When Epworth Hospital management saw the need for another acute surgical and medical care facility in Melbourne's east, it set its aims high, planning for the most technologically advanced hospital in Australia.
To realise its vision, it enlisted NEC Business Solutions. The result is Epworth Eastern, a facility giving staff access to clinical information, significant administrative efficiencies and improved patient care.
"At Epworth Eastern, we sought to operate more efficiently and seamlessly," said executive director, Dr Peter Hughes. "We wanted to have information more readily available to support our clinical decision making in all interventional areas and on the wards. We also sought to minimise waste and enhance both the accuracy of our information and the safety of our patients.
"We suspected that technology could assist us to deliver those aspirations.
"When I looked at what I hoped to achieve out here, I realised that internally we didn't have the capacity or skill base to deliver what was needed, or to manage it on an ongoing basis," said Hughes.
Epworth scanned the IT industry for vendors with the capacity, knowledge and global reach that could assist them to deliver the solutions they required and to subsequently maintain and support them into the future.
"I asked NEC Business Solutions whether they could manage this and they indicated that they could. They put a plan and the resources in place to convince not only me but our executive and board that NEC were the vendor who could best assist us."
In addition to the solutions NEC could develop and supply themselves, it became clear that skills and products from more than 40 other vendors were required.
In order to ensure that technical requirements were met at competitive cost, Epworth and NEC partner Data Agility managed the procurement process for these vendors, inviting tenders, short listing, interviewing and eventually selecting successful partners.
NEC's national manager, Community and Health, Dr Andrew Howard says the process allowed Epworth to compare NEC's capabilities with other vendors.
"While a significant portion of Epworth Eastern's technology is made up of NEC solutions, a high level of transparency was maintained to ensure Epworth management were confident they were receiving value for money," said Howard.
Over six months all components were chosen, deployed, integrated and tested. In total, the technology within Epworth Eastern performs almost 20 distinct applications, all geared towards providing specific benefits desired by Epworth.
Epworth Eastern's patient management system is integrated with all other information management systems, leading to a range of improvements in patient care and safety.
The wireless environment at Epworth Eastern greatly increases the ability of staff to access and update information. Patient records feature complete histories and results and theatre lists are all accessible via an easy-to-use web portal.
Hughes says staff now have better systems through which to track information. In addition to the integration of patient information management systems, staff systems such as rostering and payroll have also been integrated.
"The integration of information management systems leads to real administrative efficiency gains," said Hughes.
Also, the voice and data network infrastructure is converged, meaning that maintenance is only required on one network, not two.
"Widespread geographic access to information such as radiology results and pathology tests, which can include digital images, enhance our clinical decision-making ability and the safety of our patients.
"Most significantly, it has been integrated into ePrescribe, an electronic medications management application. Solving legibility problems associated with handwritten prescriptions is one of its benefits.
"Medications are automatically checked against known patient conditions or other medicines that might make it incompatible or dangerous," said Hughes.
For Hughes, using ePrescribe to lower the hospital's cost base is also highly beneficial.
Patient care and safety is also enhanced in other ways. "Live patient data is also available on laptops connected via wireless LAN in the wards and on plasma displays in digital operating theatres. Our nurse call messaging and telephony systems are also integrated.
There have already been a number of significant benefits brought to light since Epworth Eastern opened its doors. And as staff and patients settle into the new systems, Dr Hughes expects the benefits to continue to build.
