ACT government to implement eHealth record, centralise Oracle licensing

Territory to rollout real-time prescription monitoring

Credit: Supplied

Purchasing a new digital health record system that can support public health services and rejigging Oracle licensing are among the tech-focused initiatives flagged in the ACT’s 2019-20 budget.

The ACT government has earmarked $3.7 million for an effort to centralise its Oracle licensing as part of a push to develop “a strategy for key digital functionality to be managed through cloud-based services,” budget documents reveal.

The ACT’s 2016-19 digital strategy called for increased use of cloud, stating the government “will buy and integrate Cloud services and only undertake bespoke builds when a unique core capability must be satisfied.”

For a small jurisdiction such as the ACT, cloud “shares the investment burden on a global scale and shifts the costs to an elastic ‘per user’ basis,” the strategy stated.

The Territory’s budget, handed down yesterday, also earmarks $6.5 million for non-capital expenditure associated with the licensing initiative, with the cost offset by somewhat expected savings of $3 million over three years.

Some $7 million in capex over 2019-20 has been allocated for moving more community services online, with the government expecting to save $800,000 over the following three years.

The ACT budget also anticipates spending $32 million over four years for implementing a new whole-of-government HR system.

“This initiative is expected to generate future efficiencies through additional functionality and increased automation,” budget documents state.

A new electronic health record will be implemented for government-funded health services, providing “a single point of reference for patient clinical records, supporting more consistent care and effective case management by replacing current electronic and paper-based systems,” with $70.4 million in capital expenditure on IT systems to help implement the Territory’s Digital Health Strategy.

An additional $2.1 million will be used to upgrade the Drugs and Poisons Information System to support real-time prescription monitoring.

“This will help prevent individuals from accessing dangerous quantities of addictive prescription drugs and move the ACT towards alignment with monitoring becoming available in other jurisdictions around Australia,” budget documents state.

Other budget measures include modernising the ACT Land Titles system, continuing Canberra’s public Wi-Fi service, and completing the Child and Youth Record Information System.

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