eHealth NSW News 2017 March-April Issue€¦ · eHealth NSW Customer Value Survey for 2017. To help...

eHealthnews

MARCH/APRIL 2017

eHealth NSW is leading a new national collaboration to define initiatives of benefit to children’s health and wellbeing which harness the power of digital technologies and platforms.

In partnership with the Sydney Children’s

Hospitals Network, eHealth NSW is

establishing the National Collaborative

Network for Child Health Informatics.

“eHealth NSW already has a significant

program of work underway to enhance

healthcare through the effective use

of digital technologies,” said eHealth

NSW interim Program Manager

Petra Milnes.

“Partnering with the Agency in this

national collaboration helps us to

extend these capabilities more broadly

and focus on the specific needs of

children and their carers.

“It was great to be involved in the

formation of the Network, which is now

being managed by Steve Badham.”

With support from the Australian Digital

Health Agency, the Network is working

to identify and scope a number of

strategic national projects and initiatives

in the second half of 2017.

Continued page 2

NSW leads charge to improve child health

If you’ve got a story or feedback for eHealth News, please contact Karen Fontaine on 8644 2246 or email [email protected]

Check out our website atwww.ehealth.nsw.gov.au

ContentsChief Executive’s message . . . . . .2

NSW leads charge to improve child health (cont .) . . . . . . . . . . . .2

HealtheNet enhanced with pathology results . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

PSAF moves to online forms . . . . .3

Better, faster, bigger eMRS . . . . . .4

eMR migrations gather momentum across NSW . . . . . . . .5

EHEC gives tick to state-wide infrastructure adoption . . . . . . . .5

eLearning for the eMR now live . . . .6

‘ClinConnect’ing students . . . . . .7

Goodbye HETI Online, Hello My Health Learning . . . . . . .7

eHealth NSW picks up award . . . .8

Successful pilot for supplier portal project . . . . . . . . .8

Nurses the focus of the latest Clinical Engagement Forum . . . . .9

New research approval system on the way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

A slice of the eHealth Strategy . . . . 11

Doing the “midnight rounds” . . .12

New casual rostering in HealthRoster a hit . . . . . . . . . . .13

New recruitment system coming soon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Expo registrations now open . . . . .14

Big wins for Rural eHealth scanning project . . . . . . . . . . . .15

#SpotThePuppy photo competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

eHealth News March/April 2017

Chief Executive’s messageFeedback, so the saying goes, is a gift – and we received a very welcome one recently in the form of the results of our eHealth NSW Customer Value Survey for 2017.

To help us design and deliver more customer-centred solutions, we launched the eHealth NSW Customer Value Survey in February to gather important feedback from our customers so we can better understand what is most important to them and how we can best help them help patients.

The survey forms part of our concerted efforts to consistently improve our services so we can become an even more trusted and valued partner to NSW Health organisations.

I was incredibly pleased to see a response rate of 1,177, which topped the 1,010 responses received in the last (2015) survey. Almost 60 per cent of the respondents interact with eHealth NSW service lines every couple of days or, in some cases, more often.

Overall, we experienced significant

improvement across all baseline

measures in 2017 including

satisfaction, engagement score and

net promoter score.

This year, the survey specifically

targeted eHealth NSW services.

In the previous (joint eHealth NSW

and HealthShare NSW) 2015 survey,

we received valuable information

that helped us to deliver a number of

actions over the past two years.

The work we’ve done since 2015 to address some pain points has paid off. And, while we are on the right track, there is still a way to go and we need to keep improving. The feedback is already proving useful, given it is feeding into our new Business Plan which is currently in development.

We aim to share more detailed results from this survey in May with all customers and staff. But for now, I thank the members of our Customer Experience team for their work on rolling out the survey across NSW Health and I thank our NSW Health colleagues for taking time out of their schedules to tell us how we’re doing.

I can assure our customers that their valuable feedback will help us to design, deliver and support even better digital healthcare solutions that benefit everyone, from the clinicians working on the frontline to the patients receiving that care.

Dr Zoran Bolevich Chief Executive, Chief Information Officer, eHealth NSW

NSW leads charge to improve child healthThe Network will bring together Australia’s leading

experts in children’s health to identify nationally focused,

child-centred and clinician-friendly digital health projects

to improve the health and social outcomes of children and

their families.

