The South Island District Health Boards (DHBs) have signed an agreement with Orion Health to build a shared patient administration system. The South Island Patient Information Care System (SI PICS) will become the regional system for patient information management at Canterbury, Nelson Marlborough, Southern, South Canterbury and West Coast DHBs, which are all members of the South Island Alliance. The portal will streamline and integrate clinical and administrative functions, making tasks simpler for staff, and providing patients with a more efficient health care service. Implementation of the regional SI PICS has already begun with the first go-live at Canterbury DHB, to be followed by Nelson Marlborough in early 2016. All five DHBs are expected to be on the same system by 2020. SI PICS includes patient demographics, Master Patient Index, appointment booking, waiting list management, patient transfers, record of patient activity, reporting, admission and discharges and alerts and allergies. Nick Lanigan, SI PICS executive regional program manager, says the agreement with Orion Health is an important step toward the improved management of patient information in South Island hospitals. “It is one of many crucial steps to connecting health workers across the South Island with co-ordinated, consistent access to a single system,” says Lanigan in a statement. “SI PICS will result in a more streamlined patient journey through health services, from the community to the hospital and beyond and co-ordinate care between different hospitals and care providers around the South Island. It’ll result in improved patient safety and enable better quality health services.” Lanigan says the SI PICS regional team has members from all the DHBs who have been working together with Orion Health to develop this fit-for-purpose and future thinking patient management system. SI PICS will not just replace the existing patient administration systems, but embed new and sustainable functionality to provide greater integration and quality of health care now and in the future. It will provide access to Patient Demographics, Master Patient Index, Appointment booking, Waiting list management, Patient transfers, Record of patient activity, Reporting, Admission and discharges and Alerts and allergies. “This is partnership on a regional scale, and we are very proud to be part of the South Island Alliance vision for a sustainable South Island health and disability system through innovative technology development and support,” says David Hepburn, Orion Health Hospital Solutions director. He says Orion Health will take the experience from the partnership to other health organisations and health alliances globally. “We can apply the lessons to the work we are doing all around the world in the North America, Asia and Europe to deliver connected solutions for healthcare facilities and regions.” Send news tips and comments to divina_paredes@idg.co.nz Follow Divina Paredes on Twitter: @divinap Follow CIO New Zealand on Twitter:@cio_nz Sign up for CIO newsletters for regular updates on CIO news, views and events. Join us on Facebook. Related content feature Key IT initiatives reshape the CIO agenda While cloud, cybersecurity, and analytics remain top of mind for IT leaders, a shift toward delivering business value is altering how CIOs approach key priorities, pushing transformative projects to the next phase. By Mary Pratt May 30, 2023 10 mins IT Strategy IT Leadership opinion Managing IT right starts with rightsizing IT for value While there are few universals when it comes to saying unambiguously what ‘managing IT right’ looks like, knowing how to navigate the limitless possibilities of IT is surely one. By Thornton May May 30, 2023 6 mins Digital Transformation IT Strategy IT Leadership feature Red Hat embraces hybrid cloud for internal IT The maker of OpenShift has leveraged its own open container offering to migrate business-critical apps to AWS as part of a strategy to move beyond facilitating hybrid cloud for others and capitalize on the model for itself. By Paula Rooney May 29, 2023 5 mins CIO 100 Technology Industry Hybrid Cloud feature 10 most popular IT certifications for 2023 Certifications are a great way to show employers you have the right IT skills and specializations for the job. These 10 certs are the ones IT pros are most likely to pursue, according to data from Dice. By Sarah K. White May 26, 2023 8 mins Certifications Careers Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe