Royal Flying Doctor Service launches digital health record

The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), Australia’s rural and remote health services provider, has launched a nationwide Electronic Health Record (EHR), powered by Oracle Autonomous Database, to streamline clinical information collection and analysis for medical staff.

Providing primary healthcare and 24-hour emergency services to those living in rural and remote Australia, the RFDS has previously relied on paper-based processes and standalone record management solutions.

Running on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), the RFDS has implemented the data management system with cybersecurity and data compliance posture to manage organisation-wide patient records.

The deployment enables RFDS to digitise and consolidate our medical records systems, and improve accuracy, accessibility and security of information for better continuity of care, said Ryan Klose, Chief Information Officer, RFDS.

The company began working with Oracle in January 2022 to eliminate paper-based record keeping. Patient and emergency incident data is now synchronised automatically in the field, back at base, across operation centres and with other healthcare providers.

To operate the project, a national fleet of application programming interfaces (APIs) powered by Oracle Integration Cloud are interconnected with Oracle Autonomous Database, enabling RFDS’s branches across the country to transact data securely across state borders and with national entities, such as the Australian Digital Health Agency and hospitals.

“In this journey we are undertaking with Oracle, our destination is a fast, frictionless and comfortable healthcare experience for patients in the outback and remote Australia.”

In operations without access to internet or if connection issues occur, RFDS additionally uses Oracle GoldenGate to create a digital data twin for offline mode that allows live replication of the database. This enables field doctors in the outback of Australia to use a tablet to enter and retrieve the latest patient information without an internet connection.

RFDS’s electronic health record system runs on Microsoft Azure while Oracle Integration Cloud automates end-to-end processes and centralises management by enabling an API fleet, microservices and application integrations.

Image credit: iStock.com/Jackie Niam