METRO HEALTHCARE GROUP
A fast-tracked digital transformation at Brisbane ’ s largest hospital group Metro South Health has just been completed , marking the end of error-prone paper-based recording
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M etro South Health is one of
Australia ’ s biggest and most forward-looking healthcare providers . It runs five major public hospitals and a network of community health centres across the south-eastern areas of Brisbane . Though it is just one of 16 hospital and health services in Queensland , one million people – nearly a quarter of the population of the state – depend on Metro South Health for specialist health , outpatient and hospital services .
As the leading hospital group , it has been spearheading the transformation of healthcare across the Queensland Health , working closely with its eHealth Queensland division . Queensland Health has developed a strategy for health ICT and eHealth that calls for an investment of more than $ 1.2bn over the next 20 years . That figures includes $ 730mn for clinical software such as a new patient administration system , rolling out the Cerner integrated electronic medical record ( ieMR ) to more hospitals and the replacement of the ageing Auslab state-wide pathology system .
The value being delivered to patients and the community became evident when data was released from the first of Metro South ’ s hospitals to become fully digitised . In 2017 , leading tertiary facility Princess Alexandra Hospital ( PAH ) rolled out the full Cerner electronic medical record system , going as paperless as possible . Within a year of going digital , drug administration and monitoring errors dropped by 14 %, a 33 % reduction in drug dispensing and supply incidents , 17 % fewer emergency readmissions within 28 days of discharge , drug costs per weighted activity unit came down by 14 %, stage 3 & 4 hospital-acquired
OCTOBER 2018