Te Whatu Ora extends medicine database contract with Telstra Health

Te Whatu Ora has extended its longstanding contract with Telstra Health for its Clinical Content managed services. 

Before they were consolidated under Te Whatu Ora in 2022, former District Health Boards in New Zealand used Clinical Content, which includes access to Micromedex, AusDI, and DRTC.

Telstra Health said its contract recently transitioned under Te Whatu Ora to "continue to enable improved healthcare workflows [by] ensuring seamless access to critical drug information and supporting confident and timely decision-making among healthcare providers."

SA to roll out free virtual mental health service for young people

The child and adolescent virtual care service at South Australia's Women’s and Children’s Hospital will soon cover mental health following a new state funding. 

The SA government recently announced A$5 million ($3.3 million) in funding under its 2024-2025 Budget to introduce new youth mental health programmes, including a paediatric virtual mental health service.

Based on a media release, the free service will digitally connect parents with a care team that can provide medical advice over video for children aged six months to 18.

NSW upgrading ambulance matrix

New South Wales is also upgrading its ambulance patient allocation matrix system with new funding. 

Under the NSW Budget 2024-2025, A$15.1 million ($10 million) was earmarked over four years for the upgrade of the ambulance dashboard, which is used to find the most appropriate emergency department to transfer a patient to. The funding is part of the A$480 million NSW Government's ED relief package.

According to a media release, the improved matrix called NewGen Matrix will be able to consider the capacity of nearby emergency departments, a patient's clinical condition, and travel times. The existing ambulance matrix, which has been in use for nearly two decades, does not give paramedics visibility into potential delays at EDs because it relies on limited, static data inputs.

"This critical upgrade to the ambulance matrix will integrate live data from right across our public health system in real time to help paramedics transport patients to the ED that will be able to treat them as quickly and appropriately as possible," explained NSW Minister for Health Ryan Park.

The new dashboard, which rollout will start late next year across metropolitan and rural NSW,  is expected to help more than 2,000 ED patients to avoid a secondary hospital transfer. 

Tāmaki Health goes to cloud for workforce management

Tāmaki Health, one of New Zealand's largest private primary healthcare providers, has turned to cloud for workforce management.

It recently engaged, AMS, a local provider of IT solutions for workforce and insurance management, to implement its cloud-based "roster-to-pay" solution, AMS Pulse. The system will help manage Tāmaki Health's complex workforce and accurately track costs across more than 40 general practice and urgent care clinics while ensuring compliance with ever-changing employment regulations.

Tāmaki Health has already gone live with the AMS Pulse payroll system; the self-service portal and rostering and award interpretation functionalities will be implemented in the following phase.