Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand has set up a "digital health design lab" in Cumberland St, across from the new outpatient building, where its teams are developing the digital systems for use in the new hospital.
A total of $225.5 million was allocated in Budget 2022 for the new hospital’s digital programme, $82.4m of which was already committed to the outpatient building.
The rest was set aside for future work in the inpatient building.
In a statement, New Dunedin Hospital digital programme director Phil Baskerville said the new technology would improve the patient experience.
"The lab is fully equipped with one of every type of digital device that is going into the outpatient building, allowing teams to validate some of the new models of care and make sure everything works well in real-life situations before commissioning begins."
Screens and devices would help patients and visitors find their way around the hospital, and "patient journey boards" would show real-time updates on appointments, clinic locations and patient flow.
A new digital booking system and patient SMS/email system would replace the current mix of letters, spreadsheets, whiteboards and paper forms.
This new scheduling system for clinical use was being rolled out early so staff could make use of it before the hospital opened.
A major change would be the move away from paper-based documentation.
—Allied Media
