Regional Radiology Information System live at Capital and Coast DHB

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Capital and Coast DHB (CCDHB) has gone live with the regional Radiology Information System and PACS reporting solution on the Philips Vue imaging platform.

The move is part of an agreement between the six Central Region DHBs – CCDHB, Hutt Valley, Wairarapa, MidCentral, Whanganui and Hawke’s Bay – to implement shared regional ICT systems to support DHB radiology functions.

These systems are the; Regional Clinical Portal, Ordering for Radiology, Radiology Information System (RIS), and the Regional Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) reporting solution.

Martin Catterall, chief digital officer for Capital & Coast, Hutt Valley and Wairarapa DHBs says the RIS is used to manage the patient journey through Radiology – from the front desk to radiologists.

The Philips system replaced the existing CCDHB RIS, which was no longer supported.

“Implementation for CCDHB rolled out as planned, with no disruption experienced during the transition – something that could not have been achieved without the excellent collaboration and team work of the combined project team of Radiology, ICT, TAS and Philips,” Catterall says.

“CCDHB also received support from our fellow DHBs that are already using the systems.”

Whanganui, MidCentral, and Hawke’s Bay DHBs are already using the regional RIS and implementation planning will soon be underway for Hutt Valley and Wairarapa DHBs.

The RIS will be used by approximately 400 clinical and administrative staff, once the onboarding of these DHBs is complete.

You’ve read this article for free, but good journalism takes time and resource to produce. Please consider supporting eHealthNews by becoming a member of HiNZ, for just $17 a month.

Anne Speden, lead DHB chief information officer for the Central Region, says the go-live improves people’s access to specialist services across the region, which is an important step toward improving equitable health outcomes.

Other benefits include; secure sharing of patient information across the DHBs using it, improved ability to image patients closer to their home, radiologist access to shared DHB systems to assist with image reporting, and overall improved patient data and security.

Managing director at Philips in Australia and New Zealand, Matt Moran, says the single platform for the Central Region brings together a fragmented technology landscape, increasing efficiency and speed to report.

“The biggest benefit to the patients within the network is that the platform now allows for the tertiary facility in the region to view and report any radiology investigation from the rest of the DHBs from the Central Vue Archive without having to switch between, or facilitate data transfer to a local instance of the system,” he says.

“The platform also creates a unified view of the patient, prevents repeat exams and provides a clearer continuous clinical history on referral.”

In the future, systems upgrades and improvements will be available to the entire region simultaneously.

“As we progress with the unified platform we are now looking forward to bringing the same benefits to the other DHBs in quick succession over the course of this year,” says Moran.

The shared regional ICT systems are part of the Regional Digital Health Service, operated by professional services agency TAS, on behalf of the Central Region’s DHBs.



To comment on or discuss this news story, go to the eHealthNews category on the HiNZ eHealth Forum

Read more Clinical Software news

Return to eHealthNews.nz home page