Three central DHBs procuring e-observations system

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eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

The Wairarapa, Hutt Valley and Capital & Coast district health boards are looking to procure and deploy a single mobile electronic patient observations and documentation system.

The three DHBs have released a Request for Information saying they want to “digitally transform the way our clinicians are able to record and access patient data”.

The RFI document says the boards have a variety of clinical systems in place but integration across and within the DHBs is fragmented and patient observations are currently captured via “inefficient manual methods that do not provide the on-demand access to data needed by clinicians”.

Patient observations have therefore been identified as a “high-value opportunity for improvement”.

“The more critical the patient status, the more urgent it is for the staff to actively monitor and maintain constant communication in regard to that patient, and also to escalate and alert on the most critical cases immediately,” the document says.

The new system should allow clinicians to record patient observations and clinical notes at the bedside and provide access to that data to any authorised person from any location, at any time, and from any authorised and enabled device.

The system should also electronically calculate early warning scores and have in-built escalation and alerting intelligence.

The successful bidder must include “mobility options that are device agnostic, highly flexible and easily configurable for minimal reliance on vendor support for most operational changes over the solution lifecycle in our hospital(s),” the document says.

The single platform will be deployed across the DHBs, which are looking to “optimise some of the ward activities to improve working conditions, improve patient hospital experiences and outcomes, and to shorten the average length of stay in hospital”.

“This is a unique opportunity to be part of making significant improvements in New Zealand healthcare,” the RFI says.

The deadline for submissions is 29 May and a full RFP is due to be released to shortlisted suppliers on 18 June.

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