Southern District Health Board(MIS100 2011)

Reports to: CEO
Size of IS shop: 95

PCs: 2116
Mobile PCs: 287
Terminals: 697
Hand-held devices: 135
Total screens: 3235

Industry: Health and community services
PC environment: Windows XP, 7; Apple; HP
Server environment: Linux, Solaris, Windows, IBM, HP
DBMS: Oracle, SQL
Address: Dunedin Hospital, 201 Great King Street, Dunedin
Website: www.southerndhb.govt.nz
Key IS projects this year: Business intelligence; e-prescribing; Public Records Act; patient administration systems consolidation.

One year on, the Southern District Health Board (a merger between the Otago and Southland DHBS) maintains a strong focus on Microsoft MOSS-based business intelligence solutions, to enable high functionality and access to data from within the DHBs core systems. Former CIO Grant Taylor, who led the transition of the Information Group at the time of the merger, has left the organisation to become CIO of clothing company Kathmandu. John Simpson, Southern DHB infrastructure and services manager, is serving as acting CIO.

The DHB’s approximately 5000 FTE staff rely on the IS Services team of 47 (with an additional 48 clinical records and coding staff) for their ICT needs. Of particular focus this year will be projects to improve patient outcomes through better access to information through improved Clinical Workstation systems, and to increase the access to and flow of information between other DHBs in the South Island. Ongoing work on local projects will include improved unified communications, improved/extended wireless technologies and increased disaster recovery preparation. Compliance with the Public Records Act continues along with other adjustments, upgrades and improvements by the DHB.

The national e-prescribing electronic management system pilot has been completed and investigations are now underway for a full rollout across Otago-Southland. “At this stage we are investigating what would be required to roll the solution across the entire Southern DHB; however, no formal project or funding plan is in place to support this as yet,” said Simpson.

Finally a key patient administration systems consolidation project is underway, and is expected to reduce operational costs and simplify patient management across the DHB.