The Victorian government has allocated $5 million for the preparatory work needed for a planned electronic medical record (EMR) system for three hospitals in Melbourne's Parkville precinct, also home to the Royal Children's Hospital, which went live with its $48 million Epic EMR on the weekend.

A spokesman for the Department of Health & Human Services confirmed that the $5m, allocated in last week's state budget, will be used for scoping the needs of Royal Melbourne Hospital, the Royal Women's Hospital (pictured) and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, which is due to relocate to the new Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre building next month.