This was announced last week:
Epic to supply NSW patient record system
23 October, 2023
The worst-kept secret in digital health is finally confirmed with news global health software giant Epic has signed up to deliver the NSW government’s promise of a single digital patient record.
The government’s eHealth NSW department announced late last week that the contracts had been finalised to form the partnership for the project that will be rolled out over the next six years.
“The contract signing marks an important milestone with work now starting on the initial design and build of this next generation system,” the statement said.
Epic will work closely with local health districts, specialty health networks and other NSW Health organisations, facilitated by eHealth NSW and NSW Health Pathology.
“Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD) will be the first LHD to go live with the new platform in 2025,” said eHealth NSW.
“The sequencing of other local health districts is currently being considered, with a readiness assessment underway.”
The single digital patient record (SDPR) will deliver a state of the art, secure digital record-keeping platform that will transform the digital systems that NSW Health staff use every day to deliver care, according to the statement.
“For the first time, our healthcare teams will have access to an integrated all-in-one electronic medical record system, patient administration system and pathology laboratory information system,” said eHealth NSW.
“Having one statewide system will support consistency and continuity of care for all patients, while also streamlining the way clinicians work.”
Clinicians will be able to access a patient’s clinical records quickly, securely, and safely, regardless of their location. The SDPR will also provide simplified clinical workflows in an intuitive, user-friendly system with streamlined technical support.
“Patients will benefit from a better, more consistent experience no matter where they seek care,” said eHealth NSW.
“Having confidence that their healthcare team will have all the relevant information at their fingertips.”
The NSW government’s decision to partner with Epic Systems followed a procurement process that took more than two years and involved over 350 clinical and technical experts from across the system.
Epic Systems is a world-leading software company specialising in the design and delivery of electronic medical records systems and associated technologies.
Its software is currently being used in the ACT and in hospitals in Melbourne, as well as offshore in health services in the UK and the US.
The SDPR program is working towards the following timeline:
- Finalise contract negotiations: 2023.
- Design and build: 2024–2025.
- Lead site deployment in Hunter New England LHD: 2025-26
- Statewide rollout in remaining LHDs/SHNs: 2026–2029/30
- NSW Health Pathology adoption: 2026–2029/30
A website has been set up to provide more information about the SDPR program.
The NSW government yesterday announced the planned overhaul, describing the state’s current health records system as “complex, cumbersome and outdated”.
“Currently we have nine systems used for electronic medical records, 10 patient administration systems and five pathology laboratory information manage systems in use across NSW Health,” the government said in a statement.
“Currently, these systems are not connected statewide. Data is routinely collected but is often unable to be shared or integrated in real time. This can create duplicative data collection or create information gaps in decision making.
“As a result, patients may have to recall and repeat complex medical information when they’re feeling unwell. Often this is when patients are receiving care at different locations or from separate treatment teams and impacts the experience of care they receive.”
New chief executive of NSW Health Pathology, Vanessa Janissen, told Health Services Daily a statewide pathology laboratory information management system would a key component of the single digital patient record (SDPR) and would improve pathology service delivery.
“A statewide record keeping system will support consistency and continuity of care for all patients, including providing enhanced analytics, tools and reporting to support patient safety, and streamlining ways of working for our public health professionals,” she said.
More here:
https://www.medicalrepublic.com.au/epic-to-supply-nsw-patient-record-system/101054
In recent weeks I have been in and around the Health System and have been quite impressed to see the level of communication and information access available both in and out of Hospital.
Here we have the announcement that all this is going to be replaced with an Epic based system over the next few years. What is not made clear is just why, having got lots of stuff working, a new transition is required for what must be pretty incremental gains, and enormous cost.
Here is how NSW Health sees the problem:
“The Challenge
Clinical information is captured in many different systems across NSW Health. Currently, healthcare teams must access several platforms to get a comprehensive patient history. These include various electronic medical record systems, patient administration systems and laboratory information management systems. This makes it difficult to quickly access comprehensive information about a patient.
Some of these systems are also not connected statewide. This means different care teams must manually request patient information from other local health districts if a patient is visiting multiple health services. Data is routinely collected but is often unable to be shared or integrated in real time. This can create data duplication or information gaps that could affect providing the best patient care possible.
To solve these challenges, a single source of clinical information is needed.”
The Plan is outlined here:
“The SDPR program will transform the digital systems NSW Health staff use every day to deliver care. All NSW Health care teams, no matter where they work, will securely access the same information about a patient in real time from one source.
The SDPR will replace several existing systems that are widely used across NSW Health services. This includes 228 public hospitals, 600+ community health centres, 60 pathology laboratories and 150+ pathology collection centres. The highly secure system will house medical, pathology and administration records all in one place.
The SDPR will be delivered collaboratively and in partnership with local health districts (LHDs), specialty health networks (SHNs) and other NSW Health organisations, facilitated by eHealth NSW and NSW Health Pathology. Input will be sought from clinicians, consumers, patients and technical experts. Epic Systems, a world-leading software company specialising in the design and delivery of electronic medical records systems and associated technologies, has been contracted to supply the technology platform for the SDPR.
SDPR will first be available in the Hunter New England LHD, followed by a phased rollout throughout NSW. The rollout schedule for the SDPR will be planned in consultation with LHDs, SHNs, and other partners.
The overall implementation timeline is anticipated to be 6 years (2023-2029/30). This includes the design and build of the system, and statewide rollout.”
It seems to me this is a HUGE project that is going to have all areas of NSW in various states of disruption for the next 6 years (if it goes on time) while all this happens and at the end of ti we wind up with a single centralised system with all the risks that brings
I bet the Business Case of this project is not disclosed but one can be sure it will be costing a fortune and that one installed it will be moving towards obsolescence! I have no idea what the disruption that will be caused will cost!
I may be wrong but this seems just too big and too centralised a project to be sensible! Empire building on a grand scale!
What do others think?
David.
4 comments:
re "The single digital patient record (SDPR) will deliver a state of the art, secure digital record-keeping platform that will transform the digital systems that NSW Health staff use every day to deliver care, according to the statement. "
So it's not actually a "single patient record". It only includes data from NSW health systems - i.e. public hospitals". No GPs, no specialists, no private hospitals, no data from other states.
It's just yet another patient record.
So much for reducing health data fragmentation.
Has there been any indication by NSW Health how the My Health Record fits with the SDPR?
The Report says there are "five pathology laboratory information manage systems in use across NSW Health,” the government said in a statement.
I thought that since 1990 CERNER was meant to be the preferred pathology laboratory system for all NSW Health!
How is it that 30 years later there are still 5 different systems in use?
Dr Ian Colclough - the MyHR is just an upload of dumb data, a simple asynchronous technical solution in the scheme of things - thierHR plays no role in day to day health are. It does add cost and more ‘stufd’ to patch and maintain, and presents healthcare organizations vulnerabilities.
Anonymous - Laboratory systems are not simple to replace and have taken many a fine soul down the stairs of disrepair. Most likely no one had the money or wanted to risk their career. That or Cerner is not that great.
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