• Flagging for billing opportunities via categorised, trackable communication
• Over 700 patients already benefiting, with strong feedback on ease of use
• Scalable model in place, with multiple services  already onboarded

Background

Effective communication between patients, families, and clinical services is a cornerstone of safe, timely, and person-centred  care. However, many Queensland Health services continue to rely heavily on traditional methods such as phone calls, voicemails, and emails. These channels often lack visibility, auditability, and structure—leading to missed messages, duplication, delayed responses,  and significant administrative burden. At Gold Coast Health, increasing service demand, growing complexity in patient needs, and heightened expectations around communication accessibility have further strained existing systems. Families have reported frustration  with long phone waits, inconsistent follow-up, and difficulty knowing who to contact and when. Staff, in turn, have faced workflow inefficiencies, communication siloes, and increased risk from undocumented or untraceable interactions.

To address these challenges,  Gold Coast Health identified the need for a modern, secure, and structured communication platform that could integrate with existing clinical systems and workflows. The solution needed to be easy to use, auditable, and flexible enough to adapt across services  with different communication requirements. Patient Connect from Foxo, a secure, cloud-based messaging platform, was implemented to streamline communication, reduce duplication, and enhance visibility and responsiveness. Initially implemented in Rheumatology,  Foxo’s benefits quickly became apparent, prompting expansion into Renal, General Medicine, and now, a staged rollout across the Child Development Service (CDS) and School-Based Youth Health Nurses. With over 700 patients already engaged via the platform and  overwhelmingly positive feedback, the initiative is demonstrating value at scale.

Discussion

The Patient Connect implementation has proven to be a scalable, efficient, and adaptable model for modernising clinical
communication. Its success is driven by strong clinician engagement, robust governance, and alignment with existing clinical systems and workflows.

Key enablers of success:

• Strong engagement and change management: Teams were involved early in co-designing  workflows, categorising common query types, and refining escalation protocols.
• Workflow integration: By embedding this platform into routine communication tasks and linking it to ieMR and ESM, staff could see immediate time savings and accountability improvements.
• Onboarding and support: Families and staff received clear onboarding guidance and ongoing support, ensuring the platform was understood and adopted confidently.
• Structured visibility: Message categorisation, audit trails, and dashboard reporting enabled  services to better understand demand, identify gaps, and prioritise effectively.

Lessons learned:

• Onboarding matters: Families needed support to understand response timelines, message appropriateness, and platform navigation.
• Not a live chat: Reinforcing  that Patient Connect is not an instant messaging tool was crucial to managing expectations.
• Sustainability needs structure: Ongoing governance, regular review of message categories, and data-informed tweaks were necessary to maintain momentum.
• Billing  opportunities exist: Although full billing integration is not implemented, categorised workflows allow services to flag potential revenue-generating interactions—especially important in resource-constrained environments.

Scalability and future potential:

The  platform is now in use across four clinical areas and is being evaluated in Rheumatology, Child Development and School-Based Youth Health. Over 700 patients are already using this platform, with families reporting improved access and ease of use. Pre- and  post-surveys planned for the rollout will assess satisfaction and system impact, generating evidence to guide future refinement and spread. The Patient Connect platform from Foxo has significant potential for statewide application across community, outpatient,  and inpatient services. With strong foundations already in place, future opportunities include linking with digital billing workflows and exploring AI-supported triage functionality.