Melbourne hospitals first in JAPAC to deploy FHIR dosing

Pharmacists at The Alfred, Sandringham Hospital and Caulfield Hospital are using DoseMeRx through an integration with Oracle Health Foundation EHR. The three Melbourne hospitals are the first Oracle Health client in the JAPAC region to fully deploy a third-party application integrated with the system using FHIR.

The rollout covers hospitals in the Bayside Health network and lets pharmacists prescribe and adjust medication doses without manually entering dose history, demographics or pathology results into a separate platform. The software sits within the existing electronic health record workflow, so clinicians can view dosing recommendations and record them in the patient file from the same environment.

DoseMeRx uses patient-specific information held in the Oracle Health Foundation electronic health record to calculate medication dosing recommendations for individual patients. The organisations cited vancomycin, an antibiotic that often requires close monitoring and dose adjustment, as one example.

The deployment also marks a regional milestone for Oracle Health's use of FHIR, or Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources, an open standard for exchanging health data between systems. The integration uses Oracle Health's Ignite API for FHIR to move clinical and administrative data securely and in real time between the electronic health record and the dosing application.

For hospital pharmacists, the main practical change is the removal of repeated manual entry when reviewing treatment and adjusting doses. That process can be time-consuming in busy hospital settings, particularly when medication history, patient characteristics and pathology results must all be checked before a recommendation is made.

Alfred Health said the system is intended to support clinicians with dosing decisions while reducing the burden of switching between digital tools. The hospitals involved are part of a wider network that provides care across multiple campuses and community services in Victoria.

Erica Tong, Chief Pharmacy Information Officer at Alfred Health, described the impact on staff and patients in straightforward terms. "Reducing manual data entry, and driving safer, more effective treatments is great for both patients and staff," said Erica Tong, Chief Pharmacy Information Officer at Alfred Health. "Supporting our clinicians with the latest tools is part of that."

Open standards

Oracle Health has been promoting an open integration approach based on standards rather than proprietary interfaces. In practice, that means hospitals and software partners can connect specialist tools to the electronic health record using common methods for exchanging data.

FHIR has emerged as one of the most widely used standards for that purpose in healthcare technology. Supporters say it makes it easier for providers to add focused applications without rebuilding core systems or relying on custom integrations for each deployment.

In this case, the integration brings dosing guidance into the clinical workflow rather than requiring clinicians to leave the patient record and re-enter data elsewhere. That workflow issue has become an important focus for health IT suppliers as hospitals try to reduce duplication and minimise the risks associated with fragmented software environments.

DoseMe said its platform applies Bayesian pharmacokinetic modelling to generate dosing recommendations tailored to the individual patient. Such modelling is commonly used when drug levels, kidney function and other variables can materially change the dose required to reach a therapeutic target while avoiding toxicity.

John Hardesky, Chief Executive Officer at DoseMe, said the project showed what can be done through standards-based integration. "This integration demonstrates what's possible when open standards like FHIR are leveraged to connect precision dosing directly within the clinical workflow," said John Hardesky, Chief Executive Officer at DoseMe. "By embedding Bayesian dosing intelligence into the Oracle Health Foundation EHR, clinicians can access individualised recommendations through DoseMe without disrupting care delivery - advancing both safety and efficiency."

Regional first

The JAPAC first is significant for Oracle Health because healthcare providers in the region have often faced a slower path to deep integration between electronic health records and specialist clinical applications than some counterparts in North America and Europe. A fully deployed third-party FHIR integration gives Oracle Health a reference point in the Australian hospital market as health systems seek more connected digital tools.

For Bayside Health, the project offers a live example of how a hospital network can connect a specialist application to a core clinical system using an open standard rather than a closed, custom-built link. That approach may be closely watched by other providers considering similar integrations in areas such as medicines management, diagnostics and decision support.

Oracle Health and Life Sciences framed the project as evidence that healthcare organisations can work across systems without maintaining isolated digital environments. "This collaboration between Bayside Health and Oracle Health demonstrates the success we can achieve across the healthcare industry when we eliminate walled gardens and support an open, interoperable ecosystem," said Seema Verma, Executive Vice President and General Manager at Oracle Health and Life Sciences. "Together, we are accelerating innovation and creating a more connected healthcare experience that enhances patient care across the region."