FIONA STANLEY HOSPITAL — INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS
855. Hon AMBER-JADE SANDERSON to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to media reports on 28 June 2012 that Fiona Stanley
Hospital would be WA's first
paperless hospital, with staff using mobile computers or tablets to record
patient information.
(1) Is it still the case that Fiona Stanley Hospital when it
opens will be a ''paperless'' hospital?
(2) If not, what has changed between this statement and the
current situation?
(3) Are there
any additional costs associated with the change; and, if so, what is the nature
of those costs and what do they amount to?
Hon
ALYSSA HAYDEN replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of this
question.
(1) No.
(2) The
absolute priority is to ensure provision of safe clinical care when Fiona
Stanley Hospital opens in October 2014. Although modified from the early and
ambitious information and communication technology vision, the FSH ICT program
will still deliver a foundation on which the hospital and the wider system can
build to achieve the vision in the future. The adjustment in the scope for
delivery for the opening of FSH will result in a higher use of paper than was
envisaged; however, FSH will still use less paper in comparison with other
similar WA hospitals.
(3) It is
expected that the higher than originally planned use of paper by Fiona Stanley
Hospital will result in some additional costs. These will be associated with
the need to use paper forms and to manage paper records. The additional costs
are not fully known and will be at least partly offset by savings resulting
from not fully implementing the completely paperless environment. These include
savings in technology, training and electronic records management.