More NSW Health clinicians than ever can now access an application to help manage and care for critically ill patients following several rollouts across the state.
This includes the surgical Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at John Hunter Children’s Hospital which went live with the eRIC (electronic Record for Intensive Care) system earlier this month.
eRIC provides clinicians with easy access to a patient’s critical care records, providing a one-stop shop for clinical notes, information downloaded from bedside monitors, ventilators, and other equipment. It also supports digitally prescribing both fluids and medications.
The latest rollout at John Hunter Children’s Hospital represents an addition to eRIC and allows clinicians to spend more time with patients and their families and focus on safely treating the patient.
According to Dr Paul Craven, Executive Director of Hunter New England Kids Health, Hunter New England Local Health District there was a great deal of excitement on the roll out.
“I worked clinically during our go-live and there was so much excitement and enthusiasm. Staff were finding it was providing excellent detail when it comes to admitting patients into the NICU,” Dr Craven said.
The go-live at John Hunter Children’s Hospital follows the recent launch at both the Adult and Neonatal ICUs at Liverpool Hospital. A significant milestone for South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD).
Staff were quick to notice how the application improved the efficiency of patient admissions and shared that they were enjoying an easier workflow due to the reduced need for paper records.
There are now 27 adult ICUs and five neonatal ICUs using eRIC throughout NSW.
The program responsible for transfer of medication management information from eRIC to the Electronic Medical Record (eMR), electronic Transfer of Care (eTOC) system, will also go live across five more sites across Mid North Coast and Northern NSW Local Health Districts by the end of 2022.
Read more on eRIC and its paediatric, and neonatal systems.