Wound Practice and Research Volume 18 Number 4 – November 2010 174 The development of an electronic wound management system for Western Australia Introduction The ability of clinicians to accurately determine if a wound is healing is critical to effective decision making and ultimately to positive patient outcomes 1,2 . Furthermore, accurate, rapid and concise wound documentation is at the core of good wound care 3 . These statements appear to be self-evident yet the current processes for achieving both of these goals are sub-optimal in the current healthcare environment due to a multiplicity of factors including: lack of appropriate equipment, antiquated paper-based systems and the absence of 'whole of system' approaches to wound imaging and documentation 4,5 . The WoundsWest initiative (WW) was established in 2006 as a partnership between the Department of Health WA (DoHWA), Curtin University and Silver Chain to provide a specific focus on the treatment of wounds in Western Australia (WA). Commencing in 2009, WW has worked with the University of Western Australia, Centre for Software Practice (UWA CSP) in Santamaria N, Glance DG, Prentice J & Fielder K Abstract The MMEx Wounds Management System (MMEx WMS) has been developed as a collaboration between the WoundsWest Advisory Service (WWAS) of the Department of Health WA (DoHWA) and the University of Western Australian Centre for Software Practice (UWA CSP). The system was designed as a comprehensive wound imaging and clinical management system that would support collaborative management of a patient’s wounds. Patients with chronic wounds are currently often treated by a number of clinicians at a number of sites during the course of the management of one wound; however, the transfer of clinical information between clinicians is compromised and rendered inefficient due to a multiplicity of factors including: paper-based systems, variation in wound assessment and time lags in sharing essential information between clinicians. The current problems are compounded in rural and remote locations in a state as large as Western Australia (WA). The design of the software was based on the extensive experience of the WoundsWest Service team together with research evidence-based best practice in the area of wounds management and collaborative healthcare. This design was coupled with an agile software development process that emphasises end-user participation, feedback and rapid, frequent iterations of software development. The entire first phase of the system was brought to a pilot implementation within a six-month period with high user acceptance. Ultimately, the MMEx WMS will improve wound management clinical outcomes and reduce costs associated with treatment and patient transfers due to the timely and accurate availability of wound treatment progress data and the increased availability of expert remote wound consultation. Santamaria N et al. The development of an electronic wound management system for Western Australia Professor Nick Santamaria * RN, RPN, BAppSc MEdSt, Grad Dip Health Ed, PhD Professor of Nursing Research, University of Melbourne & Royal Melbourne Hospital The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Grattan Street Parkville, VIC 3050 Tel 0414 560929 Email nick.santamaria@mh.org.au Associate Professor David Glance PhD Director, UWA Centre for Software Practice University of Western Australia Dr Jenny Prentice RN, BN, Cert STN, Cert Palliative Care, PhD Project Director, WoundsWest Kit Fielder RN, B Sc (Nsg) Senior Project Officer IT WoundsWest * Corresponding author