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Primary Mental Health Care Information System

The Primary Mental Health Care Information System (PMHCIS) is a centralised national digital platform developed to support the delivery, coordination, and reporting of mental health intake, assessment, and referral services under the Medicare Mental Health initiative in Australia.

While built for Medicare-funded services, PMHCIS is highly adaptable — and can be used for other local mental health assessment and referral programs with similar workflow and data requirements.

What does PMHCIS do?

PMHCIS is a secure, web-based application designed to streamline the clinical workflow and support the following functions:

  • referral management
  • client intake, assessment, and referral
  • analytics and reporting.

Key features:

  • Interoperable design – Seamlessly integrates with clinical and reporting systems used by PHNs and service providers via secure APIs.
  • Client record management – Tracks consumer journeys across services — including assessments, referrals, and outcomes.
  • Real-time data collection – Enables timely, accurate reporting to support service planning, commissioning, and national performance monitoring.
  • Mental health eReferral – Enables providers to securely send referrals into the service, integrating with clinical systems for real-time referral tracking and faster service access.
  • Customisable workflows – Supports different service models across phone, digital, and in-person Medicare Mental Health services.
  • Secure access – Designed to meet the highest standards of privacy, confidentiality, and data governance. Fully aligned with the Australian Privacy Principles and ISO/IEC 27001 certification.
  • Standards-aligned and compliant – Uses national datasets such as PMHC-MDS and uses industry standards including FHIR.

PMHCIS in action

A closer look at the systems core workflows and functions:

Click here (.pdf) for more information

  • Why PMHCIS?

    The mental health sector faces challenges with fragmented systems, delayed data, and inconsistent reporting. PMHCIS solves these problems by providing a purpose-built, interoperable system that aligns national policy with local service delivery.

    PMHCIS isn’t just a data platform—it’s digital infrastructure that enables better mental health care coordination, faster access, and stronger outcomes.

  • Who uses PMHCIS?

    • Primary Health Networks (PHNs)
    • Medicare Mental Health centres and satellite sites
    • Commissioned mental health service providers
    • The Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, for analytics and performance monitoring.

  • Benefits by stakeholder

    Stakeholder Key benefits
    PHNs Unified data for commissioning, monitoring and evaluation
    Service providers Reduced administration burden, streamlined intake, better outcome tracking
    Clinicians Easier client navigation, less duplication, better visibility
    Government Trusted, real-time data for national planning
    Clients Faster, more connected access to mental health support

  • Implementation and support

    We provide end-to-end support including:

    • custom configuration
    • onboarding and training
    • technical support
    • data migration and system integration
    • ongoing updates and user feedback loops.

“The PMHCIS has been vital to share referrals in a fast and secure manner between key contact points within the network of providers. The system was designed around our needs. One of the standout features of this system is the support team, they provide more than support – they work to further develop and enrich the system as the service develops, which is not what you get when you buy a product off the shelf.”

Mental Health Manager, Access and Referral - EMPHN

  • More testimonials

    “PMHCIS helps us to manage, track and assess new referrals in complex ways. The support team are responsive and always helpful.” Paulette Belcastro, Clinical Lead, NWMPHN.

    “PHMCIS has been a solution that continues to provide opportunities for our clinical team to manage many stakeholder interactions for each client with a simple user friendly interface that makes tracking one client across their journey through service almost seamless. The ability to request customisations that are useful clinically and administratively has been a game-changer in the referral and access team.” Jay Vann, Psychologist, NWMPHN Referral and Access Team.

    “PHMCIS is easy to navigate and has helped our intake team to manage referrals effectively…the team has the ability to process referrals with ease and link clients in with providers seamlessly.” Clare McVicar, Mental Health Nurse, NWMPHN Referral and Access Team.

    “Thanks all for your work. You make data collection incredibly easy for us!” Clinical Service Manager, intake service provider.

See PMHCIS in action

Want to learn more or schedule a demo?

We’d love to show you how PMHCIS can support your mental health programs and improve outcomes across the board. Please contact us at contact us at pmhcis.support@nwmphn.org.au