Digital Strategy off the starting blocks at NNUH
The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital’s (NNUH) digital strategy has been launched with a multi-million pound investment.
Green-lighted by the Trust Board, NNUH is now launching the Electronic Document Management Solution (EDMS) project which will see patients’ paper records going digital.
The records will be electronically converted and stored in a massive Trust-wide project managed by the hospital’s own Digital Health (formerly known as IT) team in partnership with Health Records, clinical and operational teams, with a view to completion within two years.
The digitisation of Paper Medical Records through EDMS allows scanned, digitised Medical Records to be made available immediately to staff without the need to store and manage paper. This releases space, time and resources whilst also having a significant impact on the quality of working lives and the ability to make informed clinical decisions.
Anthony Lundrigan, Chief Information Officer at NNUH said: “This is fantastic news for staff and patients and is a key part of our strategy to transform to digital care at NNUH. It will eventually make paper records a thing of the past, it will be easier for staff to access and read a patient’s health records, and will be a quantum leap in improving quality and reduce costs for the NHS.
“This is a very exciting first step towards paperless and we thank all staff who have contributed their feedback, involvement and help in shaping this project.”
Mark Davies, Chief Executive said: “I am delighted that we are now forging ahead with our digital strategy which is a game-changer on improving quality of care for our patients and our staff’s working lives. We owe enormous thanks to all the staff who are involved in making this project happen.”
The deployment is expected to take approximately two years with the Trust reaching a Fully Digitised state by January 2021. At this point no new medical records will be created or added to with any residual paper still being generated incorporated into the electronic document management solution record after care is completed.
The Trust is also looking at the introduction of a full Electronic Patient Record (EPR) which would replace the existing Patient Administration System and many of our standalone clinical IT systems at the Trust.
The introduction of an EPR will reduce and look to stop the amount of new paper being generated, as clinical information is captured electronically, whilst also improving the flow of information across the various care pathways. It is envisaged that the EPR and EDMS will work side by side to progressively move towards a state where no paper is generated but access is always easy and in context to the historical records.