By Open Medical.
There are a few fundamentals for effective clinical processes, and an electronic patient record (EPR) is one of them. But what do EPRs actually bring to the table, and is it enough?
Conversation with Mr Krisztian Deierl, consultant orthopaedic surgeon and orthopaedic trauma lead at West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (WHTH), provides valuable insights. With extensive experience spanning different clinical settings, including Hungary and Germany, Mr. Deierl is well-versed in the digital tools that have become integral to modern healthcare, stating, “They are designed for different reasons, and you get different benefits from each.”
Don’t compare apples with oranges
So, what’s the primary role of EPRs? Krisztian explains, “If I need a database, I can use the EPR to access a comprehensive clinical history and investigation results.” Essentially, the EPR serves as a necessary digital repository for patient information. However, as Krisztian emphasises, it doesn’t facilitate the generation of workflow efficiency.
To illustrate this concept, Krisztian offers an analogy involving ordering food online. You have a menu, and you look through the menu to select your food. You then need a way to place your order and track its progress—from when it’s received to being prepared, when it’s with the delivery driver, and the estimated arrival time.
This creates a clear distinction: there’s a solution for the menu (the EPR) and a separate one for providing the flow of food through a timeline to your home. You have a seamless experience as a user because the distinct solutions are integrated. You may change the menu, but the flow stays the same. Likewise, you can use a different solution to manage the food order without changing the menu.
So what’s the problem?
Imagine handling the huge influx of patients in an entire department with paper. There are several challenges with this approach, including “limited information, illegible handwriting, and untraceability,” Krisztian says. It would lead to gaps in critical information about the referred patient, making it impossible to make safe decisions; therefore, these “untraceable referrals” were rejected.
And as with any other healthcare facility relying on paper, WHTH’s T&O department was faced with these workflow challenges. Krisztian was determined to change this, and his vision was clear: create a safe patient care environment and empower clinicians to be the best clinicians they can be.
EPRs are not always the answer
The solution was found in PathpointR eTrauma, a robust platform that enabled effective clinical processes with genuine efficiency and transparency, or, as Krisztian describes it, “full control of their workflow.”
eTrauma’s effectiveness stems from its specialty-specific design and its intricate customisation to the specific requirements of the T&O department. It addressed each and every challenge with tailored functionality, smart automation, and an intuitive interface. Notably, it streamlined patient triage with a dynamic and detailed worklist for patient prioritisation. As Krisztian highlighted, eTrauma enabled “the right care, for the right patient, at the right place and time.”
