The Georgia Scroll
October 1998
MEETING THE COMPETITIVE CHALLENGE-SHARING INFORMATION THROUGHOUT YOUR ENTERPRISE
By Wiley Sloan
No matter where care is delivered it is important that every Caregiver has access to complete information on every patient. Whether the patient is treated in an outpatient operating suite, the hospital emergency department, the Physician’s office, or even in the patient’s home, it is imperative that the Caregiver has access to the latest clinical information and that treatment is documented to be available when needed. How can this be accomplished? An oversimplification is to say that your institution will need an enterprise-wide computer network that enables the transmission and retrieval of information along with the proper data warehouse to store the data. The use of a Web browser will facilitate use of the system by giving it a common look and feel.
Building such a network will not be accomplished overnight. Careful planning and implementation to coordinate the sharing of information will be required. Many of today’s enterprises have grown to their present size by merging competing facilities that do not have the same information technology. This lack of commonality adds a layer of complexity to developing the network. In such an environment it is necessary to develop the networking infrastructure that will seamlessly pull together all of the business units. Although this may be a challenge, it is more cost effective and will require less time than trying to convert all of the entities to one common information system. Once the network is in place, the proper software is required to organize the data and turn it into information. How can this be done?
Creating such a network will require a combination of technologies. Most facilities will need to forge a partnership with one or more key vendors who have expertise in gathering and sharing data from disparate systems. Compare it to building a new house. You hire a contractor who then is responsible for bringing in the subs who are specialists in their specific areas-framing, plumbing, sheet rock. Building your network and the required software to support it is no different. Not only is the proper network infrastructure important, but where is the information going to be stored once it is gathered? How will you link the information to the right patient? What if your entities had no common medical record numbering scheme? How do you limit access to this information to only the persons who truly have a need to know? These and many other problems are items that you must address as you develop your information strategy.
Whether you use a campus-wide intranet between your facilities, a WAN (wide-area network) or a MAN (metropolitan-area network), or allow remote clinicians/physicians to connect through the use of ISDN lines, your goal is to provide access to the clinical information. The enterprise-wide master people index identifies each patient. With this identification Caregivers then have immediate access to information from multiple sources. Without the network, gaining access to this same information may have required one to go to a number of different information sources. For example, the network can provide access to radiology images or lab results. Before the consolidated network, this information may not have been available for 12 to 24 hours awaiting a courier to deliver the printed reports to the appropriate location.
Once your infrastructure is in place the Clinical Staff will have the medical record at their fingertips to allow for continuity of care. They will have solid background information on their patients to improve their knowledge base for making clinical decisions and can begin the appropriate treatment sooner, thereby hopefully shortening the treatment time. Being able to see that the patient was in the emergency room the previous evening and determining the care that was given or the medications that the patient is currently on is vitally important. Unnecessary testing is reduced or eliminated, gathering of duplicate data is eliminated; caregivers have more time to complete their workload We all know that a shortened length of stay and reduced utilization of resources is paramount in today’s managed care environment.
With the availability to the Internet, caregivers can now have access to the multitude of databases that are available for researching unknown treatment protocols, new medications, etc. Information sources such as the First Data Bank, A.D.A.M. software or Reuters Daily News, or the National Health Council provide valuable information to improve the treatment of the patient.
Within the last couple of years many enterprises have grown into the home care business. Typically home care operations require specialized information technology. Without the proper planning, these special needs may preclude them from participating in your enterprise-wide information. While somewhat complex, bridging the gap to support the home care entity is doable and the benefits are worth the effort. Not only do you improve the efficiency of that division but you also gain valuable clinical information that you will need as you use your data repository to study treatment patterns and develop more efficient operations. Through the use of laptops the home care giver has access to all previous information and has the ability to document quickly and easily the patient’s condition and the treatment that they are delivering. This information can then be shared throughout the enterprise. If the patient’s condition should change and treatment at the Emergency Room or the hospital be required, up to date information would then be available via the clinical data repository.
Don’t be overwhelmed by the complexity of data-sharing requirements. Layout your needs, segment these needs into bite-sized pieces. If any of you enjoy the challenge of putting together a jigsaw puzzle, building an enterprise-wide network is no different. Organize the pieces one at a time and before long you will have the infrastructure in place that will provide the sharing of data that is required to gain the competitive edge in today’s complex medical environment.
Wiley Sloan is an Account Executive with SMS. He has been an active member of the Ga. Chapter for the past 15 years.
Last modified: June 22, 2001