Customer

Royal Flying Doctor Service

Location

Australia

Industries

Healthcare

Offerings

Consulting & Engineering Services Managed Applications Enterprise Applications Services for Oracle

Contact

Mark Simpson

Customer Stories | June 16, 2025

Helping the Royal Flying Doctor Service save lives

"Digital health is about having the right data at the right time. And when that data becomes life-changing for the patient, you need superior platforms that just work."

— Ryan Klose, Chief Information Officer, Royal Flying Doctor Service

Imagine living in a remote location that doesn’t have any access to local doctors or services, and that might only have one telephone. Or being a healthcare worker and not having access to information that could help save the life of your patient.

That’s been the challenge for residents of the Australian outback—and for the medical staff who attend to them.

But the good news is there’s help from above. Arriving by plane are members of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), a group of heroic doctors, nurses and seasoned bush pilots who perform life-changing work (or make life-changing decisions) in barren areas that are too sparsely settled for resident physicians and where reliable internet connectivity is often not available.

Whereas most healthcare workers take real-time access to critical information systems for granted, the team at the RFDS delivers primary healthcare and 24-hour emergency services to the underserved, using the latest in aviation, medical and communications technology, and a broad-reaching road ambulance fleet.

The burden of paper-based processes

Since many of the communities RFDS serves have limited access to modern technologies, its staff had to use paper forms to record patient interactions, which often require up to 500 fields per interaction.

Information on those forms had to be entered manually and re-entered into various back-end systems. Administration efforts to update patient records were time-consuming, frequently duplicated, error-prone and difficult to manage.

Disparate systems and connectivity issues challenged the RFDS team's ability to deliver high-quality services to its patients.

A health-tech upgrade

The RFDS needed a unified, cost-effective data management system with robust security and data compliance to manage all its patient records. The solution came in the form of a pre-hospital electronic health record (EHR) system developed by the RFDS that allowed doctors, nurses and paramedics to share critical medical information in real-time, regardless of whether the patient is in the air or on the ground.

The RFDS selected Oracle for building the architecture of the new system and DXC as the system integrator.

The RFDS EHR system that was implemented is powered by Oracle Autonomous Database and runs on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to streamline and connect clinical information collection and analysis.

The system also uses Oracle GoldenGate, a clever software solution that has replication capabilities to ensure that data captured offline is reliably synchronized with other healthcare systems when connectivity is restored.

“The new system makes it easier for healthcare professionals on the plane or the ground to understand each patient’s needs, as incident data can now be synchronized automatically in the field, back at base, across operation centers, and with other healthcare providers,” explained Ryan Klose, Chief Information Officer, RFDS.

Since the RFDS EHR works even when offline, it’s ideal for emergency healthcare in the middle of the Australian outback or 20,000 feet above sea level. Patient and emergency incident data is now synchronized automatically in the field, back at base, across operation centers, and with other healthcare providers.

During a medical evacuation flight, a medical crew can use a tablet to access crucial information while transporting a critically injured patient to a hospital hundreds of miles away.

A focus on the patient, not the paper

Dr. Mardi Steere, RFDS Clinical Lead, RFDS, said the new technology works as an “extra pair of hands” for a doctor or nurse providing sole care in the back of an aircraft.

“When every second counts, the right information at the right time saves lives,” said Dr. Steere. “The EHR has a live dashboard showing real-time trends, built-in safety alerts around allergies and early signs of deterioration, and guidelines around patient risk factors and medication dosages. Now, our crews can spend more time with the patient than with paperwork.”

And with ongoing support from DXC, the RFDS is looking into applying generative AI projects in the future to gain deeper insights into improving healthcare for those who live, work and travel in remote areas of Australia.

The big picture

The Royal Flying Doctor Service provides a lifeline for people living in rural and remote Australia. And the electronic health record system developed with DXC and Oracle’s help is a great example of the power of collaborative innovation for the good of public health.

And it's another example of DXC engineers and consultants excelling at providing deep industry expertise and an in-depth understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities our clients face.