Clinical decisions based on incomplete or out of date patient information can have serious consequences. Healthcare professionals need access to accurate and relevant patient records so they can prevent errors and adverse patient outcomes. A growing number of care enterprises are tackling this challenge by creating a central access point to patient information. At the heart of this strategy is the cloud, which allows reliable access to a multitude of sources for everyone involved in a patient’s care. It also frees IT space for clinical care and provides the opportunity to protect patient data previously stored on premise.
Of course, such information only really becomes a definitive resource when the contribution of every healthcare professional involved in a patient’s journey – from the emergency doctor or GP who gets the ball rolling, through to the specialists, and everyone else involved in the subsequent recovery plan or ongoing treatment — can be captured and made accessible to others.
An ongoing challenge is capturing the more than 75% of patient information that is unstructured such as, consult notes, faxed and scanned images, ECGs and more, that do not fit neatly in a structured database. This requires a robust cloud content services platform that enables storage, automation of business processes and interoperability between what can be many disparate systems in a healthcare organisation.
“Prepare For the Next Business Stress Test,” a report by Forester Consulting, found growing evidence that this approach is being embraced by senior decisionmakers. When asked about their future content plans, over half of respondents said they would be increasing their investment in cloud-based content platforms. That means, over the next few years, we are likely to see a sharp decline in the use of on-premises content deployments.
The Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, the biggest provider of specialised services in North West England, is just one of those making the move. They recently announced the move to consolidate over 750 electronic and paper record systems across its hospital sites and managed clinical services, as part of its wider digital transformation strategy. This involved bringing together Hyland’s OnBase content services platform, PACSgear image capture and a new electronic medical record, powered by Epic, to create a seamlessly integrated cloud-based source of patient information.
Creating a truly patient-centric system
An integrated platform is of considerable benefit to everyone involved in improving the patient journey, as it allows information to flow unhindered to where it is needed.
From a patient perspective, having details stored in the cloud means no more having to repeat information previously given, because it’s captured and available to those who need it. So, once a patient is booked in, they should only need to provide new information, because everything else up to that point would have been automatically indexed and added to their personal record.
A cloud-based, patient-centric, system also means that patients will be able to complete their registration and consent requirements and see both their latest test results and medical images at any time through a cloud-based patient portal. The simple efficiency of removing long waits in waiting rooms, time on the phone to obtain test results and drives to pick up medical images to share with other providers could potentially deliver significant time and cost savings for the healthcare provider, as well as the patient.
Better outcomes and greater efficiency
For healthcare professionals, having a single point of access to all sources of patient information, through a cloud-based repository of patient knowledge, improves insight for decision making, enabling better patient outcomes and improved clinical productivity. Importantly, by embracing a content services strategy that addresses the growing challenge of unstructured clinical content — the handwritten consult notes, faxes, photographs, scans or other pieces of data, staff are empowered to make evidence-based patient care decisions.
And since the information is stored within the cloud, clinicians aren’t tied to a specific location. They don’t need to be at the patient’s bedside or go to a particular department, being the only place from where they can access its picture archiving and communication system.
In other words, not only does it enable ‘any time, any place’ working, but it also reassures those involved in the care management process that the information available is the real-time truth.
Look up to the cloud
Given the growing need to expand clinical care capacity and secure patient data from disaster, deciding when (and it is when and not whether) to migrate on-premise IT systems fully to the cloud is not a choice that can be postponed indefinitely. In fact, it’s now a priority.
So, while using cloud-hosted platforms and software solutions may once have been about improving back-office efficiency or achieving compliance, or even preparing for another lockdown, it is now actually a strategic imperative for any healthcare organisation looking to deliver the very best care management possible.
Alexander Ryan is the Healthcare Alliances and Net New Sales manager for EMEA with Hyland Healthcare. www.hyland.com