Emergency department facilities of public health services under the Gippsland Health Alliance in Victoria have started using an EMR platform from health IT firm Allscripts.

WHAT IT DOES

According to Allscripts's website, the Sunrise EMR system is a single-platform acute and ambulatory solution that delivers the most current information to clinicians at point-of-care delivery. It has simple workflows to provide access to recently viewed charts and patient lists with just a click. Leveraging Microsoft Azure's cloud-based features, the Sunrise system helps organisations automate clinical documentation workflow, as well as their tissue and implant processes.

WHY IT MATTERS

The rollout of the Allscripts Sunrise system across the regional EDs is part of the third phase of the health organisation's EMR Community Health activation. 

GHA Chief Information Officer Jon Millar said in a statement that Sunrise's Emergency Care module gives emergency clinicians an "information edge in the dynamic environment of an emergency department".

The Sunrise platform has been introduced in the emergency departments of the Central Gippsland Health Service, Bairnsdale Regional Health Service, West Gippsland Healthcare Group and Bass Coast Health. 

THE LARGER TREND

The GHA announced in January that it will be extending Allscripts Sunrise across the Gippsland region. In late 2017, Allscripts bagged the contract to deliver an EMR solution to the GHA. Its Sunrise system was first implemented in the Latrobe Regional Hospital, a specialist referral and trauma centre in the region. The rollout was completed last year in October. 

ON THE RECORD

"GHA has firmly established itself as one of the pioneers of connected communities of health in Australia and we are enthusiastic about the success that we help them achieve in rolling out Sunrise across very sizeable geography and in four EDs simultaneously," said Todd Haebich, general manager at Allscripts Australia and New Zealand.

"Introducing a world-class EMR into our emergency departments supercharges the traditional tracking board by giving clinicians a powerful and intuitive interface which allows them to access vital patient information in only a few clicks. Every second count in an emergency department so it’s vital the local teams are able to access patient information quickly. All of our staff have been trained and clinician feedback has been very positive," GHA's Millar also stated.