Office of the Chief Clinical Information Officer (OCCIO)

Queensland Health has embarked on a digital journey that is transforming the way we deliver services, with Clinical Excellence Queensland playing a pivotal role in how this journey relates to patient care. The Office of the Chief Clinical Information Officer (OCCIO) is committed to supporting this journey.

OCCIO is a multidisciplinary team providing statewide digital clinical informatics leadership and support to digital hospitals, in partnership with Hospital and Health Services (HHSs), clinical networks, eHealth Queensland and technical partners to ensure an integrated approach to improving clinical care provided in our (increasingly digital) healthcare environment.

HITEC represents CED in the clinical governance structure for the digital strategy and acts as the hub for developing, sharing and spreading clinical improvement initiatives using the digital platform.

OCCIO key functions include:

  • Statewide ieMR business as usual support
  • Digital enablement in response to complex and emerging health priorities
  • Clinical informatics leadership and support for statewide digital health projects (including ieMR roll outs)
  • Statewide centralised administration of informatic resources (within and external to OCCIO)
  • Support for both digital and non-digital clinical incident management at the statewide level
  • Engagement with clinical networks and key stakeholders to ensure digital solutions are aligned with statewide clinical priorities and focussed on improving patient outcomes
  • System data and analytics including support for HHSs, network operational / innovative projects and Queensland Health’s Clinical and Business Intelligence Strategy - providing better insights, better focus and better health for Queensland.

For further information or enquiries, contact the OCCIO team.

Clinical leadership and engagement

We recognise that our strengths lie in our clinical workforce being engaged in decisions that address the opportunities and challenges that this transformation presents. All OCCIO activities will retain clinician engagement, consultation and advocacy as guiding principles.

Digital transformation and translation

As individual hospitals implement the digital platform, OCCIO will assist in navigating the associated changes in the way patient care is delivered, to maximise the potential of digital implementation.

It is important to the success of digital transformation that hospitals are provided with clinical and technological workflow and process solutions that support the change. OCCIO will assist in this transformation and document lessons learned and improvement solutions that have worked elsewhere. In addition, OCCIO will provide professional peer influence and coaching which are critical factors in successful behavioural change in digital transformation.

In the pre-implementation phase, OCCIO will support eHealth Queensland by offering guidance and expectation management to facilities to ensure that staff understand the implications, challenges and benefits of digital transformation.

OCCIO is currently providing go-live and post-implementation improvement services including the redesign of clinical workflows and processes, clinical staff upskilling, and the implementation of quality improvement solutions.

Clinical data and analytics

Queensland Health’s digital transformation provides a unique opportunity to use data-driven decision making to improve the quality of clinical care for Queenslanders. High-performing organisations are realising the benefits of big data and OCCIO’s Data and Analytics stream will offer reporting analytics solutions to capitalise on this potential.

Statewide spreading of solutions

OCCIO is ensuring there is a process for clinical governance, consultation, ownership, scalability and translation into improved patient care. Along with the development of standardised data views and the building of dashboards, all projects will include clinical guidance for how to interpret and use information.

Standardisation and metadata

Within OCCIO’s analytics solutions, a data dictionary will be produced with clinical and technical consultation. Creating clinical data standards and documenting metadata will ensure a shared understanding of information being used in clinical settings.

Last updated: 3 July 2023