Integration issues prevent Northern region from going with Epic

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

The Regional Collaborative Community Care (RCCC) tender for the Northern Region DHBs was closed unawarded more than three years after it went out and a new tender has been released.

Epic was the chosen supplier for the community system but integration issues prevented the project from moving ahead, says Northland DHB chief executive Nick Chamberlain.

The original tender, released in September 2018, was on behalf of Auckland, Northland, Waitematā and Counties Manukau DHBs, but the chosen system could also be used by community care organisations and general practices.

The new system was to be implemented first at Northland DHB to replace Jade Community Care, which was due to be unsupported from 2020. This solution supports referral, case and bed management, prescribing, care planning, group and individual patient scheduling, and clinical documentation for community care and inpatient mental health services.

Chamberlain says the RCCC project asked for a “modern, and interoperable system for the community that could work seamlessly within our New Zealand health IS context.

“Epic responded to the tender that theirs is a modern and interoperable solution that did not require their EMR (electronic medical record) to work and ranked highly on functionality and interoperability in its original response,” he says.

“The project has undertaken considerable due diligence before committing contractually to a long and high-value project that will create a backbone of health and social information into the community, which will support locality-based services.

“Close to the end of the negotiation, Epic stated they could not integrate with our environment without their EMR, which was not in the procurement scope. They offered a reduced scope standalone system as an alternative which was rejected,” says Chamberlain.

The decision was then made to close the tender unawarded.

“The Northern Region is disappointed this opportunity will not proceed as originally envisaged,” he says.

“However, we are relieved that we found this out now, rather than finding out we have a significant expensive problem during the build phase when we would have been contractually committed.”

A new tender, issued by healthAlliance, says the “RCCC vision is of collaborative community, primary and hospital care networks where consumers and whānau freely interact with, modify and manage their health information in a manner that positively impacts the wider determinants of health, reduces inequities, and enhances ownership, participation, and autonomy.

“The technology solution will support the easy flow of information across and between care settings, facilitating best care delivery,” it says.

Following roll-out to Northland DHB the solution will be deployed across the Auckland metro area. The RFP closes on February 3.

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

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