Newcastle Hospitals has achieved an international standard for its use of electronic patient record technology to drive transformational change in all aspects of inpatient care.
The trust becomes one of only eight NHS organisations to have achieved HIMSS Stage 6 across all its sites, having been measured against the international standard for Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) by the international Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). The model is made up of seven levels (0 progressing to 7) and each must be implemented and in use to progress.
Assessors told the trust that it had ‘clearly demonstrated its commitment to improving patient safety and the overall quality of clinical care through the effective use and deployment of Electronic Medical Record technology’.
Newcastle Hospitals has also been officially accredited as a Global Digital Exemplar for fulfilling its commitments as part of the Global Digital Exemplar (GDE) programme with NHS England. Exemplars share their learning and experiences through the creation of blueprints to enable other trusts to follow in their footsteps as quickly and effectively as possible.
Some of the trust’s key digital achievements include: a patient self check-in trial; electronic complex medication management to increase patient safety through guided clinical decision support; reduced risks to patient safety as outpatient ordering is placed against a patient’s electronic record; and a patient portal, enabling patients to take ownership of their own care.
Graham King, Chief Information Officer, Newcastle Hospitals, said: “This is a huge achievement for the Trust and it is an absolute pleasure to be recognised for our leadership in digital transformation. A tremendous amount of hard work and effort has gone into achieving this across the Trust. This required collaboration across all areas of the organisation. This is richly deserved and sets an excellent platform to progress to the final level.”
Dermot Ryan, director of frontline digitisation at NHS England and NHS Improvement, said: “Newcastle Hospitals has made great strides in demonstrating how digital, data and technology can be harnessed to improve patient experience and care, and support staff to do their jobs, culminating in their GDE accreditation this month.
“Patients in Newcastle are feeling the difference on the ground, from being able to more easily access information and manage their own care through the trust’s patient portal, while the electronic patient record system is enabling better use of patient data for more effective, and safer, care.”
