EMR vendor Core Medical Solutions (CMS) has announced that its clinical information system BOSSnet will expand across the Grampians Rural Health Alliance (GRHA) footprint in Victoria.

More than 100 hospitals across Australia, including some of the country’s largest, now rely on BOSSnet. CMS Managing Director Dr Rohan Ward said that BOSSnet was installed by Ballarat Health Services in 2009 and has steadily increased its footprint in the region.

“The installation of BOSSnet across this region is significant as it will create unprecedented access for clinical staff to patient medical record data, including radiology and pathology results, patient alerts, clinical protocols and electronic orders and referrals, as well as enabling hospitals to move to paperless documentation across all departments,” commented Dr. Ward.

“Clinical staff will be able to access a single view of a patient’s record which is rare in an Australian setting and is in the best interests of patients as it enhances clinical efficiency.”

“It also removes the need for hospitals to store and retrieve huge amounts of paper records,” added Dr. Ward. “Many of the GRHA sites intend being ‘paper light’ from go-live day which means eForms (direct electronic entry) will be preferred over scanning paper documents to electronic format.”

Grampians Rural Health Alliance Chief Executive Officer Mike McDonald said a fully-integrated EMR system will mean an enhanced and connected system for patients and their health care providers, which is a “win for the community and patient care.”

“BOSSnet has proven itself over many years at Ballarat Health Services and we were very eager to have all health services in our Alliance with the same unified view of the patient’s medical record, and the many capabilities facilitated through this unique EMR,” Mr McDonald said.

“The beauty of BOSSnet is it can be implemented with common access across the Alliance, without having to first replace or modify their existing patient administration systems,” added Mr McDonald.

The Grampians Rural Health Alliance comprises 12 health services, which includes up to 25 hospitals, four bush nursing centres and two community health centres. It supports improved regional health outcomes by providing technology, application and communications solutions to connect the region’s health services.

BOSSnet will go live at the following GRHA sites:

• Wimmera Health Care Group (WHCG) – includes Horsham and Dimboola
• West Wimmera Health Service (WWHS) – includes Nhill, Rainbow, Kaniva and Jeparit
• East Grampians Health Service (EGHS) – includes Ararat
• Hepburn Health Service (HHS) – includes Daylesford and Creswick
• Stawell Regional Hospital (SRH) – includes Stawell
• East Wimmera Health Service – (EWHS) – includes Birchip, Charlton, Donald, StArnaud, and Wycheproof
• Rural Northwest Health (RNH) – includes Hopetoun, Warracknabeal and Beulah
• Beaufort and Skipton Health Service (BSHS) – includes Beaufort and Skipton
• Edenhope District Memorial Hospital (EDMH) – includes Edenhope