If anyone thought modern day hospitals are stuck in the past when it comes to their technology credentials, they might want to think again after they hear what the Queensland government is planning to implement.
The Anastacia Palaszczuk government has launched a new 20-year ICT strategy to bring the state’s health system in line with the high demand for better digital services.
As the health sector becomes more integrated with new and sophisticated technological advancements in medical and administrative fields, the demand for improvements to clinical facilities also increases.
This has prompted the government to map out the future for how hospitals will now operate, which has led to an historic announcement by Queensland’s Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Cameron Dick that the ICT systems across state hospitals will receive crucial digital upgrades.
These upgrades will fall under four primary categories including clinical systems, business systems, ICT infrastructure and the ‘digital future’ of Queensland Health.
And a digitisation of the health sector is exactly what it needs, especially to cut out unnecessary and time-consuming paperwork, cutting waiting times, as well as addressing the lack of coordination between health practitioners.
Of course, the private sector will play a big part in this strategy, as the government has placed an “open invitation” to industry to come up with options and solutions to some of the health sector’s complex problems.
Mr Dick said there needs to be flexible, cooperative solutions that share the risk of development and implementation with private sector.
“We estimate approximately 1,000 jobs will be created with the progression and implementation of the eHealth initiatives detailed in the strategy,” he said.
The government is already well underway in initiating its full digitisation of the health sector, with the next big ICT project in the Queensland Health system to launch at Princess Alexandra Hospital, which has been ambitiously planned to be a “digital hospital” by the end of 2015.
In addition to upgrading the core infrastructure and installing new technology to support digital workflows, this project will feature an array of new tech gadgets to make work easier with rapid access Opal-style tap-on-tap-off for all computers, which is expected to save clinicians 30 minutes a day.
The plan for Princess Alexandra Hospital will also include the installation of new tech to support digital workflows including 200 additional work stations on wheels, 770 barcode scanners, 250 pathology label printers and 160 patient wrist band printers.
Mr Dick said there will still be a very limited requirement for some paper applications, but having the ability to quickly transfer patient data and clinical notes between treatment teams will keep patients at the centre of the hospital’s work,” he said.
“For clinicians, it will streamline what is currently called ‘paperwork’ and will free them up for direct care and engagement with patients,” Mr Dick said.
“We have learnt the lessons of the past. At the moment the system is due to go live in November,” he said.
Those lessons in the health sector and how they relate to the private sector are well known.
Especially given that the prior Campbell Newman government in Queensland was forced to deal with a health and ICT related fiasco involving Queensland Health’s payroll system that was designed and implemented by IBM.
The relationship between the Newman government and the global tech giant was severely hampered following the government’s accusations that IBM was in breach of its contract valued at $1.2 billion.
Consequently in August 2013, IBM was shut out from any new contracts with the state government until it “improves its governance and contracting practices”.
