HCS News

SHPA Conference wraps up

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:37:00 GMT

Last weekend HCS attended the 37th SHPA National Conference in Hobart. Another great event with much interest shown in our latest release medicines management solution.

For those of you that had the opportunity to see this and want more information (or a demonstration), please give us a call to arrange.

HCS Featured in QANTAS inflight magazine

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 06:32:00 GMT

John Elkerton discusses the future of e-health in the June edition of Bright Ideas from the QANTAS inflight magazine. "More than a decade ago, the world of business embraced the internet. However, that widely welcomed information superhighway somehow bypassed medicine. Medical records remain substantially paper-based, which not only impedes efficiency in the delivery of medical care, but also puts lives at risk." download the QANTAS Bright Ideas article.

Life saving technology

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 01:56:00 GMT

Telstra Business profiles the entrepeneur of Award-winning software PharmCare, John Elkerton. PharmCare was developed by a hospital pharmacist to help clinicians make better-informed decisions about medication... read on at Telstra Business...

AusIndustry helps HCS improve patient safety

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 01:38:00 GMT

The research and development endeavours of Tasmanian based ICT Company, HealthCare Software, have been recognised by AusIndustry in a case study.

HealthCare Software was identified by AusIndustry as an ideal case study candidate, with HCS reflecting the goals of the R&D Tax Concession initiative that supports creativity of Australian businesses.

The case study highlights the strong emphasis placed on R&D by HealthCare Software and the role that it has played in achieving commercial success. "The concession has been a fantastic opportunity for us," says John Elkerton, HealthCare Software, CEO.

"It has helped us transition from a start-up to an established company."

"There are very few examples of start-up companies in the medical field, and building software to this standard is a major undertaking."

"It takes years to develop software to a marketable standard, and any profits we've made have been put back into R&D."

The support provided through the R&D Tax Concession, has proven beneficial to HealthCare Software, with our solutions implemented into hospitals in across Australia.

View the latest Ausindustry case study

HCS Discharge Summaries now live across Tasmania

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 01:53:00 GMT

HCS is pleased to announce that HCS eCCO, our integrated electronic discharge summary solution, is now fully operational at three public hospitals across Tasmania. HCS eCCO was initially implemented by the Tasmanian Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS), as part of a patient discharge medication record pilot scheme at the Launceston General Hospital (LGH).

Following the success of the pilot program, DHHS contracted HCS to implement the solution into another two Tasmanian sites, Mersey Community Hospital and North West Regional Hospital. Since the go live for the additional 2 sites, over 9,000 discharge summaries have been sent electronically to GPs. This has assisted in ensuring patients receive the highest quality of care post discharge, subsequently reducing the rate of adverse medication reactions and decreasing the occurrence of re-admission to hospital.

Since implementation earlier this year, HCS eCCO has received positive feedback from treating physicians and GPs alike. The success of the product is highlighted by comments from system users and GPs which reflects their satisfaction with the new discharge summary creation & delivery processes.

HCS eCCO is part of the HCS Clinical Suite, elements of which are also implemented into Tasmanian DHHS sites. Designed to automatically draw information from a range of clinical systems, including HCS PharmCare, our electronic medication management solution, HCS eCCO enables multi-disciplinary contributions to the discharge summaries.

To view the DHHS Press Release

HCS wins Tasmanian AMP Innovation Award at Telstra Business Awards

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 01:34:00 GMT

Hobart based ICT Company, HealthCare Software (HCS), has been announced as the winner of the 2009 AMP Innovation Award for the Tasmanian section of the Telstra Business Awards held on August 4th.

This prestigious award marks HCS's achievement in developing a commercially viable medication and reconciliation software solution for use in acute care hospitals.

With more deaths occurring each year as a result of medication misadventure than motor vehicle accidents, the safe use of medications and technology which assists in patient management has become an important issue.

As Australia's only exclusive provider of medication management software solutions, HCS offers a viable alternative to traditional paper based systems of patient medication management.