In the coming months the Network will call on patients, families, clinicians, health and social care provider organisations, researchers, jurisdictions and ICT industry partners to join the Network’s Partnership Group and Expert Reference Group.

The Network is looking to identify projects that will:

• Engage and empower children and their families

• Improve access to care for children

• Support integrated care or better coordinated care for children

• Enhance the quality of care through improved decision-making for care providers.

The Network’s Partnership Group will utilise the feedback that the Australian Digital Health Agency received during its consultation process to develop potential project proposals.

From page 1


3

HealtheNet enhanced with pathology results NSW clinicians now have the power to securely access pathology test results via eHealth NSW’s HealtheNet Clinical Portal, helping them to provide faster and more integrated patient care.

The addition of results from NSW Health Pathology laboratories to HealtheNet makes NSW the first state or territory to add pathology results to the national My Health Record, which can be accessed and controlled by patients.

“Pathology results influence a large number of patient treatment decisions, so providing our clinicians with easier access to these results will help reduce time to treatment and improve patient care,” said eHealth NSW Chief Executive Dr Zoran Bolevich.

“Patients with chronic or complex health conditions are often managed by a team of healthcare professionals who will now be able to offer more effective, integrated care with the addition of vital pathology results to HealtheNet.”

Live at more than 200 facilities across NSW, HealtheNet provides instant access to a summary of a patient’s recent medical history, from all Local Health Districts and the My Health Record.

The move to enhance HealtheNet with pathology results supports the NSW Integrated Care Strategy, and was achieved as result of collaboration between eHealth NSW and NSW Health Pathology.

NSW Health Pathology results are being added to

HealtheNet and My Health Record in a staged approach.

Tests ordered from South Eastern Sydney Local Health

District, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District and The

Children’s Hospital at Randwick became the first to be

shared across all Local Health Districts and the My Health

Record, from April 2017. Other NSW Health Pathology sites

will follow over the coming months.

“We’re delighted to be partnering in this initiative to give

NSW clinicians access to vital pathology results – and to be

the first in Australia to do so,” said NSW Health Pathology’s

Chief Executive, Tracey McCosker. “This is a step-change in

electronic medical records that will help improve integrated

care and patient outcomes.”

PSAF moves to online forms As of 8 May, the Privacy and Security Assurance Framework (PSAF) process, which was formerly paper based, will move to an improved online digitised form and workflow.

For any new projects engaging in

the PSAF process, this will mean

an automation of workflows via an easy-to-use web based system.

The online workflows enable the web-based system to be a ‘one-stop shop ‘ for all needed approvals and provides an anytime view of where each project is up to in the PSAF lifecycle.

“The new application has a user-friendly interface and will ensure a better experience for our project

teams moving forward,” said Ethan Hillas of the eHealth NSW Information Security team.

As of 8 May, the Information Security team will cease to use the old PSAF forms for any new projects engaging in the PSAF process.

For more information contact the Information Security team at [email protected]


4

Better, faster, bigger eMRseHealth NSW has tripled the computing capacity of electronic medical records (eMRs) across five domains to significantly improve performance for about 70,000 clinicians and support continued rapid growth in the number of users.

“We’ve managed to improve system response speeds by up to 26 per cent, while significantly increasing the number of concurrent users by as much as ten per cent in some months alone,” said project leader David Cernjul of eHealth NSW’s eMR Connect Program.

This project increased Citrix capacity for eMRs across the five domains run by eHealth NSW, which encompass Western Sydney, Nepean Blue Mountains, Northern Sydney, Central Coast, South Eastern Sydney, Illawarra Shoalhaven and all six Rural Local Health Districts.

By December 2018, the peak number of concurrent eMR users is on track to reach around 25,000, from about 7000 in June 2013.

David said the growth of new

concurrent users had significantly

accelerated as the custom builds

including Continuous Doc made the

eMRs easier and more efficient to use.

“The eMR Connect team brought state

working groups together from across

NSW to design the eMR to meet the

needs of Clinicians,” he said. “When

you design something that’s easier to

use, you get better uptake and you

increase demand on the system.”

Adam Stanizone, of eHealth NSW

Technical Services, said he was proud

that so many teams across eHealth

NSW and Local Health Districts

had worked together to deliver the

upgrade seamlessly.

“There was a lot of technical work

that had to be timed perfectly to

guarantee there was no disruption to

clinical function,” Adam said.

