Northern district health boards start building regional clinical portal
- 12 February, 2019 06:52
Northland and Auckland district health boards (DHBs) have been given the green light for the long-awaited upgrade to their clinical record portal.
The two DHBs’ current system, Concerto 6, will be replaced with the latest version of Orion Health’s clinical record viewing software Clinical Portal 8 by early 2020.
The project follows the implementation of Clinical Portal 8 at Counties Manukau and Waitematā DHBs in 2018.
It will result in a single, connected clinical viewing system that will deliver a patient-centric record accessible from any Northern region DHB location, including authenticated health providers.
Neil Beney, project sponsor and Northland DHB general manager, medicine, health of older people, emergency and clinical support, says the regionally-connected clinical portal will form the largest patient information ecosystem in New Zealand.
“It will facilitate better sharing of patient information within and between the Northern Region DHBs and across care providers. It will also provide a better way for clinicians to follow their patients’ journey across all care settings,” says Beney, in a statement.
Clinical Portal 8 is a patient-centric dashboard to view health information. It includes medical alerts, radiology and laboratory results, clinical history and patient movements from a variety of clinical applications.
Once rolled out at Northland and Auckland DHBs, there will be 24,700 users in the region supporting a population of 1.8 million people.
“Clinical Portal 8 offers users a cleaner, more intuitive and more connected view of patient data compared to the current version, which will help to reduce delays and errors and improve productivity, patient experience and care,” says Beney.
Clinical Portal 8 offers users a cleaner, more intuitive and more connected view of patient data compared to the current version, which will help to reduce delays and errors and improve productivity, patient experience and care
For the many clinicians who work across one or more DHBs, the user experience will be consistent regardless of location, and their access to information will improve.
Underlying infrastructure upgrades will also provide more resilience, while single sign-on functionality means it will be faster and easier for clinicians to access patient data.
The upgrade projects are being managed by the Northern region’s shared IT service provider, healthAlliance, in conjunction with the DHBs and technology provider, Orion Health.
Dr Karl Cole, healthAlliance chief clinical information officer, says the upgrades are part of the foundational work of the region’s IS Strategic Plan (ISSP) which aims to join up the DHBs through technology and prepare them for a rapidly advancing digital future.
“A modern regional Clinical Portal is a key enabler for improving patient care in our communities so it’s a very exciting time,” says Cole.
“Once implemented, it will mark a significant milestone toward a more connected health system in our region.”
Niru Rajakumar, Orion Health client success director, says the upgrades will provide Northland and Auckland DHBs access to industry-leading tools and capabilities.
“Orion Health is pleased to partner with healthAlliance to streamline information sharing and deliver more connected care across New Zealand’s northernmost DHBs,” he says.
“The upgrade also enables the entire region to use the new capabilities available within Clinical Portal 8 and future-proof their shared platform.”
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