Medical software maker E Pi has begun rolling out its WinDose drug dispensing system at Christchurch hospital and four more Canterbury District Health Board sites are scheduled to go live with the system by the end of the year.
E Pi is already in use at several other DHBs around the country.
The Canterbury sites will get the current version of WinDose, but will be eligible for a free upgrade to an upcoming .Net-based version of the system, which the three Auckland-based DHBs are also upgrading to, E Pi general manager James Rice says.
The .Net version, titled ePharmacy, is being marketed overseas by E Pi partners, Rice says, and has greater functionality in terms of managing the dispensation, ordering and stocking of medicines.
Its greater ease of use means it can be used for the management of cyto-toxic (anti-cancer) drugs, he says.