Digital integration key to better patient outcomes
Greater collaboration between primary and tertiary healthcare services and improvements to digital record-keeping are key to reducing repeat hospital admissions.
AMA Queensland Budget Submission 2025-26
Greater collaboration between primary and tertiary healthcare services and improvements to digital record-keeping are key to reducing repeat hospital admissions.
Ahead of the 2025 state budget, AMA Queensland is calling for targeted integration measures that have been repeatedly backed by experts to ensure our health system is equipped for the rapid rise in intelligence systems.
"There is an urgent need for improved digital systems and integration between primary and tertiary care to optimise efficiency and guarantee patient safety,” AMA Queensland President Dr Nick Yim said.
“We continue to face challenges with the uptake and functionality of ieMR, Communicare and QScript, and must address both to avoid wasting clinicians’ valuable time.
“The government must continue their commitment to addressing these problems.
“AMA Queensland recognises the potential of emerging technologies such as AI to support clinicians in delivering care.
“This isn’t about replacing doctors. It’s about expanding care to be more accessible, more equitable, and far more efficient than ever before,” Dr Yim said.
“Excellence in medicine isn’t just about holding onto tradition, but about being ready to evolve and adapt.”
Dr Yim said that we also need a formal systems review and feasibility analysis of introducing unit record numbers for patients and standardised systems across hospital and health services to reduce errors and lost hours.
“Our general practitioners continue to report lengthy delays in receiving discharge summaries, often limiting continuity of care,” he said.
“We need the government to scale up and expand initiatives such as the use of Patient Care Facilitators which is currently being piloted in Ipswich and Logan.
“This program supports patients to see their GP within seven days of leaving hospital to help them recover and reduce the risk of readmission.”
AMA Queensland is also urging the government to embed a dedicated governance role held by a general practitioner in Queensland Health to provide advice at a senior level.
“This position would see GPs’ experiences given due consideration in decisions affecting primary care,” Dr Yim said.
“It would also be able to advise how legislative amendments and policies will affect general practice.
“While digital care models such as hospital in the home are innovative alternatives for some patients, Queensland Health must not prioritise them over maintaining adequate staffing in hospitals.
“Most patients who are hospitalised simply need to be in hospital.
“AMA Queensland urges Queensland Health to take a balanced and realistic view of the opportunities presented by digital technologies, ensuring all changes in models of care are evidence-based, in line with best practice and cost-effective.”
Read AMA Queensland's Budget Submission 2025-26
