In this study the development needs of Electronic Nursing Discharge summaries (ENDS) mentioned by nursing professionals are classified and addressed using the FITT model ("Fit between Individuals, Task and Technology") framework.
This presentation includes action proposals with impact to growing older populations and shows how a plan for developing elderly service system was created as one part of a bigger welfare plan at one hospital district in Finland. The central part of preparing a plan was the public administration anonymous Big Data concerning ageing and functional capacity. The aim was to establish a customer-oriented plan based on the need for population service.
Papery or electrical data processing tools are used for documenting, transmitting, evaluating, recording and archiving patient data. An implementation of an electronic health record (EHR) is a complex and multi-dimensional entity. There is a need to ensure that the impact of EHR is fully evaluated. For systematic evaluation of the Hospital Information System is developed and tested a HIS-monitor (Ammenwerth et al 2007, 2011). HIS-monitor testing is one part of the evaluation study of the implementation of EHR at the Satakunta Hospital District (SHD) in Finland. With 2500 health care professionals SHD produces specialized medical care services for 226 000 residents. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of EHR on the flow of information. The study design is before and after of EHR system implementation. At the pilot phase the survey material was collected and the HIS-monitor questionnaire was tested. Results show that current data processing tools do not support enough the flow of information. Results were used in further development of HIS-monitor.
The goal of this paper is to describe some benefits and possible cost consequences of computer based access to specialised health care information. A before-after activity analysis regarding 20 diabetic patients' clinical appointments was performed in a Health Centre in Satakunta region in Finland. Cost data, an interview, time-and-motion studies, and flow charts based on modelling were applied. Access to up-to-date diagnostic information reduced redundant clinical re-appointments, repeated tests, and mail orders for missing data. Timely access to diagnostic information brought about several benefits regarding workflow, patient care, and disease management. These benefits resulted in theoretical net cost savings. The study results indicated that Regional Information Systems may be useful tools to support performance and improve efficiency. However, further studies are required in order to verify how the monetary savings would impact the performance of Health Care Units.
Interest in improving quality and effectiveness is the primary driver for health information exchange efforts across a health care system to improve the provision of public health care services.
The aim here was to describe and identify the impact of a regional health information exchange (HIE) using quantitative statistics for 2004-2008 in one hospital district in Finland.
We conducted a comparative, longitudinal 5-year follow-up study to evaluate the utilization rates of HIE, and the impact on health care delivery outcomes. The selected outcomes were total laboratory tests, radiology examinations, appointments, emergency visits, and referrals.
The HIE utilization rates increased annually in all 10 federations of municipalities, and the viewing of reference information increased steadily in each professional group over the 5-year study period. In these federations, a significant connection was found to the number of laboratory tests and radiology examinations, with a statistically significant increase in the number of viewed references and use of HIE. The higher the numbers of emergency visits and appointments, the higher the numbers of emergency referrals to specialized care, viewed references, and HIE usage among the groups of different health care professionals.
There is increasing interest in HIE usage through regional health information system among health professionals to improve health care delivery regionally and bring information on the patient directly to care delivery. It will be important to study which changes in working methods in the service system are explained by RHIS. Also, the experiences of the change that has taken place should be studied among the different stakeholders, administrative representatives, and patients.
