Work has begun on developing the NSW Government’s new Single Digital Patient Record system. Photo: NSW Government.
More than 20 existing NSW Health recordkeeping systems will be consolidated into one new centralised Single Digital Patient Record (SDPR) system.
The NSW Government announced this month that NSW Health had begun work on the new SDRP to replace and consolidate nine systems for electronic medical records, 10 patient administration systems and five pathology laboratory information management systems. The Government admitted this constellation of systems was complex, cumbersome and outdated.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said one of his priorities was to embrace innovative solutions and find efficiencies in the way the Government delivered care.
“The NSW Government’s new Single Digital Patient Record will deliver healthcare workers and their patients consistent, timely and secure health information,” he said.
“A consolidated and centralised recordkeeping system will provide a holistic and integrated view of the care a patient receives right across the NSW public health system.”
The new system is touted as being able to improve patient experience by reducing the need for patients or their carers to recall and repeat health information. It is also intended to result in the facilitation of better-informed consultations by providing patients with secure access to relevant medical data, to help them make appropriate care choices and self-manage their health and wellbeing.
The new system will also provide clinicians with access to full patient clinical information in any location. While data is routinely collected through existing systems, it is often unable to be shared or integrated in real time as the systems are not connected statewide. The Government said this could create duplicative data collection or information gaps in patient decision-making.
As a result, patients receiving care at different locations or from separate treatment teams may have to recall and repeat complex medical information while unwell. The Government said the new system would support better continuity of care, promote clinical safety and quality, reduce manual administration, streamline record keeping and give clinicians more time at the bedside.
NSW Health Secretary Susan Pearce AM described the new system as a “world-class” digital platform that would meet the diverse needs of the state’s clinicians, staff, patients and carers.
“We can now move into the next exciting phase of this project, which is to work together across all of NSW Health on the design, build and testing of the Single Digital Patient Record,” she said.
“The Single Digital Patient Record will support NSW Health’s ongoing commitment to delivering safe, timely, high-quality, equitable and patient-centred health care for the people of NSW.”
