Northern Health has integrated EHR provider MediRecords' e-prescribing software into its virtual emergency department to enable paperless prescribing.

From this week, doctors at the Victoria Virtual Emergency Department can send e-prescriptions directly to patients or their carers via the MediRecords platform.

As part of the integration, MediRecords will also implement FHIR technology to ensure that the hospital's patient administration system and data warehouses will be seamlessly updated with information, such as medication requests.

THE LARGER CONTEXT

Since last week, COVID-19 cases in the state of Victoria have gone above 10,000 with about 800 people hospitalised, increasingly putting a strain on hospitals and ambulances. 

To relieve the pressure on hospital resources and manpower, the Victorian government has provided additional funding of A$162 million ($122 million) to Northern Heath to double its capacity to 500 patients per day. 

MediRecords' integration with VVED is another initiative Northern Health is undertaking to reduce time-consuming paperwork and postage and transportation costs.

Integrated electronic prescribing provides patients with instant access to medication while reducing paperwork for the VVED team, according to MediRecords CEO Matthew Galetto.

THE LARGER TREND

MediRecords is part of a consortium that recently bagged the contract to overhaul the EHR system of the Australian Defence Force. The Leidos-led consortium will deliver a new health knowledge management system, replacing ADF's legacy system with a modern solution that stores, aggregates and analyses health data and information for Defence personnel and connects GP and allied health care with emergency and hospital care.