NSW a silent success in e-health
- 25 February, 2009 10:38
- Comments 1
When will some really good health news get some coverage? While the media has recently been fixated by the world financial crisis, political backstabbing, or the misdeeds of the latest rogue doctor, real progress has occurred in NSW e-health that will bring far-reaching benefits to everyone in the state.
On 1 October last year, St George Hospital implemented an electronic medical record system (eMR) for some 2300 clinicians across its emergency department, all wards including pathology and radiology, nine operating theatres and more than 300 outpatients clinics, and allows electronic discharge forms to be sent to general practitioners. The project has been hugely successful, and is the start of a state-wide program by NSW Health to introduce the eMR to every hospital in the state.
The eMR system was first deployed at the St George Hospital in the South Eastern Sydney & Illawarra Area Health Service (SESIAHS), followed by Calvary and Sutherland hospitals, and will be rolled-out to each hospital in the Area Health Service for some 1.3 million people.
All hospitals in the Illawarra region will go live in the next two months, followed by the Northern Coast Area Health Service which is in the middle of its eMR roll out.
In time eMR will spread state-wide.
Some Area Health Services with earlier, less comprehensive eMRs, are planning upgrades.
So why does NSW Health Minister John Della Bosca not tell us about it?
The eMR rollouts mean that patients treated in SESIAHS will have their patient details, medical history, test results and treatment notes updated and instantly available to any clinician attending to them.
No more tedious and inefficient questions such as “Which hospital and doctor did you last see?”, “What did your last test results state?”, “What medication are you on?”, or “Do you have your ultrasound scan with you?” that drive every patient to distraction.
There will be an immense improvement to patient safety as the eMR becomes available everywhere in NSW.
Adoption of an eMR on this scale is the most ground breaking IT project undertaken in Australian healthcare, and NSW Health is leading the way. It is the first step in a journey to provide electronic information that better supports clinicians and brings improved care to patients. Work procedures and practices will be fundamentally transformed as knowledge is shared to provide better patient care.
The eMR finally brings the benefits of ubiquitous online access, akin to electronic banking, within the reach of clinicians and health consumers. It also provides the foundation of information for the personal electronic health record, which health consumers could access over the Internet within the foreseeable future.
But why cannot NSW Health tell the public about this success?
Maybe they are scared of success, and the resulting demands by the Garling Inquiry for more funds to speed up deployment.
For once NSW Health have some really good news. It is following best practice, and has got it right, so they should tell us about it!
Bryn Evans is chief executive of healthcare provider Ascribe
Recommended
Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.
- Bookmark this page
- Share this article
- Got more on this story? Email CIO
- Follow CIO on twitter
- IBM Embraces Mobile Technologies for Business Computing
- World Quality Report - The State of Quality 2012
- Nermertes Research: Clouds at the End of the Rainbow
- Expanding Your Gross Margin in Distribution
- The New Normal: Mobile Device and App Behaviour Over Wi-Fi and Best Practices for Wireless Networks
-
Why change management doesn’t work
-
Larry Page wants to see your medical records
-
Dual-Persona Smartphones Not a BYOD Panacea
-
After two-year hiatus, EFF accepts bitcoin donations again
-
CIOs struggle to deliver timely mobile business apps: survey
-
CSO Spotlight: Security-as-a-Service Gaining Popularity
Organizations that are looking for security features including identity management, encryption and access control — and at the same time want to take advantage of the cost and flexibility benefits of the cloud —might check into security-as-a-service offerings available now from several vendors. Download now to find out more. -
Advanced Malware Exposed
This handbook shines a light on the dark corners of advanced malware, both to educate as well as to spark renewed efforts against these stealthy and persistent threats. By understanding the tools being used by criminals, we can better defend our nations, our critical infrastructures and our citizens. This ebook will provide readers with a new understanding of the rapidly developing cyber threat landscape and practical insights into how they can protect their data and computing infrastructures. Download now. -
Advanced Persistent Threats and Real-Time Threat Management
Businesses face a constantly evolving threat landscape. One of the greatest challenges is presented by advanced persistent threats (APTs), which are sophisticated, multi‐faceted attacks targeting a particular organisation. Mitigating the risk of APTs requires advances beyond traditional layered security to include real‐time threat management. This whitepaper describes the nature of APTs, the risks they pose to businesses, and techniques for blocking, detecting, and containing APTs and other emerging threats. Read now.
Get exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis. 
Comments
Sandra
1
This is such an amazing step forward in the <a href="http://www.healthinsurancebible.com">health </a> care industry. Just imagine the amount of overhead saved for the patient. Such initiatives are worth appreciating!!!