Canterbury and West Coast District Health Boards (DHBs) in New Zealand are set to implement a new digital patient observation and alert response system, aimed at helping clinicians identify deteriorating patients earlier. The Patientrack system will be introduced from November and is designed to make patient observations immediately visible to clinical teams anywhere through hospital information systems.
Susan Wood, director of quality and patient safety, for Canterbury and West Coast DHBs, said Patientrack uses the patient’s vital signs to calculate the Early Warning Score (EWS) and automatically sends alerts to the appropriate clinicians.
It will track more than a million patient observations, which are currently recorded on charts in 10 hospitals throughout Canterbury DHB and West Coast DHB every year.
"Replacing paper-based EWS with a broader suite of automated assessment and communication tools will reduce error rates and improve work flows, allowing clinicians to dedicate more quality time with patients, and ultimately reduce the number of adverse events," said Wood.
"Electronic capture of patient data will give our teams improved visibility of EWS, enabling more timely review and follow up of patients."
Wood said adopting the digital track and trigger system is partly in response to recommendations from the health and disability commissioner to error-proof and better adhere to clinical protocols, and also to reduce the paperwork from up to 40 different patient observation assessment forms.
The system chosen was first conceived by a New Zealand trained intensive care specialist. Since then, Patientrack, which has been developed by a UK company of the same name, has been put into practice across a wide range of NHS hospitals in collaboration with the clinicians who use the system.
"Initial configuration of the new system has started at Christchurch Hospital, and will progressively go out across all wards over the next six months," added Wood.
"Joining up with the clinical management system will also provide more reliable data to assist planning and reporting on improvements in clinical and patient workflow."
Donald Kennedy, managing director at Patientrack, said: "Patientrack has a strong record in the UK in helping doctors and nurses to respond to patients quickly and appropriately when they need it most.
"It is really positive news that 10 hospitals in New Zealand will start using Patientrack in a matter of weeks. The fact that clinical staff who use Patientrack also share ideas and innovative ways of applying the technology through a dedicated user group, means that this is also a great opportunity for international collaboration in improving patient safety."
Hospitals in the UK that have implemented electronic early warning systems have been able to reduce avoidable mortality and adverse events including cardiac arrests.
In addition to improving patient safety and improving the overall patient experience, Patientrack offers real operational and organisational benefits to New Zealand hospitals, by automating the scheduling, recording and communication of observations and EWS.
Patientrack will be implemented in New Zealand by MKM Health, a local solutions company dedicated to healthcare.
About Patientrack
Patientrack helps hospitals deliver safer care - which is also more cost-effective care - by ensuring observation and assessment protocols are carried out correctly and consistently, and by automatically calculating early warning scores and alerting clinicians when interventions are needed. Through early identification of deteriorating patients, and the promoting of necessary assessments, Patientrack helps hospitals meet national and local targets for improvements in patient safety, improving patient outcomes and supporting frontline staff, while at the same time cutting costs and reducing paper. Patientrack was developed in conjunction with health professionals and its effectiveness in delivering both patient safety and cost improvements has been proven in a peer-reviewed clinical journal.
About MKM Heath
MKM Health is an information technology solutions company dedicated to healthcare. We work with our clients to implement solutions, integrate systems, align business and technology and ultimately help deliver best outcomes for patients. We are passionate about improving patient outcomes, avoiding harm and improving efficiency and effectiveness as well as working with our clients to maximise investments. Our team is dedicated to providing advice and practical support that requires strategic insight into health technology trends. We have proven deep health domain knowledge, technical knowledge of hospital systems and health informatics, combined with our technical systems integration capabilities. We are the distributors for Patientrack in New Zealand and Australia.