SA’s ‘bedside’ manners improve

South Australian public hospitals will see more than 3,500 computers installed at patient bedsides to enable doctors and nurses to use clinical applications and create easy access to patient information.

Reportedly the first state in the country and one of the first places in the world to put electronic clinical applications at patients’ bedsides on this scale, South Australian hospitals will have 17-inch touch-screen computers rolled out across eight metropolitan and four country hospitals over the next 12 months.

Aged care, day surgery, chemotherapy and emergency departments at specialist hospitals will also see computer terminals installed.

Telstra will install the individual computers, which will provide a clinical workstation for doctors and nurses while assisting to standardise and improve clinical work practices across the whole health system.

Chief medical officer, Professor Paddy Phillips, says the computers will improve safety as clinicians will be able to order tests and medication directly while reducing the risk of errors when using the “traditional handwritten approach”.

“The bedside computers will also enable clinicians to show the patient relevant health information, X-rays and test results on-screen at the patient’s bedside,” Professor Phillips adds.

Terrestrial digital television and radio stations available in the area, a range of pay television channels, a dedicated phone line and filtered internet access will also be available via the beside computers.