The HCS Clinical Suite has been designed to support hospital clinical staff to make the right choices in the use of medicines by providing patient historical and decision support information. It also provides clinical communications with GPs and community pharmacies to ensure continuity of care when patients leave hospital.

This innovative web based software application is currently being implemented into 18 hospitals across Tasmania and South Australia. HCS is currently working to increase our market presence across the remainder of Australia and New Zealand and are thrilled to be recognised as a innovation leader by the Telstra Business Awards.

HCS will travel to Sydney later this month to compete in the National AMP Innovation Award finals against other state winners from across Australia.

For more information about the Telstra Business Awards, please email us at info@healthcaresoftware.com.au

HealthCare Software named as a finalist in the 2009 ©-STAR Awards

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 01:32:00 GMT

HealthCare Software (HCS) are pleased to announce that we have been named as a finalist in the upcoming ©-STAR Awards, to be announced on 14th August, 2009.

Sponsored by the Tasmania Government’s Department of Economic Development & Tourism, this award recognises the achievements of Tasmania’s top science and technology entrepreneurs. The ©-STAR (Commercialising Science, Technology & Research) Awards aim to highlight the success of Tasmanian operations in commercializing a science and technology, product or service.

As one of only five finalists for this Award, HCS are proud that our achievements in the commercialization of our Medication Management software solution have once again been recognised by the Tasmanian ICT Community.

This is the second consecutive year that HCS have been named as a finalist in this award.

For more information about the ©-STAR Awards, please email us at info@healthcaresoftware.com.au

TasICT Awards

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 01:32:00 GMT

HealthCare Software (HCS) was a finalist in two categories at the recent TasICT awards, held in Hobart on Friday the 14th of November. This is a fantastic result for the company considering the record number of applicants for every award category and the very small number of finalists.

The two categories were as follows:

eSolutions Award

"The eSolutions Award will be presented to a Tasmanian company that has successfully demonstrated and applied a mix of ICT technology products or solutions to enhance eCommerce, eBusiness, eLearning, eHealth or eGovernment etc. There must be demonstrable benefits to individuals or to a population sector."
President's Award for Excellence in ICT

"The President's Award for Excellence in ICT is the major award category. It will be awarded to the company that best exemplifies technical innovation, a strong business model as well as growth in offshore revenue and in local employment. It will be awarded to the best entry in the Tasmanian ICT Industry Awards."

This comes as a reward for an extremely busy and fruitful 2008 which included a number of major contracts and implementations. More importantly, the platform has been laid for an even busier 2009.

For more information about the TasICT awards, please email us at info@healthcaresoftware.com.au

The HCS Clinical Suite unveiled

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 01:30:00 GMT

Healthcare Software (HCS) has unveiled the HCS Clinical Suite, a collection of decision support tools for the benefit of clinicians and community care providers. Ultimately focusing on medication management and patient referral, the HCS Clinical Suite supports hospital staff in their clinical activities and delivers the means to distribute information in a timely and efficient manner to appropriate recipients.

HCS PharmCare and HCS ECCo are two components of the suite:

HCS PharmCare is a dedicated solution for supporting clinical pharmacists in all their daily activities. It documents all information relating to medication use and facilitates the referral of patients to other care providers to ensure patients receive consistent, high-quality treatment. Proven through years of intense hospital use, it provides safer and more efficient medication practices.

HCS ECCo facilitates Electronic Clinical Communications between the hospital and community care teams. It allows the creation of comprehensive documents and summaries, including multidisciplinary discharge summaries, medication profiles and community pharmacy reports. All documents and summaries are created in a form appropriate to the recipient and in a format conducive to a timely delivery, providing all care providers with information for immediate and future treatment decisions. It effectively ï¿½echoesï¿½ the information around the care team.

Healthcare Software has been very busy with the implementation of solutions in hospitals across South Australia and Tasmania. The company is also spending a great deal of time out of the country with New Zealand and Singapore requiring the most attention.

View upcoming conferences where HCS is exhibiting

The HCS Clinical Suite will become an exhaustive medication management solution for clinicians, allied health professionals and community care providers, through dedicated development efforts and consultation with industry leaders across the clinical spectrum.

