NHS Sheffield Care Trust has improved its service to
patients by using electronic content management
software.
Since 2002, the trust, which covers nearly 90 sites, has been
creating electronic health records on a system developed in-house
based on Microsoft .net and SQL. However, records from before this
date were on paper, microfiche and CD.
With IT service provider Avanqest, the trust has scanned its
paper documents on to a system from OnBase, which is integrated
with the hospital's patient administration system.
This allows doctors to call up historic records from anywhere on
the network, instead of having to send for them, which could take
up to a week, said Tom Davidson, director of IT at Sheffield Care
Trust.
"This is improving patient care.Doctors no longer have to wait
for information. If a patient has a crisis in the night, doctors
can know what drugs they have been on, what care methods have been
used and what other doctors they have seen. Our service is open 24
hours, but the [paper] medical records department is only open
until 5pm," he said.
Davidson said the system would eventually be moved to a patient
administration system in the National Programme for IT, but not in
the near future. "They do not have the functionality we enjoy. When
they catch up, we will move," he said.
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Link to NHS Sheffield Care Trust
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