Whanganui District Health Board goes live with Orion Health clinical system

The clinicians treating that patient could access their medical information a lot quicker, which in extreme circumstances, could be life-saving,Frank Rawlinson, WDHB

Whanganui District Health Board (WDHB) has gone live with a regional Clinical Portal system that will enable single access to a patients’ core health information across the region.

The Orion Health Clinical Portal is part of the Regional Health Informatics Programme – a programme of work across the Central Region DHBs – which supports the National Health IT Board’s vision of a national, shared health information model.

WDHB chief medical officer Frank Rawlinson says to have the WDHB go live with the new Clinical Portal system is a significant step to enabling Whanganui’s clinicians to share patient information more efficiently with their colleagues at MidCentral, Hawkes Bay, Wairarapa, Hutt Valley and Capital Coast DHBs.

“Having all Central Region DHBs using the regional Clinical Portal will mean if a Whanganui patient has an accident or medical event that sees them admitted to another hospital in the Central Region, the clinicians treating that patient could access their medical information a lot quicker, which in extreme circumstances, could be life-saving,” says Rawlinson.

Orion Health General Manager, New Zealand, Kate Reid says the programme is a game-changer for the health sector because the single portal allows clinicians to view, edit and collaborate on a shared care record across regions.

“This partnership is with six DHBs, and through that collaboration this will build a more efficient and better quality care model. Sharing information across DHBs will not only lead to better patient health outcomes, it will enable greater efficiencies in the New Zealand public health system,” says Reid.

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.