We are looking forward to talking with you soon.

Tassie signs for HCS Discharge Summaries

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:07:00 GMT

Healthcare Software and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) in Tasmania have reached an agreement for the state-wide implementation of HCS Discharge Summaries. The contract involves implementation and support in all major public hospitals in Tasmania for at least three years.

David Yacopetti (DHHS Tasmania) and Rob Wells (HCS).

The comprehensive discharge summaries provide a critical channel of communication between hospital staff, allied health professionals and patients, improving patient outcomes through promoting a more complete continuum of care.

Data is pushed from a number of different sources, including patient administration systems (PAS), labs and dispensary systems and is aggregated with information stored in PharmCare, a medication management solution. The data is then available to create individual discharge summaries, which can be sent electronically to any or all the patients' community care providers.

This announcement follows the Patient Discharge Medication Review (PDMR) project held at the Launceston General Hospital in early 2007. The project was conducted in accordance with NEHTA standards and some early results included:

62.1% of discharge summaries were sent to the GP within 2 days of the patient's discharge from hospital;
100% of hospital medical officers surveyed thought it improved the quality of information sent, and most found it easier to use than paper discharge summaries;
96% of GPs receiving PDMR summaries considered that it contained relevant and useful information for ongoing care of their patients;
72% of GPs reported that it had reduced their need to make follow up enquiries.

The discharge summaries have continued to be used in the Launceston General Hospital following the completion of the project and will be fully operational in the other two sites by the end of June 2009.

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PharmCare and iPharmacy admitted into South Australian hospitals

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:06:00 GMT

The South Australian Government has announced that Healthcare Software and iSOFT Health are the successful vendors in the tender for the state-wide implementation of Pharmacy Information Systems.

The $4.4 million contract involves the integrated solution of PharmCare and iPharmacy which will be rolled out across 11 major hospitals in the state.

PharmCare and iPharmacy are complimentary in the functions they perform:

PharmCare performs all the clinical functions required for the safe and effective management of medicines; including decision support, adverse reaction alerts and the provision of medication counselling sheets for patients, pharmacists and GPs; and
iPharmacy provides the administrative aspects; including drug dispensing and inventory control.

Pharmacy Consultant for Medication Safety and Pharmaceutical Reforms, Naomi Burgess, believes that e-health in South Australia is progressing steadily;

"This latest announcement represents another step in the right direction for the future of healthcare in South Australia."

"Safe and effective use of medicines and timely communication between the health care team are important issues and therefore, the decision regarding Pharmacy Information Systems was an important one. We are confident the systems will deliver a solution supporting better care."

Healthcare Software CEO and PharmCare creator, John Elkerton, is confident of the benefits that PharmCare will bring;

"New processes and technologies take a little while to sink in, but when they do we should have safer and more efficient medication practices."

This announcement is the second in as many months for the collaborative solution, as both software solutions will also be implemented across Tasmania by the end of the year.

For more information, please contact:

Will Oakley
Marketing Manager

Ph: +61 3 6224 9955
Fax: +61 3 6224 9956
E: will@healtharesoftware.com.au
A: Suite 21, City Mill Builing,
11 Morrison Street, Hobart TAS 7000

HCS and IBA lock in TAS

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 01:26:00 GMT

Healthcare Software and iSOFT Health have recently been advised by the Tasmanian Government they are the preferred vendor for the $2.2m state-wide implementation of Pharmacy Information Systems.

Healthcare Software's flagship product, PharmCare, and iSOFT's solution, iPharmacy, exchange information seamlessly to provide ward level users with the means to manage all clinical and administrative requirements associated with medications in the hospital setting.

Healthcare Software and IBA are currently in the Implementation Planning Stage (IPS) and the integrated solution will be operating in all major public hospitals in the state within 12 months.

This comes during a period of rapid growth for Healthcare Software following the highly successful Patient Discharge Medication Record (PDMR) project at the Launceston General Hospital. The company is also in advanced stages of negotiation with a number of other Australian hospitals and state Governments, all of which will come to fruition over the coming months.

