South Australia scraps ‘unfit for purpose’ $320m e-health system
A flawed electronic medical records system implemented by South Australia’s former Labor government has been abandoned.
A flawed electronic medical records system implemented by South Australia’s former Labor government has been abandoned after an independent review found it was unworkable.
Health Minister Stephen Wade yesterday announced a “hard reset” on the Enterprise Patient Administration System, which sought to digitise health records across all South Australian hospitals.
This included the $2.4 billion Royal Adelaide Hospital, where EPAS was partly installed before it was suspended after the Liberals formed government in March.
Originally budgeted at $220 million in 2013, the rollout, despite being less than a third of the way through, has cost taxpayers more than $320m.
The three-member review panel said the decision to shift to electronic records was “soundly based” but plagued by practical shortcomings.
Mr Wade said all the panel’s 36 recommendations had been accepted, either in full or in principle, by the government.
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