“We injected over 100 physical servers, upgraded infrastructure, recycled more than 100 terabytes of storage left over from project sand vendors and completed the Citrix roll out in conjunction with the capacity uplift.”

eHealth NSW Director of Program Delivery, Mark Cope, said this achievement illustrated how much could be accomplished when many teams applied their varied expertise to a common goal.

“I’m incredibly proud of everyone involved in this project and of the difference this will make for the clinicians caring for patients,” Mark said.

“Part of our mission is to make the eMRs as easy and efficient to use as possible, and reducing some transaction response times by almost a third is a very positive step in that direction.”

Some of the teams involved including Infrastructure Services, Platform Services, State-wide Network Services, Storage and Backup, DC Ops, Design and Support Services and GovDC team


5

eMR migrations gather momentum across NSWClinicians across the state are benefiting from faster and more reliable functioning of the electronic medical record (eMR) following eHealth NSW’s continued migration of the Cerner eMR domains of six further Local Health Districts (LHDs) to the Government Data Centre (GovDC).

During March and April, the Clinical

Applications Reliability Improvement

(CARI) Program migrated the Cerner

eMR domains of Far West, Western,

Southern and Murrumbidgee LHDs as

well as Western Sydney and Nepean

Blue Mountains LHDs.

This was the second and third wave

of eMR migrations since the start of

the year.

The first, at South Eastern Sydney and

Illawarra Shoalhaven LHDs, resulted

in significant improvements in the

performance of the eMR, including

faster transaction processing and

shorter response times for clinicians

using the application.

The smooth migration at Western

Sydney LHD drew praise from Natalie

McDonald, Acting Chief Executive,

who said: “This is a great step forward

and an example of how we can

collaboratively work together.”

It took two years of planning and five

months of hard work to build the new

infrastructure, create and test the new

GovDC domain.

“It was a collaborative team effort and

everyone should be acknowledged for

their contribution,” said CARI Program

Manager Clara Chan.

The CARI Program team is now planning

the migrations of the production Cerner

eMR domains for Northern Sydney and

Central Coast LHDs and the Mid North

Coast and Northern NSW LHDs, which

will start to take place from June.

EHEC gives tick to state-wide infrastructure adoption At the most recent meeting of the eHealth Executive Council, its members endorsed the following six ICT Infrastructure Foundation Services for consistent state-wide adoption:

• State-Wide Directory and Identity;

• State-Wide Email and Archiving;

• Health Wide Area Network (HWAN) – Connect;

• Health Wide Area Network (HWAN) – Internet;

• Data Centre Reform (DCR) – Local Health District Migration; and

• Health Security Operations Centre (HSOC).

Consistent foundational ICT infrastructure capabilities are essential for a reliable environment to support the delivery of key clinical and corporate ICT systems for NSW Health.

Investments totalling $275M have been made since 2009 in pursuit of developing foundational state-wide ICT

infrastructure services and platforms. These include the three ICT infrastructure and the Data Centre Reform business cases. The forecast benefits exceed $35M annually.


6

eLearning for the eMR now live ‘eLearning’ for the electronic medical record (eMR), including electronic medication management (eMeds), is now available to all Local Health Districts on the My Health Learning portal (formerly HETI Online), which supports education and training across NSW Health.

All Local Health District staff now have ready and direct access to online interactive learning modules covering fundamentals of the system, as a foundation to ongoing eMR learning.

The courses are presented in state-recommended learning pathways. These follow fundamental eMR and eMeds functions for doctors, nurses and pharmacists.

eLearning is part of a ‘blended’ learning approach. It is the foundation of eMR training and supports face-to-face training sessions and on-the-job learning. Completing eLearning will provide a basic understanding of the eMR and optimise face-to-face training sessions.

In the first collaboration of this type, the training is delivered through a partnership between eMR Connect and HETI (Health Education Training Institute).

Development and review of the training content was achieved in collaboration with LHDs.

Brienne Dove, Team Leader, Training and Application Support, eHR

- Western Sydney Local Health District, worked closely with the eMR Connect team in the review of the eLearning materials.

“Being a clinician working in many areas over the years, I understood the patient flow processes and how to get the eLearning to work for us as clinicians,” said Brienne.

