Electronic patient record system EPAS contributed to 149 ‘near misses’ in SA hospitals

The state's electronic patient record system contributed to 149 "near misses" in South Australian hospitals, including medication incidents and medical imaging being mistakenly cancelled, according to an excerpt from an independent report.

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• Government halts EPAS rollout
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The state's electronic patient record system contributed to 149 "near misses" in South Australian hospitals, including medication incidents and medical imaging being mistakenly cancelled, according to an excerpt from an independent report.

The report has made recommendations about the way forward for the state's trouble-plagued records system, but it won't be made public until it is formally considered by Cabinet.

It found there were 149 incidents in the 12 months after the Electronic Patient Administration System went live where it was listed as “a contributing cause” to the incident, however the report finds it is “difficult to make assumptions about causation of incidents being related to EPAS’.

They included medication incidents including it being ordered multiple times, medical imaging accidentally being cancelled and delays in blood test ordering.

Health Minister Stephen Wade said South Australians deserved to feel outraged by the “volume of near misses caused by the EPAS debacle”.

The report found EPAS was implemented with a lack of engagement from medical staff and the software provider, and had a flawed governance model accountability was “poorly understood and managed”.

“Clinical engagement was reasonable in the early stages of design and build, however not sustained,” the report found.

“Successful implementations in other states, observed by the Review Panel, required significant clinical transformation and clinical leadership.”

The review will determine if issues with EPAS can be “addressed adequately” after an SA Health review released in September found it couldn’t proceed in its current form.

Health Minister Stephen Wade said South Australians deserved to feel outraged by the “volume of near misses caused by the EPAS debacle”.

“It just doesn’t make sense to lock out clinicians — the very people who have to use it — and the software provider — the people who know how it’s supposed to work,” he said.

“This isn’t just a minor error or oversight. It’s cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Mr Wade would not be drawn on what action the Government would take, but said he was committed to “bringing out electronic medical record system in line with the rest of the world.

SA Salaried Medical Officers Association chief executive Bernadette Mulholland said the report mirrored the long held concerns of her members about near misses and was glad it had acknowledged clinicians were not adequately consulted during the rollout.

SA Salaried Medical Officers Association chief executive Bernadette Mulholland.

Australian Medical Association president William Tam said the implementation of EPAS had been “very problematic” and a fit for purpose system was needed.

“If the government chooses to go down a different path, that would be an expensive decision given the significant financial investment to date,” he said.

“But there will be significant investment required either way, so we will be awaiting the outcome of the review and what those findings are. And whatever solution is chosen, it will need to be appropriately funded, to get this right.”

The EPAS rollout was years overdue and more than double its planned budget when Mr Wade halted it last year. It has cost taxpayers more than $300 million so far.

Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas said Mr Wade needed to stop “playing politics” with people’s health records.

“Electronic patient record systems are delivering better outcomes for people across the world,” he said.