Another important step on the road to a fully integrated health record has been made with the introduction of digital referrals across a wide range of community services.
Using a digital software system known as EMIS, the same as that already used by the Island’s GPs, the new approach means that referrals to and from various services can now been made paperless. Services include GP surgeries, Adult Community Nursing, Children and Families, Podiatry, Hospice, Adult Speech & Language Therapy and Quit 4 You (the smoking cessation service).
This will result in speedier referrals, without the need for paper requests to be sent, received and logged. The system automatically fills in the necessary forms and paperwork, so that doctors and other healthcare professionals no longer have to do so, allowing them to spend more time focused on their clinical tasks and reducing red tape and bureaucracy. This is estimated to result in a reduction in related temporary staff costs of 15% per annum within the next two years.
It also promises a substantial decrease in the amount of paper used across all community services, and the accompanying reduction in associated costs, estimated at 20% per annum, as well as eliminating the risk of referrals being mislaid, misunderstood or misfiled.
In a paper-based system a file can only be viewed by one user at a time. The new digital system permits several users to access a patient’s file simultaneously. This ensures that clinicians will always have the most up to date file available when they need it.
If a patient gives consent then the new system also allows specialist clinicians to view a patient’s GP record, with the exception of the GP’s hand-written notes, and vice versa.
To ensure patient confidentiality and transparency, the system can be audited at any point, ensuring that patients are able to see exactly who accessed any record and when it was done.
Another development has been the implementation of mobile working. This means that clinicians visiting patients out in the community can view and amend the patient’s medical records, as well as having the ability to view the GP records on a mobile device. There is now no need for paper records to be carried by clinicians, further securing patient data.
Speaking at the launch of the new service, David Ashford MHK, Minister for Health and Social Care, said:
'The final goal is to move to a fully integrated and digital healthcare record for all. We’re not quite there yet, but this is a real move towards achieving that, as well as a substantial improvement in the speed and precision of referrals within our network of community services. I have no doubt that this new digital approach will bring tangible benefits to patients and healthcare professionals alike.'