“Also, my experience as an eMR trainer and as a manager of eMR training and support meant I was aware of where we receive the most frequent calls from clinicians and where they struggle most with this on the wards.

“A new member of staff can use it to familiarise themselves, as a prerequisite to starting work. It can condense the period of hands-on training, which can be geared instead to specific processes for a certain facility.

“It’s important for our students. The eLearning is a good source of initial learning for them, followed up by

coaches in the facilities where

they work.

“It’s also a good form of refresher

training for those who would like to

renew their knowledge.”

Brienne said the eLearning was a great

resource for a local coaching team.

“Having new starters doing the

eLearning as a first step means we

can reduce the time away from the

floor, and then hone in on the specific

training needs for that site,” she said.

“I look at eLearning as a key component

that can be used across the whole

training strategy - as a prerequisite

to starting, as a refresher tool and

as an ongoing source of reference. It

complements face-to-face training and,

as a result, better use of the eMR.

“It’s important that this work was

done and it’s now been implemented.

The availability of eLearning across

NSW is fantastic.”


7

‘ClinConnect’ing studentsA significant program of work to give students on clinical placements access to mandatory training and key NSW Health applications reached a major milestone with over 10,000 students provisioned in StaffLink. This number is expected to rise to approximately 30,000 students by the end of the year.

One of the major drivers for the initiative was a policy requirement (PD 2016_057) that makes Health Agencies responsible for ensuring students on clinical placements complete NSW Health mandatory training.

ClinConnect is the application that manages students from education providers located across Australia who undertake their clinical placements within NSW Health facilities.

ClinConnect facilitates the booking of a student in a clinical placement and ensures mandatory compliance – including code of conduct, criminal record checks, immunisations and now compulsory My Health Learning training – before they begin their placement.

The integration project delivered automated sharing of data between previously unlinked systems. The workflow is triggered when ClinConnect transfers student placement data to StaffLink, which then in turn triggers the automatic provisioning in StaffLink.

It generates a StaffLink ID 14 days ahead of clinical placements and StaffLink then returns the StaffLink ID to ClinConnect to link student records.

Students can then readily access

My Health Learning to undertake

mandatory training modules ahead

of their placement. An additional

benefit is that a student can be

tracked throughout their education

lifecycle at NSW Health, and then into

employment with NSW Health.

Students are also automatically

provisioned into the State-Wide Active

Directory so that Local Health Districts

and Specialty Health Networks can

facilitate the process of providing

students with access to their local

networks and clinical applications

as required.

“This program required a huge collaborative effort between eHealth NSW, including Corporate IT, Information Services and SWIS, and HealthShare NSW and the Health Education Training Institute. We also had input from Ministry of Health, Local Health Districts, Specialty Networks and Education Providers,” said Corporate IT Director, Farhoud Salimi.

“The next step is to provide training completion information from My Health Learning back to ClinConnect so that education providers can quickly see student training course completions. This should be in place by end of the second quarter.”

Goodbye HETI Online, Hello My Health LearningNow known as My Health Learning, the Learning Management System (LMS) for NSW Health formerly known as HETI Online has drawn praise for the more streamlined look and feel of its website.

My Health Learning is integrated with StaffLink, enabling the system to use the employee and organisation information in StaffLink.

The content of the course material on My Health Learning is managed by HETI in conjunction with local Education and Workforce Learning units.

Integrated with core health systems to ensure correct employee details

NSW HEALTH’S LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Own and manage your training with

instant access from anywhere to quality, up-to-date courses

Your learning history follows you when moving through NSW Health

A World of Education & Choice

http://myhealthlearning.health.nsw.gov.au


8

The NSW Health Supplier Portal project, which allows suppliers to view and track the progress of their invoices and reconcile payments in a secure environment online, is about to enter Phase 2 following a successful pilot with 15 vendors.

Among suppliers involved in the

initial trial, invoice queries to the

Service Centre fell by 50 per cent.

The plan now is to roll out the

portal to all NSW Health suppliers

with a view to the system eventually

replacing the existing vendor forms.

In addition, Phase 2 will also pilot

new reporting and purchase order

enquiry functionality.

Suppliers are invited to register

their interest in the portal via

the HealthShare NSW website.

Once approved by the vendor

management team, the supplier is

provided with access the system.

“The portal is making it easier

to deal with our suppliers, gives

suppliers greater transparency of

where their invoices are in the

system and it’s helping to improve

our working relationships,” said

HealthShare NSW project manager

Melissa Pollard.

