Bendigo Health serves a region of 300,000 people from their Bendigo base. Managing healthcare at that scale in a regional setting requires technology that works—not just in demonstrations, but in daily operations.

I spoke with staff across the organisation to understand their digital transformation journey.

Electronic Medical Records

The foundation of modern hospital technology is electronic medical records (EMR). Bendigo Health’s transition from paper to digital has been transformative.

“I can see a patient’s history, medications, allergies, and test results instantly,” one doctor explained. “Before EMR, I’d be waiting for paper files to arrive from medical records. Sometimes they never did.”

The system integrates with pathology, radiology, and pharmacy. Orders entered by doctors flow automatically to the relevant departments.

“Medication errors have dropped significantly. The system flags interactions, allergies, and dosing issues before patients receive anything.”

Implementation wasn’t simple. Years of planning, training, and parallel running were required. Staff resistance was real—changing established workflows is difficult.

“The first six months were hard. Some people struggled with the change. But now most wouldn’t go back.”

Telehealth Expansion

COVID-19 accelerated telehealth adoption, but Bendigo Health has sustained it post-pandemic.

“For follow-up appointments, routine consultations, and some specialist reviews, video works well. Patients from Echuca or Maryborough don’t have to drive two hours for a ten-minute appointment.”

The technology is relatively straightforward—video conferencing with some integration to medical records. The challenges are more human:

“Not all patients are comfortable with technology. Not all conditions suit telehealth. We need to choose appropriately.”

Hybrid models are common now—initial in-person consultations with telehealth follow-ups, or telehealth triage before determining whether in-person visits are needed.

AI Applications

Bendigo Health is exploring AI in specific, cautious ways.

“We’re not replacing clinicians with AI. We’re using it to help them work more effectively.”

Examples in use or trial include:

Radiology prioritisation: AI screens incoming scans and flags those likely to show urgent findings. Radiologists still read everything; AI helps prioritise the queue.

Sepsis prediction: Algorithms monitor patient vitals and alert clinicians to early signs of sepsis—a condition where early intervention dramatically improves outcomes.

Administrative efficiency: AI helps with coding, documentation, and scheduling optimisation.

“We’re careful. AI in healthcare needs to be proven safe. We pilot extensively before widespread deployment.”

Challenges Unique to Regional Healthcare

Metropolitan hospitals face technology challenges too, but regional settings add complexity:

Connectivity to outlying facilities: Smaller clinics and community health centres across the region need connection to central systems. Some locations have infrastructure limitations.

Workforce technology skills: Regional healthcare already struggles with staffing. Finding staff with both clinical and technology comfort is harder.

Vendor support: Major technology vendors are Melbourne-based. Support and implementation sometimes assumes metropolitan context.

Scale economics: Smaller patient volumes mean technology investments are spread across fewer cases. Cost-effectiveness calculations differ from metro.

Integration Across the Region

Healthcare doesn’t stop at hospital doors. Bendigo Health coordinates with GPs, community health, aged care, and other providers across the region.

“When a patient leaves hospital, their GP needs to know what happened and what follow-up is needed. Technology should make that seamless.”

Shared care records, secure messaging between providers, and referral management systems are being developed. Progress is real but incomplete.

“We’re not there yet. Some GPs are fully connected; others still receive faxes. The ecosystem is fragmented.”

National initiatives like My Health Record contribute, but adoption varies and information doesn’t always flow smoothly between systems.

What’s Next

Several developments are on the horizon:

Increased automation: More routine tasks—appointment reminders, form filling, basic queries—handled by automated systems.

Remote monitoring: Patients with chronic conditions monitored at home through connected devices, with alerts to clinicians when intervention is needed.

Predictive analytics: Using historical data to forecast demand, optimise staffing, and identify patients at risk of deterioration.

Patient access: Giving patients direct access to their records, test results, and communication with care teams through patient portals.

Lessons for Other Regional Providers

Bendigo Health’s experience offers lessons for healthcare technology across regional Victoria:

Start with workflow, not technology. Understand how care is actually delivered before selecting systems.

Budget for change management. Technology purchase is often the smaller cost; getting people to use it effectively is the larger investment.

Plan for integration. Standalone systems create data silos. Prioritise solutions that connect.

Maintain realistic expectations. Technology improves healthcare but doesn’t transform it overnight. Incremental progress beats ambitious failures.

Engage clinicians early. Doctors and nurses who helped choose systems become advocates rather than resistors.

The Broader Impact

Healthcare technology in regional areas matters beyond efficiency. It affects whether people can access care locally or must travel to Melbourne.

“The more we can do here with good technology support, the less patients need to travel. That’s quality of life impact, not just healthcare delivery.”

Telehealth extends specialist reach. Good EMR systems allow complex care coordination. AI helps smaller teams perform at metropolitan levels.

Regional healthcare technology isn’t about catching up to Melbourne. It’s about enabling the kind of care regional communities need—coordinated across geography, efficient despite smaller scale, and accessible where people actually live.

That vision requires sustained investment, skilled implementation, and patience with the pace of change. Bendigo Health’s journey shows it’s possible.