Dr Jason Brown, Chief Digital Health Officer

Christmas is fast approaching, and it has been another busy year for everyone.

To see the year off with some good news, I am pleased to confirm the commencement of the Metro North Health ieMR Program.

This will see the integrated electronic Medical Record (ieMR) roll out across Redcliffe Hospital, Caboolture and Kilcoy Hospitals, the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH), The Prince Charles Hospital (TPCH), and the new Caboolture, Kallangur, and Bribie Island Satellite Hospitals, over the next five years.

Digital Metro North has been planning the implementation of ieMR across Metro North for some time now. This work has stepped up markedly in the last few months, with initial executive and site engagement commenced, as well as significant recruitment activities being undertaken.

By the end of 2027, every Metro North hospital will have transitioned from paper records, to using a digital health record. The ieMR rollout will occur sequentially, with one facility going live after another. The new Caboolture Satellite Hospital will be our first ieMR Program implementation site, planned for a July 2023 opening.

A full timeline of the Metro North ieMR Program’s go-live dates is available here.

Next year will be particularly busy. Enterprise Scheduling Manager (ESM), the outpatient scheduling module of ieMR, will roll out across TPCH, Redcliffe Hospital, Caboolture and Kilcoy Hospitals, and Community and Oral Health ambulatory services. We will also go live with ieMR at Caboolture and Kallangur Satellite Hospitals.

While many of you will be familiar with ieMR – perhaps even having used it – for those who may not be as familiar, an overview of ieMR’s functional components can be accessed here.

Transition to a digital patient record, and adopting new ways of working, will be a big step for Metro North to take. The ieMR will form a digital foundation that enables us to capture and analyse patient data in real-time, integrate medical devices into digital workflows, and improve service delivery.

While it’s understandable to be apprehensive of change, I would encourage everyone to embrace the opportunity ieMR presents. We will join our colleagues across Queensland Health to provide a shared digital record for our patients, and ensure we provide the best possible level of service to our community.

If you have any questions about the ieMR rollout, please email: ieMRProject-MetroNorth@health.qld.gov.au.

I look forward to providing you with further updates as work gets underway.

Dr Jason Brown
A/Chief Digital Health Officer