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Implementing A Regional Oncology Information System: Approach And Lessons Learned, W K. Evans, Fred D. Ashbury, G L. Hogue, A Smith, J Pun

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Rationale Paper-based medical record systems are known to have major problems of inaccuracy, incomplete data, poor accessibility, and challenges to patient confidentiality. They are also an inefficient mechanism of record-sharing for interdisciplinary patient assessment and management, and represent a major problem for keeping current and monitoring quality control to facilitate improvement. To address those concerns, national, regional, and local health care authorities have increased the pressure on oncology practices to upgrade from paper-based systems to electronic health records. Objectives Here, we describe and discuss the challenges to implementing a region-wide oncology information system across four independent health care organizations, and …