Western Health takes home Healthcare Asia Awards 2024 for EMR system expansion

The EMR project exemplifies a commitment to excellence in healthcare delivery and patient outcomes.

Major healthcare provider, Western Health, won the ICT Initiative of the Year - Australia category at the recently held Healthcare Asia Awards 2024, for the successful expansion of its Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system, named the EMR Phase 2.1 project.

The EMR Phase 2.1 project delivered reduced clinical risk and safe and effective patient care.

This project extended the organisation’s EMR to clinical areas that needed to swap between electronic systems, or between electronic and paper processes. In July and August 2023, the EMR modules went live in the emergency departments, intensive care units, specialist clinics, theatres, oncology, and newborn services across four hospitals, providing enhanced integration and easier access to information.

The EMR Phase 2.1 project also delivered centralised documentation of clinical information with reduced duplication and improved legibility, thereby facilitating improved communication across services and campuses. 

In addition to a reduced need to swap between systems, the EMR has also created a data-rich clinical environment, resulting in a streamlined clinician and patient experience. This has included various biomedical devices being connected to the EMR so information can be transmitted directly into the patient’s records. 

The enhancement of EMR services reduced the number of paper-based clinical workflows at the organisation, whilst also delivering a projected annual savings of at least AU$295,000 in transcription expenditure. 

“The significant step towards a single electronic patient record has resulted in a reduction of the number of systems used on a day-to-day basis and integration of the whole patient journey, allowing greater co-ordination of care,” Lily Liu, Director, Digital Health said.

“The EMR is making it easier for clinicians to access the full picture of a patient’s history, reducing clinical risk and facilitating safe, effective, and more co-ordinated care,” she added. 

Healthcare Asia Awards recognises exceptional healthcare providers that have redefined the standards of healthcare through their unwavering dedication to innovation, setting of new industry benchmarks, and substantial contributions to their communities.

About Western Health:

Western Health is the major healthcare provider to one of the fastest growing and most diverse regions in Australia and employs more than 12,500 staff.  

Western Health provides a comprehensive, integrated range of clinical services from its various sites ranging from mental health and wellbeing services, and acute tertiary services in areas of emergency medicine, intensive care, medical and surgical services, through to subacute care and onsite and virtual ambulatory clinics. 

Western Health’s specialised services include oncology, renal, women’s health including maternity, chronic disease, geriatrics and cardiology. We provide a combination of hospital, community based and in-reach services for aged, adult and paediatric patients and newborn babies. 

Western Health manages acute public hospitals including Sunshine Hospital (including Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s), Footscray Hospital, Williamstown Hospital, Bacchus Marsh and Melton Regional Hospital, and Sunbury Day Hospital. We operate Hazeldean in Williamstown, Melton Health and Community Services, Bacchus Marsh Community Health Centre, Caroline Springs Community Health Centre and Grant Lodge Residential Aged Care in Bacchus Marsh. Our new Mental Health and Wellbeing Centre is open in Sunshine, complemented by a range of Community Mental Health, and Drug Health services across the western Melbourne metropolitan area. Western Health also provides primary health services for the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.

Western Health continues to grow, striving to deliver the best care for its community. With exponential growth in its activity, in 2022-23, Western Health cared for more than 800,000 patients, performed more than 14,000 planned and 10,000 emergency surgeries and managed more than 150,000 Emergency Department (ED) presentations. Western Health proudly delivers more than 27,000 clinic appointments monthly and welcomes more than 6,700 babies annually.

The Healthcare Asia Awards is presented by Healthcare Asia Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2025 awards programme and be acclaimed for your organisation's remarkable initiatives and contributions to the healthcare industry, please contact Julie Anne Nuñez at [email protected].