Overview
Initiative type
Model of Care
Status
Deliver
Published
June 2026
Summary
We’re piloting a new model embedding Digital Health Leads in clinical services to drive frontline innovation by identifying challenges, co-designing solutions and translating ideas into practice.
Dates: August 2025 - August 2025
Implementation sites: Queensland statewide
Partnerships: DHS, OCCIO, Children's Health Queensland
Aim
To accelerate meaningful digital innovation at the frontline of palliative care.
Outcomes
- Strengthened frontline digital capability by embedding Digital Health Leads directly within clinical teams to provide real‑-time support, problem‑solving and workflow redesign
- Reduced clinician workload and administrative burden through initiatives such as digital PowerForms and the new PCA PowerPlan, improving safety and streamlining opioid workflows.
- Improved patient safety and standardisation with safer pathways, fewer transcription errors (palliative pathology templates) and more consistent assessments (PCOC v4 digital capture).
- Faster, more streamlined access to care enabled by Smart Referrals and improved documentation workflows through ambient AI.
Background
Queensland Health is experiencing increasing clinical demand, growing patient complexity, and rapidly evolving digital requirements. While digital systems are expanding, frontline clinicians often lack the time, capability and dedicated support needed to engage meaningfully in digital change. As a result, digital initiatives are frequently designed outside the clinical environment, leading to tools that do not fully align with real workflows, contribute to inconsistent practice, or add to clinicians’ administrative burden.
Many critical processes in palliative care, such as opioid management, pathology transcription, clinical assessments and referrals, remained paper‑based or variable across teams. This created patient safety risks, reduced data quality, and limited the service’s ability to monitor outcomes or drive consistent care. At the same time, clinicians were expected to meet digital governance requirements and adopt new systems despite competing service demands and workforce pressures. These challenges highlighted a central question: How can digital transformation become truly clinician-led, practical and aligned with frontline needs? More specifically, the project sought to understand whether embedding Digital Health Leads directly within clinical services, rather than supporting from a distance, would deliver better, safer and more sustainable digital improvement.
The hypothesis was that co-located digital leadership could bridge the gap between system design and real‑-world care, reduce the burden on clinicians, and accelerate innovation that improves safety, efficiency and consistency. This project was initiated to
test that model, build digital capability at the frontline, and create a scalable approach that other specialties could adopt across the health service.
Methods
To address the growing gap between digital demand and frontline capacity, we implemented a new model that embeds Digital Health Leads directly within clinical services. These roles worked side-by‑side with clinicians to identify workflow problems, co‑design solutions, and translate ideas into practice. The approach was guided by co-design, iterative improvement cycles, and human‑centred design principles, supported by elements of the PDSA (Plan–Do–Study–Act) methodology to test changes quickly and refine based on feedback.
How we approached it:
- Frontline immersion and problem identification Digital Health Leads worked within the service to observe workflows, map processes, identify pain points, and understand the clinical, digital and governance context.
- Co‑design and solution development Clinicians, administrative staff and allied health teams were engaged through workshops, rapid-design sessions and bedside workflow reviews to ensure solutions were practical and clinically meaningful.
- Iterative testing and refinement Improvements were trialled through small‑scale pilots using PDSA cycles-allowing for quick learning, adjustment and safe implementation.
- Implementation and capability building Each initiative included clinician training, governance approvals, workflow redesign, and data monitoring to ensure sustainability and alignment with statewide
standards.
Discussion
Success required an environment where clinicians and digital teams could collaborate openly, with leaders who recognised the need for a new model of digital partnership. Embedding Digital Health Leads directly in clinical services relied on trust, access to frontline workflows, strong relationships with governance teams, and clear alignment with organisational priorities such as the G28 Strategic Plan and the Digital Roadmap. A willingness from clinicians to test, adapt and challenge existing processes was also essential. Lessons learnt and limitations
A key lesson was that frontline engagement increases dramatically when digital support is visible, accessible and embedded. Co‑-design works best when clinicians feel ownership of the solution. However, capacity constraints across busy services remained a limitation; clinicians could not always participate at the depth they wanted. Some initiatives required lengthy governance pathways, which slowed implementation despite clinical readiness. Additionally, while Digital Health Leads can reduce burden, they cannot replace the need for broader digital uplift across the workforce.
Strengths, weaknesses and opportunities
Strengths included high clinical engagement, rapid problem identification, and the ability to iterate solutions based on real‑-world feedback.
Weaknesses centred on reliance on a single Digital Health Lead, creating vulnerability when competing priorities arose.
Opportunities include scaling this model to other specialties, developing local digital champions, and embedding digital capability into workforce planning. What we would do differently Earlier engagement with governance and ICT stakeholders would streamline approval processes. Developing formal onboarding for new clinicians about digital workflows could also enhance consistency and sustainability.
Where this model can succeed next This approach is well‑suited to any specialty with complex workflows, high documentation load or variable digital maturity-such as emergency, oncology, community care, mental health and aged care. Next steps Expand the model, build local digital champions, formalise governance pathways and evaluate long‑term impact on safety, efficiency and clinician experience.
References
Carlo Barbieri, Luca Neri, Stefano Stuard, Flavio Mari, José D Martín-Guerrero, From electronic health records to clinical management systems: how the digital transformation can support healthcare services, Clinical Kidney Journal, Volume 16, Issue 11, November 2023, Pages 1878–1884, https://doi.org/10.1093/ckj/sfad168
Key contact
Kaitlyn Watson
Advanced Digital Improvement - Pharmacy
Robina Hospital
Gold Coast Health