The NSW Health Supplier Portal

is based on the Oracle iSupplier

software which has been customised

to make it more user-friendly. Phase

2 is expected to go live mid-year.

(L-R) Captain Andrew Hargreaves; Dr Zoran Bolevich; His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret’d), Governor of New South Wales; Warrant Officer Class 1 Russell Peel; Mr Mark Todd, Chairman - Defence Reserve Support Council - NSW

eHealth NSW picks up awardeHealth NSW has been recognised for its continuous support for the Australian Defence Force Reserve. As one of 130 employers nominated by their Reservist employees to acknowledge the assistance provided that allows Reservists to fulfil their Defence duties, eHealth NSW picked up one of eight awards given to the public sector.

In accepting the award, Chief Executive Dr Zoran Bolevich said he was pleased

eHealth NSW was able to support employees to provide Defence Reserve

service, and acknowledged the value of the skills and experience the Defence

Reserve provides to its members.

Andrew Hargreaves, Clinical Design Governance Manager for the eMR Connect

Program and an Army Reserve Officer, nominated eHealth NSW for the award.

Andrew said he did so to acknowledge the support eHealth NSW has provided

him, including flexible working arrangements and a supportive leave policy

which have enabled him to meet his Defence Reserve service commitments.

Successful pilot for supplier portal project


9

Nurses the focus of the latest Clinical Engagement Forum Nursing staff offered their unique insights on the design and build of better, safer digital tools at eHealth NSW’s latest Clinical Engagement Forum, held at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) on 27 March.

“We are doing a lot of work to ensure that the tools we build meet your needs,” eHealth NSW Chief Clinical Information Officer Dr John Lambert told the 80 people who attended in person and the 77 extra who participated via live video stream from all four corners of NSW Health.

“The Office of the CCIO is building a team to support and guide that, and we will be calling on you to get involved in the process of defining problems to be solved and designing solutions. This will ensure we make the right investment decisions.”

The CEF’s timing was perfect given that RPA went live with eMR2 a fortnight later.

Aaron Jones, Sydney LHD’s Chief Nursing Information Officer, said it is the nursing informaticians who are leading this work, from their unique position on the frontline of patient care.

“We need to move away from trying to replicate what we have always done on paper,” Aaron said. “The eMR is capturing a lot of info so we need to be careful not to over-duplicate it.”

Katharine Duffy, Sydney LHD’s Director of Nursing and Midwifery, said work must be done to prevent that “in 10 years’ time we will be so digitalised that patients will have less interaction with nurses”.

“We need to keep asking the questions: What do our patients want? What do they see when we’re using the next big thing? How do we

engage them in the change process? Communication with patients and community is critical,” Katharine said.

She also emphasised the need to make digital tools as easy to use as possible.

“We need to make it simple! Nurses and midwives can be very stubborn and so we need to communicate not just when the change is happening – it has to happen upfront,” she said.

“Nurses are innovators and will find great ‘work-arounds’ and share them! Sometimes they are great; sometimes they create risk. Clinical leadership, engagement and governance structures identify and manage emerging risks and inform changes to policy and practice.”

Register for the next Clinical Engagement Forum, to be held at 5pm, Wednesday 3 May at St George Hospital Research and Education Centre.

L-R: Dr John Lambert, Chief Clinical Information Officer, eHealth NSW; Anne Robertson, Manager, Nursing and Midwifery Office, NSW Health; Aaron Jones, Chief Nursing Information Officer, SLHD; Joanne Edwards, Director, Nursing and Midwifery, WSLHD; Katharine Duffy, Director, Nursing and Midwifery, SLHD

https://www.conferenceonline.com/bookingform/index.cfm?page=booking&object=conference&id=21812&bookingid=0&categorykey=7FA3E397-9377-4737-B459-F8DD8A720A72&CFID=4874832&CFTOKEN=68b5895273377ad6-CAD811CA-D084-B567-0CC71A8929E82F1B


10

New research approval system on the wayThe Research Ethics Governance Information System (REGIS) is on a fast-track course to launch in the spring.

As the much-anticipated replacement system for AU-RED and Online Forms, REGIS is now being designed in detail ahead of its progressive roll-out across NSW Health Agencies from September.

