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New electronic health record contract

Wednesday, 13 December 2017

Barwon Health’s Emergency Department (ED) is implementing a replacement clinical information system to manage patient data across multiple hospital wards.

Cerner’s FirstNet Electronic Health Record (EHR) program will replace the discontinued EMIS Health’s Symphony system at University Hospital Geelong, providing clinicians with data that is accurate, timely, complete, more frequent and more succinct.

With an average of 183 daily patients presenting to Barwon Health’s ED, many require some form of medical imaging, pathology tests or admission to an acute ward.

The information collected at presentation, along with tests ordered and test results, informs a patient’s diagnoses, care plan and treatment.

For patients admitted through the ED, this information will be captured through the Cerner system and relied on by clinicians throughout the patient journey.

Emergency Department Director Dr Michael Sheridan said the FirstNet emergency medical record is a world-class upgrade to Barwon Health’s ED electronic system.

“We expect it to provide a platform for clinicians and nurses to deliver excellence in care and enhance time spent with patients.

“A new device integration feature will wirelessly send observations and populate patient records, with the ability to recognise any clinical deterioration.

“We are genuinely excited about this venture and hope its introduction improves patient outcomes and experience.”