The Ministry of Health guides the development of services and investments in the NSW public health system to ensure that the health priorities of the NSW Government are achieved for the community of NSW. eHealth NSW is key function with the NSW Ministry of Health, which has the role of being the technology centre of excellence for the NSW public health system, including leading state-wide system procurement and implementation projects.

Maddocks was the legal adviser to NSW Health on one of the largest technology procurement projects ever undertaken by the State of NSW, the Single Digital Patient Record (SDPR). SDPR is focused on the delivery of safe and high-quality patient-centred health care across the state. This project will provide ‘single source of truth’ for patient data and standards electronic medical records systems and patient administration systems across all 15 NSW Local Health Districts. At the end of 2023, NSW Health reached a significant milestone by signing a contract with world leading software company Epic Systems, for delivery of the next generation system.

For more than three years, Maddocks NSW Government Technology team has been supporting NSW Health on all legal aspects of the procurement process and contract negotiations, providing strategic advice on the procurement approach, the tender process, regulatory compliance and contractual requirements. During the course of our involvement, our client conducted detailed EOI, RFP and BAFO processes. We undertook direct negotiations with the each shortlisted vendor, including negotiating and concluding agreements with successful US based vendors, Epic Inc., and Amazon Web Services.

This AUD2 billion ‘once in a generation’ project will re-shape Australia’s largest public healthcare system and provide more than 8 million public healthcare patients in NSW with greater access to personalised and consistent care. The new secure digital record keeping platform will transform the digital systems used by NSW Health staff every day to deliver care.

For the first time, personnel will have access to an integrated all-in-one electronic medical record system, patient administration system and pathology laboratory information system. The state-wide system will also streamline the way clinicians work and improve patient outcomes. To put the size of this matter in context, please note that Epic Inc., is one of the world’s largest (if not the largest) provider of EMR (electronic medical record) software and related products and services. However, this will be the largest single instance deployment of Epic’s EMR software, globally, with over well over 100,000 users across more than 200 sites.