Paper records need binning

THE transition away from paper to electronic records is referred to as e-health and is becoming one of the hottest topics in health and IT.

For good reason. A recent report commissioned by the Rudd government highlighted the high occurrence of death and injury caused through medical error and miscommunication between care providers and patients.

It is estimated more people die as a direct result of these errors than are killed on Australia's roads each year.

To meet the vast demands of the health sector, solutions have been developed for all segments of the industry, providing support from administration to clinical areas.

These solutions are provided through a variety of sources, from the more traditional method of an on-site stand-alone server to the emerging trend of web-based platforms, which enable greater flexibility in the delivery and management of patient care.

John EIkerton, chief executive of Healthcare Software, says if you are a typical middle-aged Australian, you will have had several hospital visits, consulted more than one GP and collected prescriptions from any number of community pharmacies.

"So where is your medical record?" he says. "In most cases, each of these locations will hold a fragment of your record and to date there is no widespread collation of these details.

"The question is: how can the hospital, GP or other carer make the best decisions for your health when they cannot get a complete picture of a medical history?"

While businesses rely mostly on computerised records, this is not the case in our hospitals where documentation of patient results and treatment is still primarily paper-based.

Morris Kaplan The Australian 29 aug 09