Home Introduction History AUSLAB Products Software Modules Pathology Diagnostic Imaging Clinical Measurement Public Health Forensic Science Analytical Laboratories Clinician Access Plus Case Study Services Clients/Partners Careers pjacc@pjacc.com.au level 14, 530 Little Collins St Melbourne VIC 3000 Australia GPO Box 4601SS Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia	The Client The Queensland Health Pathology and Scientific Services (QHPSS) is an integral part of Queensland Health. QHPSS, with facilities across 1.7 million square kilometres, provides services in environments that range from tropical to arid. QHPSS employs more than 1,700 medical, scientific, technical and administrative staff to service more than 3.5 million clients. QHPSS operates three business arms (pathology, biomedical engineering, public health and support services). This includes: 33 pathology laboratories, 1 public health/forensic laboratory QHPSS supports more than 500 public health care facilities across the Queensland Health WAN. QHPSS statistics record average daily specimen registrations in excess of 20,000 ranging from 50 in the smallest facility to 1,600 in the Royal Brisbane Hospital facility. The Scenario In 1993 a wide-ranging examination of all Queensland public sector laboratory services was commissioned; the objective being improved efficiency and effectiveness of services offered. During this examination a number of objectives were highlighted. Queensland Health were to 'implement a more systematic approach to quality, improve testing co-ordination, eliminate the duplication of services, improve IT support, standardise testing definitions, and develop a systematic approach to inter-laboratory referrals'. The task to achieve these objectives was given to Dr Peter Lewis-Hughes, QHPSS State Manager. An integrated state-wide IT system was identified as a change imperative to achieve the ambitious organisational reform required. "We went to tender, looking for a management system that offered a single platform, standards, and state-wide real-time reporting". Dr Lewis-Hughes said, "It was a big ask, the experts couldn't agree. We were told time and time again that we couldn't do it, it was deemed impossible". The Solution After due deliberation, QPHSS selected AUSLAB (formerly AUSLAB) as their solution to achieve a virtual state wide integrated laboratory information system. Implementation across numerous sites was a complex task, but resulted in AUSLAB replacing more than 14 stand-alone laboratory information systems. The 'proof of concept' trial was conducted in 1997 by linking three laboratories; Townsville, Mt Isa and Thursday Island. The trials were a great success, creating a true 'virtual system'. The success of these implementations led to the "pilot" being extended to 10 laboratories. PJA Computer Consultants (PJACC) were awarded the state-wide contract in 1998 and state-wide roll-out ensued. An Act of God accelerated the introduction, as a rescue mission was necessary when the computer room at Princess Alexandra Hospital was flooded in 1999. "PJACC showed great resourcefulness and flexibility, installing the AUSLAB system in under 48 hours", reflected Dr Lewis-Hughes. The roll-out has continued over the years, with AUSLAB now installed and operating in all 34 laboratories and providing real-time access to in excess of 2 million patient records. The implementation has also been extended to include the QHPSS Public Health and Forensic Science laboratories at Coopers Plains and some areas of Clinical Measurement. QHPSS management and administration of the system is now centralised in Brisbane with support by PJACC in Melbourne. The Result A number of major benefits have been realised through the implementation of AUSLAB. "Patient care and clinician access to data has been significantly improved through the centralised information technology and a state-wide database with real time reporting across WAN, and interfaces with other Queensland Health Systems database", said Dr Lewis-Hughes. Manager of the AUSLAB support unit Mrs Robyn Kelly also praised the efficiency of the AUSLAB system, saying "time consuming duplication and standardised procedures have been achieved through centralised specimen reception." Mrs Kelly also said "there are many workplace advantages including intra and inter laboratory electronic tracking/transfer of specimens, reducing turnaround time and eliminating administrative double-handling." "Another innovation that is saving significant time and dramatically reducing storage requirements is remote registration of requests from scanned images." Mrs Kelly went on to say, "that compatibility with other industry standard applications such as Microsoft Word and voice recognition is also enhancing workplace productivity and standards of client care". "Comprehensive system administration facilities exist within the application, which empowers QHPSS to continuously re-align software to business requirements, including compilation and utilisation of expert rules based intelligence within the system". In Summary The introduction of the AUSLAB system has been heralded as a great success. The two parties see their relationship as more like a partnership, now nearing its second decade. Furthermore, Dr Lewis-Hughes identified that "on a managerial level AUSLAB has allowed remote supervision and review, and seamless electronic linking of patient data from different health care facilities. These are major advantages to QHPSS". And the refinement hasn't ended there said Dr Lewis-Hughes, as "AUSLAB allows a window into the operating environment, and gives us a very clear view of where further consolidation can occur". "This centralised information technology will also enable development of best practice ordering profiles for particular clinical conditions and procedures", he added. Dr Peter Lewis-Hughes finished by saying "PJACC fitted the bill for us and I'm happy to say that we've grown together. They've delivered a standardised platform that now reports to 20,000 users state-wide, standardised test codes, a single configuration and a single database and that gives us huge efficiency and effectiveness gains as a platform for our quality goals - it's been a very good process for us." * Article published in 'Today's Life Science' dated July/Aug 2000 written by Dr Peter Lewis-Hughes PhD BSc(Hons)(ANU), State Manager QHPSS and Mrs Robyn Kelly, Manager AUSCARE Support Unit (within QHPSS).