Tasmania has continued its e-health blitz, putting out two tenders to support its multimillion dollar e-health plan.
(Credit: Motion Computing)
The first looks for a vendor to undertake a project to replace the state's radiology information system as well as to replace or extend the existing picture archive and communications system Carestream, which is currently in use in Royal Hobart Hospital and Launceston General Hospital.
The idea is that the system will provide a single patient imaging record across the state, which will mean staff will be able to see all imaging services regardless of what hospital or unit they were taken. The Department of Human Services, which released the tender, also hoped it might be possible that clinicians be able to access the images from outside the Department's network.
The contract would be for five years with an optional five-year extension. The first phase of a system roll-out would be to Royal Hobart and Launceston General Hospital. Implementation is expected to commence by December at the latest.
The second tender sought Citrix support, development and training services for the Citrix application delivery infrastructure for the Department's iPatient Manager and iPharmacy systems.
The tender documents said that the Department might also extend the contract, which will run from August until the Department's Citrix licences run out in 2011, to include support development and training for other applications as well in the future.
iPharmacy is currently implemented in all hospital pharmacies and the Department is currently implementing iPatient Manager in all hospitals in the state via an over $4 million contract with iSoft owner IBA to upgrade the system from the state's HOMER patient administration system to the newer iSoft iPatient Manager. The implementation is occurring region by region, and the government anticipates it will be finished by 2009.
Tasmania has been heavily involved in e-health over the past year. Its 2008/2009 budget marked out $18.5 million to be spent over four years on new IT systems in hospitals, child protection and mental health.
The goal was to provide doctors and nurses with bedside access to information and the transfer of patient data to help with diagnosis.
Tasmania was also the only state to receive specified e-health funding from the Federal Budget, receiving $1.2 million for a clinical information and communication virtual network to be built in north-west Tasmania, with $300,000 allocated this year. According to the Department, this funding is not involved in the images tender.
Outside of health, the Tasmanian Government was also looking to purchase. The Department of Premier and Cabinet put out a call for suppliers who were willing to provide IP telephony infrastructure for around 400 small sites from September this year.
