Business Intelligence
From pilotitis and digital dinosaurs to fully-actioned digital strategies, the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the adoption of digital in the UK.
While the Authority reintroduces services, private hospitals that have been assisting in treating patients are being phased out of the programme. However, more isolation facilities are still being launched.
As a result of COVID-19, the UK has turned decisively to the tech sector to provide them with health solutions. But some places were more prepared than others. In the recent techUK webinar, ‘COVID-19: How Yorkshire’s health tech cluster is responding’, local experts discussed how the already strong integration of digital health tools benefited the ease and speed of the region’s pandemic response.
A new tool from Draper & Dash exploits global, national and local data to help hospitals to plan more effectively for their own COVID-19 peaks – and prepare for the long-term impact of the pandemic.
Sunderland Royal Hospital was recently awarded Stage 6 on the EMRAM by HIMSS. The general medical and surgical hospital is part of South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, a recognised Global Digital Exemplar (GDE), and has over 54,000 inpatient stays per year.
The Trust has significant buy-in from senior hospital staff and management supporting the hospital’s digital development. During the assessment, it was noted that staff were comfortable and competent managing the software and responded positively to its implementation.
WHY IT MATTERS
EMRAM, or the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model, measures the adoption and maturity of a health facility’s EMR capabilities from 0 to 7. It was devised by HIMSS, the owner of Healthcare IT News.
John Rayner, the regional director for EMEA at HIMSS Analytics Solutions, commended Sunderland Royal: “The hospital is virtually paperless, and what little paper there is gets scanned into the electronic patient record in a timely manner. The organisation has really embraced the power of technology into clinical processes and nursing workflows to an extent where all clinicians are now totally reliant on electronic systems.”
The paper usage at the hospital is limited to very particular services, such as consent forms, theatre tray tracking forms and anaesthetic and ICU observation charts.
The hospital was also praised for its centralised LIMS and their plans to store most, if not all, their clinical images in the same store.
THE LARGER PICTURE
The GDE programme was set up in 2016 to recognise, promote and support digital adoption and innovation in NHS trusts. In December 2019, following the launch of NHSX, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced a new ‘digital aspirant’ scheme to aid digital advancement in English hospitals.
ON THE RECORD
Director of information management and technology at Sunderland Royal Hospital, Andrew Hart, described the efforts of the hospital: “Core to this success has been our deployment approach, ensuring IT programmes are always clinically led, with clear ownership and accountability. In parallel, our clinical colleagues are supported extensively by the IT team and our EPR supplier, MEDITECH.”
“I am delighted to see the work the Trust has done in partnership with MEDITECH recognised by this independent accreditation,” said Kevin Joisce, associate medical director for health informatics at Sunderland Royal Hospital. “As a clinician I have no doubt the use of the EMR enhances the care I deliver. The access to information, embedded decision support tools and interoperability with other partner organisations reduces risk and improves patient outcomes. The clinical governance of the Trust is built upon the foundations of the EMR.’’
The map identifies populations likely to experience severe outcomes once infected – and the socioeconomic drivers for such a risk, helping providers allocate resources.
The partnership is designed to deliver real-time awareness for better outcomes and significant cost savings while making care more human with the power of AI, the organizations say.
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