Paper-Lite is an initiative involving the transition from written notes to electronic documentation for the majority of inpatient records.
 
For staff, it means anywhere, anytime access to hospital medical records via any authorised device (including laptops, iPads, tablets, or smartphones) using a secure online system.
 
The innovation enhances our capacity to make informed decisions about your care because clinical staff (nurses, doctors, allied health & support staff) will always have access to the most up-to-date information.
 
Paper-Lite was initiated by our Information Technology team with our doctors, nurses, allied health, support staff and the BMDH Project Team.

Why are we changing?
 
Our new Blacktown Hospital Clinical Services Building (CSB) will have electronic medical records only.
 
To ensure we have one integrated system in our hospital, existing wards and departments have now changed to electronic medical records.
 
You may see your nursing, medical and allied health teams using a variety of electronic devices on the ward.
 
COWs are our computers-on-wheels – you will see all staff members using these on the ward. You may also see staff on their own laptops, iPads, smartphones and tablets. Paper-Lite allows staff to use their own mobile device, securely connected to our hospital system.
 
Paper-Lite makes access to medical records mobile and accessible, so you can have a dietician on an iPad in the ward, a nurse on a COW in the patient room and a specialist in a consulting room in another suburb all looking at a patient’s records.
 
For more information, please speak to your healthcare team.
 

Project snapshot

• July 2014: Project start with two live wards. The initial roll-out is so successful, we go straight to implementation for all other hospital wards.
• September 2014: Go-live completed 2 September 2014, all hospital wards now live.
• March 2015: First Australian hospital with a new sepsis alert built into our electronic records
• May 2015: Release B functionality upgrade with new features and updated forms to improve functionality for staff.
• June 2015: Dietetics becomes the first outpatients service to go Paper-Lite.
• June 2015: Scanning team from Health Records & Information Services has scanned 234,441 pages of paper patient records to digital.
• October 2015: Our partner project for eMeds wins a WSLHD Quality Award
• October 2015: Paper-Lite nominated for a prestigious NSW Health Award
• Mid 2016: Paper-Lite rollout at Mount Druitt Hospital
• October 2016: Paper-Lite at Mount Druitt Hospital nominated for a WSLHD Quality Award.