Healthcare Software CEO and PharmCare creator, John Elkerton, is not surprised by the recent success of the company but admits there is a long way to go to realising the company's underlying objective; achieving safer and more effective medication practice in hospitals around Australia.

"The management of medicines is really starting to climb on the national agenda which is very important as the number of preventable deaths and injuries caused by medication related activities is astounding."

"We are very pleased that PharmCare is being recognised by Government bodies and other influential industry members as being a viable solution to this very complicated issue."

"However, probably the biggest strength of the software is the support it receives at the user level, due to its usability and proven clinical outcomes."

For more information contact:

Will Oakley
Marketing Manager
Tel: +61 (0)3 6224 9955
Fax: +61 (0)3 6224 9956
Email: will@healthcaresoftware.com.au

HCS Welcomes Rob Wells as COO

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:10:00 GMT

Healthcare Software is pleased to welcome Rob Wells to the position of Chief Operations Officer. Rob joins our team after spending 9 years with Sonic Healthcare as their Group IT Manager. He brings with him over 25 years of broad experience in all facets of the IT industry, including software development, infrastructure, project management, service delivery and financial management. His track record displays an aptitude for successful project management of complex IT projects.

Rob Wells with the team
at SHPA 2007 in Sydney

Rob's previous role at Sonic Healthcare involved the management and development of the companies computing assets, including 5,500 screens, hosts, and applications. His experience and knowledge is an invaluable addition to the Healthcare Software team.

Healthcare Software partners with iSOFT

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 01:23:00 GMT

Healthcare Software and iSOFT have joined forces to provide an application that will improve clinical workflow processes, provide better health outcomes for patients and reduce the high number of fatalities resulting from medication error each year.

Healthcare Software's PharmCare application for clinicians to document clinical information will now complement iSOFT's i.Pharmacy application, which is the leader in the hospital pharmacy market.

Delivering critical medication management to the point of care

This partnership delivers the capacity to make critical information relating to patient treatment available at the point of care, allowing clinicians to generate a comprehensive understanding of a patient's capacity to receive and administer medication. The combined functionality provides direct safety benefits for patients with the potential to reduce the number of medication errors. And, there are direct advantages for hospitals with the reduction of hospitalisation costs and increased pharmacy efficiencies.

"We feel that we have formed a perfect partnership," said John Elkerton, CEO, Healthcare Software. "The PharmCare application is considered to be 'best of breed' and now will be marketed with the leading application in the hospital pharmacy market in this region."

Nigel Lutton, iSOFT's Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, said: "i.Pharmacy has an extensive footprint of over 260 sites worldwide in the core dispensing and manufacturing area and provides a solid basis on which to provide the extended ePharmacy functionality being sought in our region. The exclusive partnership with Healthcare Software is a valuable and natural extension to our current medication management capabilities - making the critical medication history available to the clinical pharmacist at the patient bedside or anywhere within the hospital."

Healthcare Software on the MAPP

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 01:22:00 GMT

The Market Access and Partnership Program (MAPP) is an initiative administered by the Tasmanian Department of Economic Development, funded by the Australian Government.

The second round of MAPP grants was recently announced and Healthcare Software was one of three successful companies. This will allow the company to significantly increase the marketing being employed across Australia and New Zealand, effective immediately.

HCS News

SHPA Conference wraps up

HCS Featured in QANTAS inflight magazine

Life saving technology

AusIndustry helps HCS improve patient safety

HCS Discharge Summaries now live across Tasmania

HCS wins Tasmanian AMP Innovation Award at Telstra Business Awards

HealthCare Software named as a finalist in the 2009 ©-STAR Awards

TasICT Awards

eSolutions Award

President's Award for Excellence in ICT

The HCS Clinical Suite unveiled

Tassie signs for HCS Discharge Summaries

PharmCare and iPharmacy admitted into South Australian hospitals

Related Links

For more information, please contact:

HCS and IBA lock in TAS

Related Links

For more information contact:

HCS Welcomes Rob Wells as COO

Healthcare Software partners with iSOFT

Delivering critical medication management to the point of care

Healthcare Software on the MAPP

Related Links