Health comes at a high price

TRANSFORMING a major hospital from a paper-based system to digital technology was never going to be easy or cheap.

The integrated electronic medical record (ieMR) system has been rolled out across eight hospitals and health services in Queensland and by 2020 27 hospitals will be under the system for a total budgeted cost of $1.2 billion.

Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service is included and was involved in an audit of the process in a report tabled in Queensland Parliament this week.

Overall, a media statement by Health Minister Steven Miles is mainly glowing of the report which “backed” the digital hospital system.

He said the program was one of the most significant health advances in decades, making hospitals safer and more efficient.

The statement noted that “inappropriate pathology testing is being reduced in Cairns”.

As well it highlighted that costs had exceeded initial expectations because more was spent on extra devices for doctors and nurses and resources to reduce patient flow disruption.

But the statement doesn’t show that in Cairns the rollout required nearly 56 staff, far more than the 21.4 in the business case, and all other costs were $4.2 million, double the project budget with devices such as 199 tablets (146 more than budget) and 212 work stations on wheels (85 over budget) costing $3.13 million, instead of the budget of $2.24 million. However, about 528 fewer printers were required.

That’s a very expensive price of progress but it should lead to worthy improvements in the delivery of public medical healthcare in Cairns. Nick Dalton Deputy editor