REGIS, a fully-automated online platform, will bring together researchers, ethics and research governance officers, Health Research Ethics Committee (HREC) members, department heads and Chief Executives, to process research applications in a consistent, integrated way.

The system is being built and externally hosted by F1 Solutions, a Canberra-based solutions developer. It will integrate the new Health Research Ethics Assessment (HREA) form (recently developed by the National Health and Medical Research Council to replace the National Ethics Application Form).

Michael Barton, from South Western Sydney LHD and Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of NSW, is a member of the REGIS Steering Committee and has been actively involved in the REGIS project.

“Researchers are eagerly awaiting the implementation of REGIS,” Michael said. “It will increase the efficiency of research governance submissions and allow

researchers to track their application through governance processes – both ethics and site assessment.”

Along with timely notifications of application status changes, REGIS will have the potential to support paperless Human Ethics Research Committee Meetings.

REGIS also has a strong reporting capability. Real-time dashboards will provide fast, easy access to the information that matters most.

For more information on the progress of REGIS implementation, email

[email protected] or telephone 9461 7354.

REGIS will guide researchers to source the right information at the right time for ethics approval and site assessment of their research projects. Image: Robyn Gower


11

In every edition, we drill down into a section of the eHealth Strategy for NSW Health: 2016-2026. This time we look at one of the Strategy’s 11 Underpinning Principles – Robust Governance andInvestment Management –and speak with Graham Baum,eHealth NSW’s AssistantDirector of Investment,Strategy & Architecture (ISA).

What approach is eHealth NSW taking with regard to coordinating and planning investment at local and state levels?

What we are doing is transparently prioritising new initiatives and ideas, from across the NSW Health system.This includes Innovation projects, state-wide proof of concepts and large- scale, centrally funded programs.

Our ICT Investment Lifecycle and Prioritisation process supports transparency in ICT investment through appropriate and robust governance. This complements the Investment Assurance Framework introduced across the NSW Government in November 2016 and outlines a standardised approach for ICT projects in NSW Health to be prioritised, supported and funded.

How does the NSW Health ICT Investment Lifecycle and Prioritisation Process do this?

It provides a common approach to prioritising proposed ICT projects which best support the strategic priorities of the eHealth Strategy for NSW Health 2016-26.

In doing so, it enhances collaboration across stakeholder groups to progress core/common ICT priorities and initiatives. This ensures transparency in the process to determine state-based priorities and funding required to support prioritisation of ‘fast-track’ innovation projects.

How does ISA ensure NSW Health’s investments align with the eHealth Strategy for NSW Health?

ISA coordinates the process, with input from our colleagues in Program Delivery, Office of the CCIO and Information Services. Investment proposals are reviewed for their alignment to the eHealth Strategy and the three horizons within that strategy. Alignment to Horizon 1 (Consistent Foundations) is the focus for larger potential investment at the moment.

However, if an innovative proposal focusing on Horizon 2 (Integration) or Horizon 3 (Personalisation) is received, it could be progressed as a proof of concept and, if successful, a business case could be developed for state- wide application. ISA collaborates with business and clinical stakeholders to help validate local business needs, ICT requirements, and development of the business cases.

How does it do this and why is it important?

Our approach is transparent when it comes to prioritising new investments and collaborating with initiative owners, executive sponsors, eHealth

NSW delivery and operations teams and we engage with ICT governance committees to provide endorsement of prioritised initiatives.

It is critically important that ISA collaborates and communicates to help ensure proposed projects are set up for success and can be delivered and supported across the full project lifecycle from idea to funding, delivery, post implementation review and business-as-usual phases.

We keep the project initiator and executive sponsor informed on how the initiative is tracking throughout the process and, if it is unsuccessful, we give clear reasons as to why.

For example, during our recent review of the Corporate IT Business Case, we suggested that the proposed six-year business case be split into three tranches of two years. Corporate IT took our advice and revised it to involve three linked but stand-alone tranches, each of which provide returns on investment both individually and as a whole. That business case has now been endorsed by the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation.

A slice of the eHealth Strategy

Graham Baum


12

Intensive Care Unit (ICU) staff at Port Macquarie Base Hospital (PMBH) have welcomed the increased functionality that has flowed from the Release 2 upgrade of eHealth NSW’s electronic Record for Intensive Care (eRIC).

