The Single Digital Patient Record ( SDPR ) to store patient records | Port Stephens Examiner

portstephensexaminer.com.au · Mar 1, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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A $1 billion online system to store patient medical records is set to begin in the Hunter in March, before being rolled out across the state.Subscribe now for unlimited access. or signup to continue readingAll articles from our websiteThe digital version of Today's PaperAll other in your areaThe Single Digital Patient Record (SDPR) will store people's medical records in one place, including electronic referrals, test results, appointments and treatment history.It is expected to bring an end to the use of fax machines for patient records and the printing of clinical notes within hospitals, which can cause unnecessary delays between diagnosis and treatment.A NSW Health spokesperson said the new system would "provide clinicians with access to patient information from a single, secure and reliable source".The spokesperson said the system would "improve patient experience through better continuity of care"."It will do this by unifying the nine electronic medical records, 10 patient administration systems and five laboratory information management systems currently in use across NSW Health."Hunter New England Health staff have begun training on how to use the new system.By 2028, the system will cover more than 220 public hospitals, 150 pathology collection centres, 65 laboratories and 600 community health centres across the state.The system will mean patients don't have to keep repeating their story, including treatment, medication and health history at every visit."Doctors and nurses can involve you more in your care and healthcare decisions," the NSW Health spokesperson said."And healthcare staff can spend more time at the bedside."University of Newcastle senior lecturer Michelle Stubbs is working with NSW Health to help establish the system in the Hunter."Many clinicians I work with talk about how frustrating it is when important details are buried across different systems," said Dr Stubbs, of the School of Nursing and Midwifery."With the SDPR, those everyday pain points start to disappear."Dr Stubbs, who teaches the next generation of health professionals, said "I see how much time and confidence is gained when information is easy to access"."The SDPR brings everything into one place, which means more time focused on patients and less time searching for patient records," she said."For clinicians juggling busy wards, students learning on placement, and patients repeating their story over and over, SDPR will make a real difference."NSW Health signed a contract with US-owned software company Epic for the SDPR. Amazon Web Services will host the system on cloud servers.A patient portal is being considered to enable consumers to access their health information.This would include upcoming appointments, medications and a range of results, along with discharge and care plans.In January, a leaked review revealed the system's cyber security features were below the benchmark for NSW agencies.NSW Health responded by saying it was "strengthening these measures".A NSW Audit Office report said in November that the project's business case, done in 2021, "did not adequately consider all project costs, failing to include the costs of integrating the SDPR with legacy systems"."These integration costs will be significant," the report said.The system was previously estimated to cost $969 million.A Health Consumers NSW spokesperson said good work had been done on the SDPR "in areas of privacy and security"."This will be a great thing for most patients and their families."The area we still have concern about is people with stigmatising conditions. That might be someone with a mental health diagnosis or who is HIV positive, or has other bloodborne viruses."We recommended a reduction of stigma be a main focus of the SDPR. I think NSW Health is looking to take that seriously."The spokesperson said Health Consumers NSW hopes the SDPR will "make it easier for people to access their records"."We still don't know what that will look like. It might take a while before that happens. Their priority at the moment is rolling the SDPR out."More from News