Pulse+IT's most-read article in 2019 by far was the resignation of eHealth Queensland CEO Richard Ashby in January and the decision to not proceed with the procurement of a new patient administration system to replace the aged HBCIS.

The saga was referred to the state's Crime and Corruption Commission, which decided later in the year not to pursue any charges. What to do about the PAS tender was still not resolved at year's end, and in the meantime another stumble for eHealth Queensland came with the mid-year decision to pause the further roll-out of the Cerner integrated electronic medical record (ieMR) to allow it to be optimised in existing sites.

South Australia's PAS and EMR were also in the spotlight, with an independent review chaired by former Telstra Health MD Shane Solomon recommending that the EPAS system needed an overhaul. The review panel recommended that the EMR and PAS be split into two separate projects with an upgrade to the most current version of the software – which was completed in March – and implemented at two exemplar sites in Royal Adelaide Hospital and Mt Gambier. Mt Gambier went live later in the year and the RAH's EMR implementation is proceeding in stages.