This successful upgrade took place on 27 February and has brought a number of patient and clinician benefits, including:

• On patient transfer from the ICU,the electronic Handover of Care(eHOC) can now be printed via eRIC

• With the Patient AdministrationSystem (PAS) and eRIC integration,patient demographic data is beingexported from PAS to eRIC

• Through the reporting portal, theICU has access to 16 standardisedoperational reports.

ICU staff passed on their approval of the upgrade to eRIC Program staff

and Mid North Coast Local Health District Chief Executive Stewart Dowrick, who is a regular after-hours visitor to hospitals across his district.

These “midnight rounds” include visits to Intensive Care Units and Emergency Departments where he has the chance to catch up with medical officers, nurses, and support staff.

Mr Dowrick visits the hospitals, engaging with the dedicated and

hard-working staff who keep the

facilities running around the clock.

“It’s a great opportunity to catch

up with staff,” said Mr Dowrick.

“These visits also provide our

executive team with valuable feedback

direct from the frontline.”

On a recent visit to Port Macquarie

Base Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit

(ICU), Mr Dowrick saw first-hand how

the implementation of the eRIC has

improved efficiency and functionality

within the ICU.

“Our staff have adapted so well to the

eRIC system and they tell me regularly

how it is improving the overall

operation of the ICU,” he said.

PMBH Nurse Unit Manager Patrick

Regan said staff were well prepared

for the transition, which involved

going back to paper in the

morning and was achieved with

minimal disruption.

“It was really interesting to see how

staff managed that transition which

went smoothly. Once the staff learned

about all the things that were getting

fixed in the update, they were very

excited, because they felt they had

been listened to,” Patrick said.

Doing the “midnight rounds”


13

New casual rostering in HealthRoster a hit

New functionality in HealthRoster to simplify and automate the process for rostering casual nursing staff has gone live at The Children’s Hospital at Randwick.

Casual staff can now directly book

themselves into vacant shifts through

Employee Online (EOL).

“We have 90 casual nurses here at

Randwick, so communicating with

all 90 via email back and forth to fill

the required shifts was very time-

consuming,” said Karen Norris, who

manages the casual nurse workforce

for the hospital.

“Now with direct booking, Nurse Unit

Managers advise me of what shifts

they need casuals for. I publish those shifts on EOL, and casuals can book themselves into those shifts with a click of a button on EOL. It’s been a fantastic roll-out. We had great engagement from all our NUMS, and the casual staff have adapted really well to what is really quite a significant change in process.”

Apart from taking pressure off the staffing office, the adoption of direct booking has had other benefits.

“Managers can plan for skill mix and patient allocation as they can view which casuals are allocated to their units,” said Karen. “Cancellations can be monitored and recorded. And there is improved roster accuracy, as casual staff can check their roster is accurate for pay.”

At go-live, 70 per cent of vacant shifts were picked up by casual staff in the first hour.

“Feedback from casual staff has been positive as they can now book themselves to where they like working, work locations change less often and they can avoid areas where they are not comfortable,” she said. “They also can work a variety of different shifts, including in areas where they have not worked previously, so are enjoying different experiences.”

The casual staff management functionality in HealthRoster and Employee Online is gradually being rolled out to HealthRoster sites across the state.

For more information, contact [email protected]

L-R: Karen Norris, Nurse Manager, Staffing at The Children’s Hospital at Randwick, with Nurse Unit Managers Sally Whalen, Elizabeth Giles, Amanda Pritchard, Kara Munro and Marguerite Cusack


14

New recruitment system coming soonA new and improved recruitment and onboarding system is set to replace eRecruit for NSW Health, and from mid-year eHealth NSW managers will be the first to use it.

As a single platform for managing all

Health recruitment, the new system

will deliver a much simpler and more

engaging recruitment and onboarding process, with user-friendly tools and improved workforce reporting.

The system will guide users through all phases of general recruitment – from attracting and sourcing candidates through to offering positions and bringing candidates on board.

Starting late June, eHealth NSW and HealthShare NSW will pilot the new recruitment solution, followed by

roll-out to all NSW Health Agencies and Local Health Districts in the second half of 2017.

More information and online training will be provided in the weeks leading up to the launch of eHealth NSW’s recruitment and onboarding solution.

