Computer bugs in the Enterprise Patient Administration System are leading to hospital tests being cancelled, records wiped
ORDERS for patient treatment tests, including medical imaging, are being cancelled on a daily basis because of bugs in State Government computer systems, an audit has found.
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ORDERS for patient treatment tests, including medical imaging, are being cancelled on a daily basis because of bugs in State Government computer systems, an audit has found.
Auditor-General Andrew Richardson yesterday handed a progress update to Parliament on a suite of information technology programs being used by SA Health, including the Enterprise Patient Administration System, which is the source of disputes at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital.
It found recent improvements in the management of EPAS, including better patient data collection and speed in accessing electronic records.
However, it also raised many outstanding concerns to be fixed.
They included a glitch that wiped some patient treatment orders when they leave hospital.
“We identified that EPAS patient treatment orders are being cancelled on a daily basis (at the Repat),” Mr Richardson reports, adding there is also an issue at the Queen Elizabeth.
“Consultation and information obtained from the (Repat) and QEH radiology departments
indicated they are experiencing approximately five cancelled orders per day,” he found.
Mr Richardson said it seemed EPAS had a problem communicating with other IT programs.
Clinicians have been forced to adopt manual workarounds and check reasons for cancellations.
Mr Richardson issued a range of recommendations to fix the issues, which will be monitored.