Sunday, 12 November, marked one year since the Digital Health Record (DHR) went live across ACT Government health services, replacing 40 previous systems to provide person-centred care to the ACT and region.

“The DHR is the most comprehensive implementation of the Epic electronic medical record product suite in the southern hemisphere,” Holger Kaufman, ACT Health’s Chief Information Officer, said.

“It supports every public hospital process, from patient administration to medication management, to pathology and imaging orders and results, and it empowers our patients – over 210,000 Canberrans have already signed up to access their medical records. In short, the DHR is an absolute gamechanger for the ACT public healthcare system, and a big source of envy whenever I speak to my CIO colleagues in other jurisdictions.”

“One year on,” ACT health minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said, “the DHR has improved information sharing, streamlined processes, and made it easier for health workers to look after the tens of thousands of Canberrans who rely on public health services every year.

“The Digital Health Record is transforming the way clinical care is provided in ACT public health services.

“Having a single record for each patient means our doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals have faster access to relevant clinical information. This means safer and more timely care in our hospitals, Walk-in Centres, Community Health Centres, Clare Holland House, QEII Family Centre, and home-based services.”

Katie McKinnon, Assistant Director of Nursing, Women, Youth and Children at University of Canberra Hospital, said: “The DHR has changed how we manage patient flow from the referral, through assessment, to transfer. It allows for transparency, online review of records, and consistent communication. With the DHR, transferring health services are alerted early, allowing for patients and their families or supporters to prepare for the next stage of their health journey.”

“The DHR has been a positive change for our service, it has allowed us to see everything in real-time,” Rowena Hogan, Hospital in the Home clinical nurse consultant, said. “In addition, patients are more engaged and empowered than ever before in their own health care with the use of the MyDHR app.”

Ms Stephen-Smith continued: “We have seen significant improvements for staff and consumers in DHR’s first 12 months, including prevention of unnecessary blood tests, earlier notification of potential adverse reactions to medication, and reduced handover times for nurses at shift changes.

“For consumers and carers, having access to their own health information through MyDHR has been a huge benefit, empowering them to be partners in their own care.”

One year on:

• Nearly 215,000 MyDHR user accounts have been activated, giving patients direct access to their data;
• Almost 600,000 results have been sent directly to patients’ MyDHR accounts within 1 day of their test;
• More than 21,000 individual users have made more than 1.2 million MyDHR logins;
• Patients have completed more than 56,000 general questionnaires to help clinicians provide better care;
• More than 75,000 unnecessary blood draws have been prevented by adding required tests to an existing order;
• More than 1.6 million internal messages have been sent using the secure chat function that allows staff to communicate securely about a patient;
• 48,364 emergency cardiology studies have been completed in less than 15 minutes; and
• 194,833 imaging exams have been completed within 30 minutes (153,667 within 15 minutes).

Ms Stephen-Smith thanked the dedicated ACT public health system teams for their commitment to implementing the new system.

“Implementing the Digital Health Record was a massive task, especially in the midst of a global pandemic,” Ms Stephen-Smith said. “Everyone involved should be extremely proud of this huge achievement.

“Of course, there’s still a lot of work to do to realise the system’s full potential, and I thank the teams that are working to address data challenges and optimise the system for frontline staff.

“Technology doesn’t stand still, and experience from other jurisdictions tells us the Digital Health Record will continue to evolve and deliver even more benefits over time.”