Cairns and Hinterland and Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Services implements Communicare

Telstra Health and the Cairns and Hinterland and Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Services have entered into a contract to implement Telstra Health’s Communicare platform across Far North Queensland.

Communicare is a fully integrated patient information solution that will support primary health care facilities across Far North Queensland. It will support health centres to digitise what are principally paper-based workflows and records and assist in the provision of safe and effective care to remote and regional communities.

The platform will integrate with existing Queensland Health and third party-provider systems within Far North Queensland’s digital health ecosystem. It will support healthcare practitioners and healthcare services to deliver team-based care. It will also provide support to healthcare organisations and staff by providing a single source of access to comprehensive patient records.

The implementation across the Cairns and Hinterland and Torres and Cape HHSs follows the successful implementation of Communicare across the entire Western Australia Country Health Service (WACHS) over the past year, covering 2.55 million square kilometres and the seven WACHS regions. The successful WACHS implementation was a finalist in the 2019 WA Health Excellence Awards.

“Communicare provides a comprehensive electronic health record for storing a patient’s social and family history, allergies, medications and clinical history. Telstra Health has invested significantly in the Communicare platform in recent years. The platform is supporting healthcare providers with comprehensive information to assist in diagnosis and treatment and ultimately improved care”, said Telstra Health Managing Director Mary Foley.

Communicare was established in 1994 and is Australia’s leading, fully-integrated patient information solution for community health services. It is the digital platform used by more than 75% of Aboriginal Medical Services and utilised by more than 8,000 healthcare professionals, covering more than 400,000 Indigenous medical records. It provides a holistic, patient-centric view all within the one record and equips organisations with the tools to streamline the entire patient journey in order for staff to manage patients effectively.

Following implementation, Communicare will support Aboriginal Medical Services across northern Australia, all of Far North Queensland, as well as the Western Australia Country Health Service. It will support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healthcare organisations in particular in delivering care in rural areas.

There has been substantial investment in Communicare’s development by Telstra Health, including through its ongoing commitment to investing in the development of a Next Generation Communicare solution.