The Western Australian Department of Health is inviting expressions of interest in supplying a single configuration, statewide Electronic Medical Record (EMR) solution and Patient Administration System (PAS).
A statewide EMR was a foundational element of a 10-year digital strategy released back in 2019. It is a key element of the state’s digital health transformation efforts, which also involve data, information governance and infrastructure uplifts.
The WA Government wants an EMR to be a single source of truth for patient information in real-time at each step in a patient’s healthcare journey. Goals include enabling healthcare providers to make better-informed decisions about patient care and avoid medical errors.
It also sees a statewide EMR solution as “crucial” to addressing challenges related to population aging, chronic diseases and a shortage of healthcare workers, and for gaining data to identify and act on trends in population health and system performance.
WA also wants an EMR to enable “advanced virtual models of care and reducing inequity of care for people in regional and remote areas, and enabling citizens to easily access their medical records, test results and other health information in real-time.
The WA Government will use the new EOI to gauge market interest and solutions available, before it decides on next steps.
It follows the WA Government’s announcement in 2023 that it would spend "almost $100 million" to complete the first stage of an EMR rollout.
At the time, that was to include "a digital medical record with single sign-on technology and virtual desktop infrastructure at all public hospitals in WA, as well as the delivery of an EMR with full functionality inside intensive care units (ICU) at the Perth Children's Hospital and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.” The first stage announced in 2023 was also to include preparation for the full rollout of an EMR.
WA’s 2024-25 Budget allocated $200 million for the Electronic Medical Record and Critical Health ICT Infrastructure programs.
The WA Government currently expects Stage 2 of the program, implementing the core EMR features, to be completed in 2036.
With its new EOI, the WA Department of Health stated it is interested in finding a solution provider with an “established methodology, which includes all applicable implementation activity (solution build, data migration, testing, integration, change etc)”.
It stressed the "significant complexity" and “substantial effort” needed to address integration and data migration requirements.
Nearly 40 organisations were consulted on the EMR solution procurement program, including DXC Australia, CDM Australia, NEC Australia, NTT Australia, PwC, EY, and R1i Technology.
High stakes and big spend
WA’s EMR program is one of various such programs in Australia. New South Wales has also allocated significant funds for a related program, including $328.2 million over four years in the 2024–25 NSW Budget for the state’s Single Digital Patient Record (SDPR).
In partnership with eHealth NSW, the NSW Single Digital Patient Record Implementation Authority (SDPRIA) recently flagged plans to go to market for document management systems, including storage and repository solutions; document capture and scanning; and integration with Epic Systems’ EMR.
The Federal Government's pre-election budget allocated $228.7 million in 2025–26 to continue modernising Australia’s national My Health Record.
The Australian Financial Review reported in May 2024 that less than 2 per cent of documents in the national My Health Record system were being looked at by doctors. A Productivity Commission report was critical of the federal program, stating that patient data was still fragmented.
Among those watching the progress of EMR programs in Australia is John Lin, who has worked with the likes of New Zealand Health District Health Boards, Royal Melbourne Hospital and NSW Regional Health. Lin is a partner of Dimensional Insight, a US-based healthcare analytics and performance management software company that integrates with major EMR platforms to ensure patient safety and optimise healthcare during and after EMR platform transitions. The company counts hospitals among its users.
Lin was enthusiastic about the potential benefits of EMR transformation. “Imagine being able to visit any hospital, GP, or specialist in WA or NSW and ensuring your private health records are accessible, yet fully under your control. You decide who gets access – a transformative leap in patient centric care,” he said.
That vision, however, hinges on the successful integration of EMR system with the broader healthcare system.
“Hospitals run countless systems, integrating third-party tools and migrating vast amounts of data. The ecosystem is incredibly intricate, and people’s lives are at stake. This is not something to take lightly.”
“If executed well, the results are fantastic. If not, it can become a colossal quagmire.”
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