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A shared electronic health record: lessons from the coalface
Author(s) -
Silvester Brett V,
Carr Simon J
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2009.tb02615.x
Subject(s) - multidisciplinary approach , interoperability , electronic health record , health care , medical emergency , medicine , nursing , commission , business , clinical governance , royal commission , quality (philosophy) , patient safety , public relations , geography , political science , computer science , world wide web , philosophy , finance , epistemology , law , archaeology
A shared electronic health record system has been successfully implemented in Australia by a Division of General Practice in northern Brisbane. The system grew out of coordinated care trials that showed the critical need to share summary patient information, particularly for patients with complex conditions who require the services of a wide range of multisector, multidisciplinary health care professionals. As at 30 April 2008, connected users of the system included 239 GPs from 66 general practices, two major public hospitals, three large private hospitals, 11 allied health and community‐based provider organisations and 1108 registered patients. Access data showed a patient's shared record was accessed an average of 15 times over a 12‐month period. The success of the Brisbane implementation relied on seven key factors: connectivity, interoperability, change management, clinical leadership, targeted patient involvement, information at the point of care, and governance. The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care is currently evaluating the system for its potential to reduce errors relating to inadequate information transfer during clinical handover.