5 Reasons Why IT is So Important in Healthcare



Posted: Friday, December 05, 2008

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As the NHS is investing so heavily in improving patient care by using advanced healthcare systems, how are different departments making use of it all, to provide better care for all patients?

1. Patient Administration Systems (PAS) are designed to be used all over the hospital, so that medical staff, such as those in a busy hospital department like Accident and Emergency, Operating Theatres and Outpatients can keep track of all the patients, their conditions, and the healthcare they have received. In addition, patients may move from one department to another, and their location and treatment will need to be recorded. Medication records and future treatments and tests can be scheduled and noted so that whoever is on duty will know the status of the patient, and the care and medication that is likely to be required. These systems need to be easy to use for all staff, accurate and kept up to date so that the staff can give the best treatment, and secure so that patient safety is maintained.

2. Electronic Patient Records (EPR) are taking over from paper based records, and will enable medical staff to see a patients details, no matter where the patient is. If the patient moves house, then the records will be available within a matter or minutes. Also, EPR allows records to be seen by different sorts of health care professionals, so that a dentists will know what medication their patients are on, and pharmacists can see if the patient has any allergies.

3. Picture Archiving Communication Systems (PACS) allows images to be stored electronically, and makes them available to all who need them, immediately. If a patient had an ultrasound or an X-ray taken at a different hospital, it can now be sent, and arrive, immediately thanks to PACS. Previously the image would have had to be posted or couriered. This saves a great deal of money, and also ensures that all images requested are received.

4. Maternity departments see many different patients over the term of their pregnancies, and each will have different test results and requirements and concerns. In addition, patients will be seen by different medical staff during the pregnancy, and comprehensive notes will need to be kept so that whoever is seeing the patient will know the case history. Also, there is a chance that the mother may give birth away from the hospital where she has been seen, and so her notes will need to be available to medical staff wherever her baby is born.

5. The revolutionary Choose and Book system allows patients to make their own appointments at a time and location convenient to them. This has rapidly reduced the number of patients who fail to attend appointments. If the patient needs to reschedule an appointment, then this can be done simply and effectively.

Hopefully you wont need a trip to casualty or an emergency dental appointment, but if you do, youll know that your records will be available instantly to those medical staff who need them, and that your

The next time you need medical treatment you are likely to be amazed at how big a part technology is playing in healthcare roles, ranging from dentist surgeries to intensive care units in hospitals.

System C is the leading supplier of NHS IT Systems and has over 25 years experience.  Find out how Medway Sigma is being used in hospitals and other healthcare environments at SystemC.co.uk.

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