Media Release: NEW $3.3M MEDICAL RECORDS SYSTEMS IMPROVE PATIENT CARE AND SAFETY FOR BARWON REGION

FROM THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH

DATE: Friday, November 16, 2007

NEW $3.3M MEDICAL RECORDS SYSTEMS IMPROVE PATIENT CARE AND SAFETY FOR BARWON REGION

Barwon residents are the winners thanks to Brumby Government-funded electronic records systems worth $3.3 million that provide health professionals with instant access to patients’ important medical records at a click of a button.

Health Minister Daniel Andrews said the new Picture Archive and Communications System and Digitising Patient Records System give health professionals across Barwon Health access to patient details more quickly and efficiently and improve patient care and safety.

“The Brumby Government is committed to continuing to invest in new and sophisticated technologies to improve the safety and quality of care provided in our hospitals,” Mr Andrews said.

“Barwon Health is one of the first health services in the state to implement this very latest technology and the new $2.4 million Picture Archive and Communications System (PACS) allows medical staff to archive, process and view a range of medical images on their computer system, such as X-rays, CT and MRI scans, ultrasound and nuclear medicine.

“PACS provides an improved turnaround time between taking the pictures and reporting results – patients can now take their medical images with them straight after their procedure,” he said.

“Some patients will be treated by several clinicians at different campuses concurrently and this smarter approach has been implemented to support the different treatments.”

Mr Andrews also said a $900,000 Digitising Patient Records System project would see the scanning of current paper medical records into a secure database to provide medical staff with information about a patient’s medical history and condition more quickly and efficiently.

“The digital medical record is combination of a scanned replica of the existing paper record and electronic messages from existing on-line systems used by medical staff,” Mr Andrews said.

“The digital records will be stored on a secure server and can be accessed electronically using a web interface and can be used by clinicians simultaneously across Barwon Health.”

Mr Andrews said 70,000 active medical records are currently stored across 270 square metres of the hospital, while documents over 16 months old are off site due to space restrictions.

“In addition to the storage issues, the model of care delivery at Barwon Health is changing and people are more often receiving treatment at different sites at different points in their life.

Mr Andrews said scanning of the digital records will soon begin and the system is expected to be fully operational in 2008, following an extensive testing period.

The system will first be phased in at the Geelong Hospital site before being rolled out first prior to rolling out to the Grace McKellar Centre, Corio Health Service, Surf Coast Health Service, Newcomb Health Service and Anglesea Health Service in late 2008

Mr Andrews said planning for the project has started with bar-coding of 700 different types of forms to be digitised.

“This is further proof of the Brumby Government’s commitment to rural and regional hospitals,” he said.

“Rural and regional hospitals have admitted more than 50,000 additional patients this year than in 1999 and we need to continue investing to ensure our country hospitals continue to deliver a first-class health system.”

The Member for Geelong Ian Trezise MP said the new technology will improve continuity and quality of care, and streamline services.

“The Brumby Government is honouring its commitment to provide the best quality health services available and today's announcement acknowledges the role that technology plays in the delivery of this care,” he said.