Alfred Health extends EHR use to oncology

Alfred Health has extended its Oracle Health footprint with Oracle’s Oncology electronic health record (EHR) solutions to support care for cancer patients.

With the move from paper-based processes to digitised records, primary care and specialty clinicians across Alfred Health’s in- and out-patient locations now have a single view of each patient’s complete medical history.

“Completely digitising and making cancer treatment information easily available in our EHR makes guiding the overall treatment plan for patients more efficient,” said Erica Tong, chief pharmacy information officer, Alfred Health.

Beyond just record access, the hospital is using Oracle EHR to help connect its patients with more cancer clinical trial opportunities. Trials can be viewed directly in the EHR so clinicians can easily identify possible therapies and eligibility for patients. If a patient is already involved in a trial, their progress and details are tracked and documented within their overall health record.

The deployment also streamlines pharmacist processes, helping prepare cancer patient treatment plans in a more timely fashion, with order information being pushed directly from the EHR into the pharmacy management system. Barcodes are also generated for each treatment so nurses can scan to confirm the prescribed medication is going to the right patient and in the correct dose.

Seema Verma, executive vice president and general manager, Oracle Health and Life Sciences, said, “This recent implementation is especially unique and special as it not only helps caregivers more effectively treat cancer patients and manage medications over time through better access to information, but also helps them find and enroll in new, potentially life-saving therapies all within the EHR.”

Alfred Health also worked with Oracle to enable support of the national Safescript program, a centralised database that allows prescribing and dispensing records for certain high-risk medicines to be transmitted in real time.

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