The state of Victoria has officially launched a centralised system for public hospitals and health services to access and share patient information at the point of care.
The CareSync Exchange system, co-designed with clinicians, replaces "outdated, fragmented information sharing systems with one secure platform."
Powered by Altera Digital Health's dbMotion, a longitudinal patient record management and data aggregation platform, it provides clinicians with a near real-time, comprehensive view of over 2.3 million patient records. These include patient details (such as demographics and emergency contacts), hospital visits, pathology reports, and clinical documents (including hospital discharge summaries).
Additionally, the health information exchange system incorporates security measures, such as firewalls, data encryption and unauthorised access detection, to protect patient data privacy. A privacy framework also guides clinical users in the responsible use of patient information.
According to a media release, CareSync is now live at Austin Health and Eastern Health, with rollouts coming to seven more health services by year's end. This batch includes Northern Health, Alfred Health, Monash Health, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, The Royal Children’s Hospital, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, and The Royal Women’s Hospital.
Full implementation across all Victoria's public health settings is expected to be completed by 2028.
WHY IT MATTERS
With the HIE system live, Victorian doctors, nurses, and other clinical practitioners no longer have to rely on faxes, phone calls, emails, and their patients and their families to share medical histories.
According to the state government, streamlining access to previously fragmented patient information reduces test duplications and other medical errors and improves patient experience, safety, and outcomes. It also enables care teams to make more informed decisions and frees up their time, so they can focus more on providing actual care.
THE LARGER CONTEXT
Ensuring healthcare providers' timely access to health information is a crucial part of the state's digital health roadmap.
In 2023, the Victorian Department of Health awarded Altera the contract to deliver the HIE solution statewide.
It followed after the Gippsland Health Alliance, which completed its rollout of an EMR solution, also provided by Altera, in late 2022. Meanwhile, the South Western Sydney Primary Health Network was the first to implement Altera's HIE solution in the same year.
In this year's budget, the Victorian government set aside over A$35 million ($22.7 million) to upgrade the digital systems across public health services and Ambulance Victoria to beef up cybersecurity amid growing threats and replace legacy systems.
ON THE RECORD
"CareSync Exchange will break down barriers, safeguard privacy, and give healthcare workers more time to focus on what matters most – caring for patients," commented Victoria's Minister for Health, Mary-Anne Thomas.
