Southern Cross Hospitals and Orion Health create innovation hub to deliver digital health solutions

Auckland, 28 June 2018 –  Orion Health and Southern Cross Hospitals are joining forces to create a health innovation hub that will deliver digital solutions for health professionals, staff and patients.

The first of its kind in a private hospital setting, the hub will see health professionals and Orion Health developers working together within the hospital environment.
It will create functionality to assist the move to a full electronic hospital record, and will allow for future integration with regional electronic shared health records.

The hub will support Southern Cross Hospitals’ ultimate goal of a full electronic medical record (EMR) by 2021.
If successful in delivering this, Southern Cross Hospitals will be the first hospital group in New Zealand to do so. 

Orion Health and Southern Cross Hospitals have been working for some time on the EMR solution, (called Clinical Workstation within Southern Cross Hospitals), which is moving clinical processes from paper to digital in Southern Cross’ national network of hospitals.
The first phase of the implementation is now live across 10 wholly-owned Southern Cross Hospitals and three joint venture hospitals.
Once the remaining joint venture hospital is live, the innovation team will be progressing the development and rollout of further functionality to support the move to a full digital record.

Kate Reid, New Zealand General Manager for Orion Health, says: “We are delighted to be working with Southern Cross Hospitals on a long-term partnership which will fundamentally transform the way we work together and result in significant efficiencies in the way healthcare systems operate. The innovation hub creates a significant opportunity for clinicians and developers to work closely together as a dedicated team to develop and deliver solutions for the complex healthcare environment."

Ian Malone, Chief of Commercial Services for Southern Cross Hospitals, says: “Electronic record keeping is essential to our principles of providing high quality, patient-centric care. Our EMR contributes to a patient’s overall electronic health record, and demonstrates our commitment to the health sector and in supporting healthcare professionals make better informed decisions for their patients.”

Commenting on the clinical implications for this initiative, Carey Campbell, Director of Nursing and Clinical Lead at Southern Cross Hospitals, says: “The hub will allow us to tailor future developments to improve the patient experience and create a more seamless work environment for our registered health professionals.”
The hub is located at Southern Cross Hospitals’ Brightside Hospital campus in Auckland.