The Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias (HUCA) presented their success story on healthcare information system integration at the Cerner Collaboration Forum in London. This event is a meeting point where professionals from internationally renowned hospitals come together every year. Dr. Iván Rancaño, clinical lead for information technology at HUCA, and Dr. Luis Martínez Escotet, head of the Specialised Care department for the electronic health record project in Asturias, described the benefits of the full integration of information systems in primary care and specialised care in the healthcare network, regardless of the health record used.
Asturias healthcare has implemented an integrated electronic health record that is interoperable from all the healthcare devices in primary care and the hospital network. This EHR offers patients a safer, more efficient and higher quality care.
Asturias currently has a network of 11 public hospitals, 84 primary care centres and 135 practices, all computerised, with a total of 1784 clinical users and 351 administrative users. The high level of implementation of the Cerner Millennium® EHR at HUCA, a reference hospital in Asturias, has allowed it to obtain international recognition with Stage 6 of the HIMSS EMRAM scale, which is the highest score that can be obtained in the first evaluation. This certifies the healthcare centre as a paperless hospital. A hospital that has close to 2 million clinical orders, 1.5 million chart queries, half a million pharmacy prescriptions and 336,000 lab requests per month.
The other 10 public hospitals in Asturias have the Cerner Selene health record as their main information system. The entire healthcare network is connected through the Selene HUP platform (summarised health record), a web application that displays the patient's health record at any time and from any healthcare centre.
During their presentation Dr. Rancaño and Dr. Escotet summarised the multiple benefits of a healthcare environment where information flows without barriers:
- The Health Service has increased the quality of the patients' health by significantly reducing prescription errors, in some cases by almost 60%. It is estimated that these errors are the cause of 3.7% of hospital admissions.
- With the Cerner Millennium® single requisition manager, the reference site's Biochemistry laboratory has avoided 4% of duplicate lab orders, allowing to save almost 200,000 tests in one year.
- Technological efficiency has also increased. For example, with Cerner Millennium the number of information systems in HUCA has gone from 300 to barely 15.
- This integrated environment has made possible different Telemedicine experiences and brought benefits such as a 60% reduction in the waiting list for non-invasive retinography just in its first year of implementation.
- In addition, efficiency and comfort for the patient have increased by avoiding unnecessary trips.
This large technology deployment makes it possible, for example, for a patient to have a test done at their primary care centre and the specialist to then be notified automatically at the hospital, resulting in time savings for the system and the user. It also allows for A&E services to have access to the primary care electronic health record of a person who needs to be treated, including their latest imaging tests or lab test results. And on the other hand, it allows the primary care clinician to instantly know about a patient's health problem that has been treated at a hospital over the weekend.
Cerner's solutions contribute to the development of the strategy of the Principality of Asturias Regional Health Service, based on a strong investment in new technology. Their goal is to share, through and between the different levels of care, all the relevant information for an optimal provision of care.
Amongst the future developments of the Asturias Regional Health Service are the expansion of the project with the deployment of the e-prescription to hospitals, the full integration of the electronic health record in the Spanish and European projects, and the development of new telemedicine projects, such as telediagnosis or the monitoring of chronic patients at their home.
About HUCA
The Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias is the reference site for public healthcare in Asturias, as well as a district centre, a university hospital linked to the University of Oviedo for undergraduate and postgraduate education, and the headquarters of the National Institute of Silicosis and the Institute for Health Research of the Principality of Asturias. It falls under the Principality of Asturias Health Service and is equipped with modern and functional facilities, being one of the most technologically advanced hospitals that exist today.
About Cerner
Cerner's technology solutions connect people, information and systems in approximately 18,000 centres around the world. Recognised by their innovation, they help in making and documenting clinical decisions, and also allow healthcare organisations to manage the health of the population they serve. Cerner provides its clients with a wide range of in-house services, as well as a fully integrated clinical and financial system to allow the optimal management of the operational procedures, quality and healthcare outcomes.
Cerner's mission is to contribute to the systemic improvement of health care delivery and the health of communities
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