Medical Informatics Patient Administration System

Belfast City Hospital Overview 800 Beds 4,500 Staff Attendance 52, 200 A&E attendances 26,554 Inpatient admissions 208, 285 Outpatients

Patient Administration System Northern Ireland Radiology System Northern Ireland A&E System Belfast Link Laboratories Clinical Oncology Information System Genetics Patient Discharge System Decision Support System Internet/Intranet Computer Systems

Patient Administration System Issues for staff: –Order entry –Inpatient, outpatient, emergency & waiting list management –Benefits & Limitations –Health promotion Security & confidentiality issues Future developments

Order Entry Record administrative details of all patients: Name/address, next of kin, GP details etc. Further details: Ethnic origin, place of birth, school Case notes: All case notes past & present Episodes: All inpatient & outpatient episodes Coded details: location, investigations, procedures, status

Inpatient Management Patient data inputted by administrative & nursing staff directly for: admissions, discharges, & transfers Tracked throughout hospital stay: Incorporates enquiry function Easy location of patients for relatives, GP, other professions Bed management

Outpatient Management Outpatient appointments: –Bookings –Cancellations –Transfers –Changes Safe guards to prevent double booking appointments Monitor patient movement from department to department

Emergency Management Data inputted efficiently and timely At-a-glance patient summary details Waiting List Management PrioritisationMonitored UpdatedAudited

Health Promotion Organise a range of health promotion activities Features: –Maintenance of list of patients –Scheduling appointments –Screening

Summary of Benefits More time with patients Easy access to patient information Up-to-date information Decrease in daily manual records Increased computer awareness Facilitate viewing laboratory & radiology reports at ward level

Drawbacks Human error Medical records not clear Administrative staff not medically qualified –Misunderstand medical information

Security & Confidentiality All systems registered to comply with Data Protection Act 1998 Equipment situated in safe & secure areas Password made up of 3 components: –username, password, user identification Processed for limited purposes Coded data entry

Future developments Future new systems: –Order communications system –Nursing system Statistical data: –central authorities –management information systems –clinical databases