E-health has received an investment boost in South Australia, with a total of $191.7 million to be spent across three major e-health projects in the state.
The initiative was announced in yesterday’s SA budget.
The Enterprise Patient Administration System (EPAS) makes up the bulk of the SA e-health budget spend, with $142.6 million to be invested over 10 years.
The system will standardise health systems in the state and allow practitioners to access information in real-time. More than 3500 computers will also be installed at patient's bedsides in public hospitals to allow doctors and nurses to access the clinical information of patients via the EPAS. The $408 million electronic health record system will be rolled out in all metropolitan hospitals, two country hospitals and GP Plus centres.
A total of $30.4 million will be invested in the Enterprise Pathology Laboratory Information System (EPLIS) over two years. The system will allow practitioners to access all patient test results from the one point-of-access and enable the safe processing of tests, storage of results, laboratory validation of data and the delivery of test results.
"Currently the use of different systems in different hospitals means the results of some tests done in one hospital cannot be viewed in another hospital. EPLIS will make test results accessible across the system, including electronic links to private pathology testing," said Jack Snelling, SA treasurer.
"It will improve quality through a reduction in errors, ensuring data integrity, patient data matching technology and data scanning."
Another $18.7 million will be spent on the Enterprise System for Medical Imaging (ESMI) over three years. ESMI will store about 625,000 medical imaging examinations for an estimated 600 people and will eliminate the need for hard copy test results to be stored.
The SA government will also spend $10.9 million upgrading Mobilong prison’s surveillance and detection systems with digital technology. The existing analogue cabling infrastructure will be replaced with a system which will allow digital systems, with upgraded equipment to include cameras, duress alarms, intercom systems and access control.
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