Western Australia’s Fremantle Hospital has transitioned from paper to digital records with the implementation of BOSSnet Electronic Medical Record (EMR).

The healthcare provider joins the list of other providers that have made their move into the EMR space. Most recently, Justice Health Victoria and Bass Coast Health deployed Global Health’s MasterCare EMR.

Fremantle Hospital deployed Allscripts’ BOSSnet EMR platform as it required a seamless transition of records across its mental health, aged care and elective surgical services, and when patients get transferred to and from the Fiona Stanley Hospital.

“With patients being transferred between Fiona Stanley and Fremantle hospitals daily, the EMR standardises clinical access to a patient’s medical record and medical history,” Fiona Stanley Fremantle Hospitals Group (FSFHG) ICT Program Manager Jonathan Langdale said.

“The EMR will help us work more efficiently and effectively without the delays and risks associated with copying, storing and retrieving paper records across both sites.”

The Fiona Stanley Hospital was the first site in Western Australia to deploy the BOSSnet EMR, paving the way for other installations across the region.

Langdale said the deployment not only supports continuity of care across the group, but also improves communication across disciplines.

“Allied health staff, nurses and doctors from both hospital sites can immediately access and enter details into a patient’s digital medical record, read previous admissions and outpatient notes, and access some procedure and investigation results,” he said.

In addition, according to Langdale, getting ‘BOSSnet-ready’ involved an enormous hospital-wide effort, with more than 1000 staff undertaking training to familiarise themselves with the new program.

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BOSSnet Strategic Business Development Director Narelle Portakiewicz said the implementation in Fremantle Hospital required 12 months of intensive planning and that all inpatient wards, outpatient and community services, day patient areas, theatres and procedural areas are now successfully using the BOSSnet platform.

“The implementation of BOSSnet required an extensive upgrade of the hospital’s infrastructure, which included the introduction of 35 new workstations on wheels, 55 PCs, 654 widescreen monitors and four enterprise-grade document scanners,” she said.

“The system is performing as it should and we have received very positive feedback from clinicians.”

Most recently, Allscripts subsidiary Veradigm inked a partnership with Microsoft to develop a new product that would help researchers conduct studies via Allscripts’ cloud-based electronic health records, broadening it to include automated “match-making” between study protocols, patients and providers who may qualify for studies.