Midland DHBs pilot new meds management system

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

The Te Manawa Taki (TMT) DHB region will pilot implementation of the Better OPENeP Electronic Medication Management solution with Alcidion, starting with Hāwera Hospital.

This will be the first deployment of the OPENeP solution in the Southern Hemisphere.

The pilot project will begin at Hāwera Hospital, part of Taranaki DHB, and will use Alcidion’s Patientrack as the portal for the system.

The system will ultimately roll-out across the five DHBs in the TMT region: Hauora Tairāwhiti, Taranaki, Lakes, Bay of Plenty and Waikato.

Taranaki chief information officer Steven Parrish describes the project as “ground-breaking”.

“It not only is it the first regionally-led e- medicine trial in New Zealand, but it will also be the first instance of OPENeP in the Asia-Pacific region,” he says.

“Of all TMT hospitals, Hāwera was the logical location for the pilot due to its size and existing experience with eMedicine."

“Empowering clinicians with this technology reduces clinical risk, provides consistency in practice and more collaborative and coordinated approach to patient care between healthcare providers throughout the health system, supporting the delivery of quality, patient-centred care,” he added.

An Alcidion press release says OPENeP (recently renamed Better Meds) supports full closed loop medication management addressing the five rights – right patient, right drug, right dose, right route and right time.

“The integrated workflow addresses reconciliation, prescribing, clinical pharmacy review and medication administration,” the release says.

“It provides efficiencies, transparency and decision support to the critical care processes associated with medication management…is based on modern technologies and interoperable with other internal and external solutions.“

Alcidion Managing Director Kate Quirke says, “we believe the OPENeP solution will deliver measurable benefits to the DHBs and look forward to extending these across the region, on successful completion of the pilot.” 

If you would like to provide feedback on this news story, please contact the editor Rebecca McBeth.

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