Northern Health has started its transition from a paper-based medical record system to an integrated EMR system.

After two years of preparation, its EMR system, developed with Oracle Cerner, is now being rolled out across its services in Melbourne's northern region. The system went live at Bundoora Centre and Broadmeadows Hospital last week with implementations in the rest of Northern Health following the coming weeks, the major healthcare provider said in a LinkedIn post.

"[This] week, we will be transitioning the Northern Hospital Epping, which will include ED, ICU, theatres, anaesthetics and maternity. We are excited and looking forward to bringing Northern Hospital Epping and Craigieburn Centre onto the EMR next week," Trish Aldridge, Northern Health EMR program director, said.

WHY IT MATTERS

The Northern Health EMR system provides a health service-wide view of clinical information, enhancing the coordination of care and supporting immediate clinical decision-making. Additionally, the system is able to notify care teams in real time about allergies and alerts and provides better visibility of a patient’s medical history when they are undergoing treatment or surgery.

THE LARGER TREND

Outside Victoria, an Oracle Health EMR system is also being continuously rolled out across Queensland following A$300 million ($190 million) funding last year from the state government to expand its implementation. This covers five more sites under the Metro North Hospital and Health Service.