Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) has become the first healthcare trust in the UK to achieve the highest international quality standard that recognises the use of technology, data and analytics to support inpatient care.
The Trust, which runs Addenbrooke’s and The Rosie hospitals, has reached ‘Stage 7’ – the highest rating of the HIMSS Analytics international Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM).
HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) is an international organisation that helps hospitals use technology to improve patient safety, care quality, cost-effectiveness and access to services.
A rigorous assessment was hosted virtually earlier this month. HMSS inspectors observed clinical staff using the Trust’s Epic electronic patient record system, electronic data and analytics, to demonstrate how digital use is embedded within clinical practice for patient care.
Areas inspected included wards, the emergency department, critical care and anaesthetics, paediatrics, pharmacy, transfusion, radiology, cardiology, laboratories, clinical coding and medical records.
Other areas of patient safety were demonstrated to inspectors including medication administration, specimen collection, administration of communally stored human milk, and blood transfusion.
CUH consultant nephrologist and director of digital, Dr Afzal Chaudhry, said:
A tremendous amount of work has taken place over the six years since we implemented our Trust-wide Epic electronic patient record system. “In 2014 we successfully moved away from using paper patient records and introduced fully digital ways of documenting patient care and accessing clinical information. Today over 99 per cent of all of our clinical activity is recorded within patients’ electronic health record within Epic. “We are absolutely delighted to be formally recognised as a Stage 7 trust - an accolade currently held by only six other European healthcare institutions
Dr Afzal Chaudhry - CUH consultant nephrologist and director of digital
CUH executive director of improvement and transformation, Dr Ewen Cameron, added: “This is a truly fantastic achievement. My thanks and congratulations goes to our hard-working staff and to our in-house digital team and IT partners for their behind-the-scenes support.”
“We are continuing to harness digital technologies to further optimise patient care, safety and effectiveness of our services.”