Electronic Patient Record System

In reply to the Hon. S.L. GAME ().19 October 2023).

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector): The Minister for Health and Wellbeing has advised:

The Sunrise EMR and PAS system was chosen in a competitive selection process and assessed against criteria developed with clinical consultation and engagement.

In 2018 a review of the EMR and PAS project was undertaken by the then Liberal government, and one key point made by the review panel was that the 'Sunrise software…is widely used and respected internationally. The key agencies that rate EMRs around the world place the Sunrise EMR in the top 3-4 globally. Its configuration capability enables it to be localised'.

The review panel also noted that the system was able to integrate to other systems data and would become fit for purpose in time with clinical involvement in configuring the system to suit local needs. The then government determined it would be continued to be used and rolled out across other hospital sites.

Digital Health SA have a comprehensive clinically led optimisation program to coordinate EMR enhancements raised by the clinicians using it. The optimisation program and broader clinical engagement is led by the Chief Medical Information Officer, a clinician that works within Digital Health as well as being an intensivist in the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network.

There were no adverse patient outcomes were reported following the outage on Tuesday 10 October 2023.

SA Health's Sunrise EMR and PAS environment comprises a complex integration of technology components including (but not limited to) applications, networks, storage, data centres, servers, infrastructure, and databases, supported primarily by the Department for Health and Wellbeing, with the assistance of key industry partners such as Altera Digital Health, Microsoft and DXC. The environment is also dependent on facilities and services provided by other government agencies including the Department of the Premier and Cabinet.

Sunrise EMR and PAS is continually improving with new, optimised and upgraded functionality. The cost of this forms part of the overall support budget.