NHS Highland latest board to implement patient management system
National TrakCare solution will support entire patient journey
InterSystems has announced that NHS Highland is the latest Scottish Health Board to implement its national patient management system.
The solution uses the company’s TrakCare internet-based unified healthcare information system that rapidly delivers the benefits of an electronic patient record.
NHS Highland is replacing two patient administration systems (PAS) that are approaching the end of their life and have insufficient clinical functionality for the board’s future needs. Specifically, the use of two discrete systems has inhibited Highland’s plans for a patient-centred, clinically-focused information approach to health informatics. With one patient management system across the board’s hospitals, NHS Highland will ensure that every patient’s journey is fully captured in one electronic health record (EHR). Highland’s implementation of the TrakCare-based national system includes order communications for the acute service and a bed management system.
In addition, NHS Highland has experienced challenges relating to the movement of patients across health board boundaries. Therefore, InterSystems will work with NHS Highland to review how TrakCare can best facilitate the management of patient care between boards.
Bill Reid, head of e-Health at NHS Highland, said: “The implementation of our new system will be the most significant work of this nature ever undertaken across NHS Highland. TrakCare will provide functionality and capability that has been missing from our current applications. We also think it will be flexible enough to meet NHS Highland’s current and future needs while supporting national and local strategic aims.
“It will provide us the most dedicated patient-centred system to ensure the greatest detail of the entire patient journey is available for clinicians in one record. This will support the delivery of safe, effective, timely, equitable, and efficient care to our patients,” he added.
InterSystems’ UK country manager, Jonathan Selby, added: “We are very excited that NHS Highland has joined the six other NHS health boards who are already using the national patient management system. We have developed a wealth of local knowledge and experience since the start of the programme in 2010. We will use what we have learnt about Scotland’s health informatics plans and processes to help NHS Highland best meet their unique implementation challenges within this context. The board’s challenges are characterised by a wide geography, significant investment in community care resources, and the need to share information across different health economies.”
The Scottish national patient management system helps speed and improve the effectiveness of patient care in Scotland. It achieves this by ensuring patient information is entered once and immediately accessible by authorised staff in other care settings. The solution includes hospital and mental health patient administration, order communications, results reporting, and clinical support tools. Several optional modules are available for accident and emergency, hospital electronic prescribing and medicines administration, pharmacy management, maternity, neonatal, and theatres. NHS Highland joins a successful national programme now with seven participating boards providing health care services for over 75% of the Scottish population.
