Electronic data management (EDM). The Trust is seeking to implement an electronic system to manage more than half a million case notes housed both on and off site and via storage on a 3rd party data warehouse. Currently the sheer storage demands of this quantity of paper-based case notes and the level of security and management involved, is substantial. The retrieval and management of notes, at times, can be difficult to maintain to a level that ensures they were with the right clinician and in the right department at the right time.

To tackle the problem and kick-start a move to the potential of the acquisition of a more efficient, electronic patient records strategy, the Trust has taken the decision to invest in a specialist EDRM solution, involving the establishment of a high-end scanning operation on its own premises. It is the expectation that the facility, jointly set up with an EDRM system integrator in partnership with the Trust but managed by Trust staff will enable the scanning of case notes required for clinic appointments, as well as the case notes for all new patients.

With the support and advice of the selected partner, the Trust propose the implementation of an electronic document and records management system (EDRMS) based on a records management tool and utilising the Trust’s systems integration engine, integrated with the hospital’s patient administration system (PAS) and clinical management systems (CMS), with a customised portal for access.

As patients are identified for out patient referral, existing physical records, newly received paper referrals etcetera will be scanned locally to populate the electronic case note. The proposed scanning solution will include an intelligent indexing to ensure the human interpretation of where forms should be filed is reduced, and provide a consistent filing approach. The electronic case note will be displayed with tabbed dividers, just as the current physical records folder to speed adoption by clinical and clerical staff.

Once a patient has been admitted to the hospital or seen within out-patients, the proposed system must provide a facility for the completion of forms electronically to enable records to be maintained and extract other data from hospital systems as appropriate.

For the creation of these forms and as part of this procurement, a software solution will be sought that will provide a solution to enable the conversion of these forms and many others from a paper base to an electronic format.

The final part of the proposed solution will be a system (and a provider) that, at the appropriate time, will securely destroy existing paper records.

Over time, it is the Trust’s expectation that the EDRM solution will also be rolled out to a level that will include the records management of corporate all functions i.e. HR records, Finance records, etc.