South Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network (SEMPHN) will be saying farewell to the Florence clinician-led text messaging service from 31 March 2026, as we continue to explore digital health innovation. 

Florence is a persona-based, automated SMS service that has helped clinicians beyond the consultation room. Since SEMPHN transitioned from Nellie to Florence in 2024, 2,481 patients have been enrolled on Florence, building on the 8,090 patients supported by Nellie during her lifetime. Together, Nellie and Florence have supported around 10,500 patients across south east Melbourne over the past decade, helping people stay connected to care between visits. We thank Generated Health for their long-standing partnership in bringing this solution to our region. 

As technology and care needs evolve, SEMPHN is exploring new digital care solutions that build on the strengths of Florence while offering new capabilities to support clinicians and improve outcomes for patients. 

Florence will remain available until 31 March 2026, with protocols gradually phased out during this time to ensure a smooth transition for practices and patients. Clinicians and patients can continue to use Florence until this date, and we encourage practices to download any necessary patient data and prepare for the transition. 

This change supports SEMPHN’s broader digital health strategy to ensure people in south east Melbourne can access contemporary, effective and sustainable primary care tools. 

What Florence users need to do now 

You can continue using Florence until access ends. 

Begin downloading patient data from Florence and saving it to the relevant clinical records. 

Walkthroughs (available on Florence Basecamp): 

• Download a report (Graphs tab) 
• Download a report (History tab) 

If you have any questions or need support, please contact florence@semphn.org.au or the Digital Health team on (03) 8514 4460.