Ten hospitals across Fife are using real-time information to deliver better co-ordinated care for thousands of patients, following the successful go-live of InterSystems TrakCare®.
Frontline staff in all of NHS Fife’s acute and community hospitals are now using the patient information system, which has been positively received by healthcare professionals as a means to support better and safer care, to carry out their work more efficiently, and to replace outdated technology and restrictive paper based ways of working.
The health board confirmed its decision to deploy TrakCare, a unified health information system, last June, as part of its plans to progress towards a single electronic patient record for patients, and to allow authorised clinical staff access to essential patient information needed to inform important decisions at the point of care.
NHS Fife’s eHealth staff worked closely with clinicians and embedded InterSystems personnel to deploy TrakCare on schedule on 1st April 2017. More than 80% of NHS Fife’s employees are now trained to use the system, which is making health records, referral and waiting list processes more efficient, and is helping to improve patient experience.
“NHS Fife staff worked tirelessly to ensure an effective go-live of TrakCare,” said Mark Palmer, country manager, InterSystems UK & Ireland. “Technology can be a powerful means to connect care and to deliver crucial patient information where it is needed. But for this to happen, it must be accepted and used. NHS Fife is a powerful example of clinical engagement, collaboration, and determination to ensure that technology addresses hospital needs so that the best is achieved for patient care.”
With the go-live of a new patient administration system, phase one of the deployment has now been completed, making NHS Fife the 11th health board of Scotland’s total of 14 to use the TrakCare system.
Deployment first commenced in the health board’s emergency department, before quickly spreading to other clinical areas. Real-time bed management is providing staff with an accurate bed status across the health board, including acute, mental health and community users, helping to manage capacity and ensure patients are discharged in a timely manner.
The system is also being used to manage patients with specific conditions. For example, electronic questionnaires around stroke and diabetes have been built directly into the system. Benefits are now being realised across the health board, which serves 370,000 people across a large rural area.
Phase two of the project will see the expansion of TrakCare to deliver additional functionality including order communications, which will streamline the flow of important information between diagnostic departments and frontline clinical staff. Mental health administration will also be an important part of phase two. In addition, the health board is working with InterSystems to identify other areas of application in order to achieve the most from its investment.
