SystmOne Helping Patients Get Well Sooner
SystmOne is saving time, money and potentially lives after being installed in one of the busiest areas at Hull Royal Infirmary.
The Accident and Emergency (A&E) department sees an average of 340 patients in any 24 hour period, with up to 440 needing attention during peak times. When a patient arrives at A&E, hospital staff often have little if any information about their medical history. If this patient arrives outside of normal GP working hours or if they’re unconscious, making an accurate diagnosis becomes even more difficult due to the lack of available information.
SystmOne allows A&E clinicians to view a patient’s health record in order to make better informed decisions and an accurate diagnosis.
Dr Mark Simpson, A&E consultant at the hospital says the new system has been beneficial for both patients and clinicians: “The system has only been up and running for six weeks, but already we are finding it extremely useful. Some patients arrive at A&E in a distressed state and are not always able to tell us about their medical history. Being able to find out, for example, what medication a patient is taking or any allergies they may have, means that we can then give them the most appropriate care possible without delay. Permission to view patients’ records is always sought beforehand, but we’re finding that when they are in need of urgent medical attention, people actually welcome the fact that we have the right information at our fingertips and are able to just get on with their treatment.”
The system has also been helping to cut costs too, and with the average cost of an overnight admission to Hull Royal Infirmary coming in at approximately £1,650, this is an added benefit which local health managers are welcoming.
Steve Scully, Project Manager for Hull Teaching Primary Care Trust says: “SystmOne has meant that, in some cases, patients have not had to be admitted to hospital for overnight observation, as the doctors already know about any existing conditions which may affect their treatment and recovery.
“Over the course of a year, the PCT spends thousands of pounds admitting patients for observation. Every time access to information held on SystmOne prevents this happening it means that the PCT has more money to fund other essential services.”
So far, it has cost the PCT just £500 to link up all the relevant computer systems in order to share information and, in terms of patient care, Dr Simpson goes on to say its value could be priceless: “I expect the time will come when a patient’s life is saved due to the additional, invaluable information gained, and time saved, by being able to view a full health record at the time of admission to A&E.”
Thank you to Hull Teaching Primary Care Trust for supplying this article.
