IT boost cuts data entry to Tasmanian public hospitals

Tasmania’s Health Minister has spruiked the benefits that will come from a digital transition to file vital medical information on computers rather than paper-based charts.

Minister for Health Jacquie Petrusma with Royal Hobart Hospital Emergency Department Clinical Nurse Consultant Kylie Shelverton at the Royal Hobart Hospital on Wednesday, March 19, 2025.

Putting vital medical information on computers rather than paper-based charts will improve safety and accuracy and save time for busy hospital staff, Health Minister Jacquie Petrusma said on Wednesday.

Visiting the Royal Hobart Hospital to see the Patient Alerts Management Solution in action, Ms Petrusma noted the program was part of a decade-long $470m Digital Health Transformation program which will update ageing systems and practises.

The Patient Alerts Management Solution ensures medical professionals can access up-to-date medical records including medications, existing conditions and allergies, while also enabling them to enter and update patient alerts in real-time.

Ms Petrusma said by replacing the paper-based system, PAMS ensured health workers can spend more time caring for patients and less time on administrative tasks.

“It also ensures patients receive better and safer health care, resulting in more positive outcomes,” she said.

“Since its implementation in November last year, the new system has already made an impact with the number of alerts and allergies recorded each week increasing from an average of 580 alerts per week, to 990 alerts per week.

“This is improving safety, accuracy and reducing administration — meaning doctors and nurses spend less time doing paperwork and more time caring for patients.”

Emergency Department clinical nurse consultant Kylie Shelverton said the new system saved a lot of double handling.

“The paper system had limited access for health care professionals, so we were required to enter the alerts onto a paper-based system and then hand them on to clerical staff, who had the access, to enter those onto the patient records,” she said.

“Now with the new patient alert solution, this allows us as healthcare professionals looking after patients to enter those alerts directly onto their digital medical records.”

Department of Health Director of Health Information Management Services Trixie Kemp said the adoption of cutting-edge technology would improve many facets of patient experience.

“It will enhance patient safety, improve clinical handover and the structure of alert information makes it safer for our patients as well, because the clinicians are getting the information that they need in an order that they can follow, and there’s no gaps in that information,” she said.

Originally published as IT boost cuts data entry to Tasmanian public hospitals