Critical information about chronic diseases shared online

Established in 1996, the registry is a complete and thorough record of all people in Australia who have Cystic Fibrosis (CF). The registry is updated annually and has proved to be an invaluable aid to researchers seeking specific data for research projects and clinical trials.

Terry Stewart, the CEO of Cystic Fibrosis Australia (CFA) states: "There is a great need to have medical records stored electronically and over the past four years Smart Health Solutions has been developing a system that will deliver those benefits. This has gained rapid pace over the last two years, with a number of CF Centres in Australia installing this specialist software.

This software has been designed to link into Cystic Fibrosis Australia's new CFA Web Base Data Registry. The registry gathers accurate up to date information from clinics around Australia on the latest treatments for CF and their outcomes. This will be used by clinicians and researchers to develop treatment guidelines and for medical research. Subsequent improvements could help people with CF to live longer, healthier lives."

Direct benefits to Cystic Fibrosis Services could include the saving of hundreds of hours of data entry by nurses, who are currently diverted from vital patient care by this important activity.

"Automating CFA reporting will have an enormous benefit for our practice," said Rosie Player, CF Nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. "Each year, nurses spend many hours wading through volumes of paper files for each patient to find and record this information."

"Smart Health is proud to be supporting the work of CFA and CF services in Australia. Our latest implementation in the South Australian hospitals has won good support from clinicians and the South Australian Department of Health. We are expecting the existing implementation at Bayside Health in Victoria to be expanded by year end, to all other state CF Services and also to the remote supporting doctors across the state. Our shared Electronic Health Records software also supports chronic diseases, such as Chronic Kidney Disease and is particularly valuable where patients require multidisciplinary care", enthused Jon Hughes from Smart Health.