For more information, contact the Human Capital Management Program team at [email protected]

Expo registrations now openRegistrations for the eighth annual HealthShare NSW & eHealth NSW Expo are now open, with attendance expected to top the 1600 of the 2016 event.

The line-up of guest speakers is shaping up to be as exciting as it is diverse, with Dr Jordan Nguyen (pictured right) now confirmed as one of many experts sharing their take on the power of connection.

An internationally renowned engineer for humanity, Dr Nguyen designs life-changing technologies that are intelligent, futuristic and inclusive, and many of these are made to transform the lives of people with disability.

A passionate advocate for social change, Dr Nguyen follows the mantra of: “One Life. Persist to Improve Many”. He believes that each life

has the capacity to improve the lives

of many, and that this simple yet

profound idea can change the world

and shape the future.

To register for Expo, visit

http://www.hsnsw-ehnswexpo.health.

nsw.gov.au/registration

http://www.hsnsw-ehnswexpo.health.nsw.gov.au/registration


15

Big wins for Rural eHealth scanning projecteHealth NSW’s Rural eHealth Scanning Project completed its last implementation at Tweed Heads Emergency Department during the first week of April.

This pilot focused on external

GP referrals and Aged Care

documentation being scanned on

registration. In consultation with the

Clinical Information Systems (CIS)

Unit, Emergency Department and

Medical Records, the implementation

went smoothly, with more than 35

documents scanned within the first

three days.

Rural eHealth NSW Program Director

Kerri Ryan extended thanks to Sarah

Sullivan, Rob Davies and Russell Bond and

the staff of Tweed Hospital for helping to

make this a successful roll-out, especially

given it took place the week after a major flood affected the area.

In March, Coffs Harbour Base Hospital went live with scanning functionality for ECGs of ICU patients, giving clinicians

access to patients’ ECGs within the electronic medical record (eMR).

It’s hoped the project will be rolled out more widely subject to funding and approval, said Kerri.

What’s the process?When a patient has an ECG done in ICU, the ECG is transmitted to a network drive. The Medical Records staff then import the ECG into the correct patient Electronic Medical Record. This will be done in business hours. ECGs that are done after hours will be imported the morning of the next business day.

A paper copy is still printed in the ICU for immediate review by the medical officer. If there is clinical information recorded on the paper copy then the Medical Records Staff will also scan this copy into the patient’s record and note that it is a duplicate annotated ECG.

What are the benefits?Having the ECGs available in the electronic medical record will enable clinicians to easily access previous ECGs to view and compare with current ECGs.

What are the clinicians saying?“It was beneficial to be able to see the Nursing Home notes which may include end-of-life care documents in the electronic medical record. This ultimately helps make patient care more efficient.” – Victoria, Medical Officer, The Tweed Hospital, Tweed Heads.

“A benefit of having scanned documents available, such as GP letters, means these can now be stored in one easily accessible place, viewable to multiple staff at any one time.” – Medical Staff, The Tweed Hospital, Tweed Heads.

“It is impressive to now have the ability to view these documents in the eMR. This helps with nursing care planning and building an understanding of the patient’s clinical history.” – Nursing and Medical Staff, The Tweed Hospital, Tweed Heads.

Stephanie Givney (standing) and Katherine O’Leary at Coffs Harbour Base Hospital

eHealth NSW and HealthShare NSW are fundraising for Guide Dogs NSW/ACT to raise $35,000 to cover the cost of raising and training a puppy to become a guide dog or assistance dog.

Together we have raised $8,000 so far – which is great effort! Our #SpotThePuppy photo competition will help us get closer to our target.

What you can do:

• Buy a toy guide dog for $30 online at guidedogs.co/healthshare or from HealthShare NSW or eHealth NSW receptions in Chatswood

• Take a photo of your puppy hiding in your workplace

• Submit your photo with a snappy caption to [email protected]

Note:

• Your guide dog may take 7-10 working days to be delivered

• You will need to order through the URL above (not the general Guide Dogs’ website) so the money goes towards our fundraising tally

• Team entries are welcome.

The competition closes on Friday 14 July and the winning five entries will be featured on the intranet and in HealthShare News and/or eHealth News.

We will also display photos around our Guide Dogs Expo booth.

#SpotThePuppy Guide Dog Photo

Competition

https://www.guidedogs.com.au/product-category/guide-dogs-plush-puppies?utm_source=healthshare&utm_campaign=healthsharelink

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