15 August 2019
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) has recently become Ireland’s first fully digital hospital. All women interacting with CUMH for gynaecology services will have a complete electronic health record, enabling the rapid sharing of clinical information to those providing care for the over 18,000 patients who attend each year. CUMH is the first site in Ireland to extend the use of MN-CMS to include gynaecology care.
The key benefits of MN-CMS electronic health records include:
· Improved patient experience;
· Improved patient safety and care – risk reduction/avoidance;
· More efficient delivery of health services;
· Improved patient care as a result of better communication, supported decision making and effective planning of care;
· Improved medication safety by optimising and standardising medication use processes;
· More effective and efficient recording of information reflecting best standards in documentation;
· Enhanced clinical audit and research locally as a result of better quality data;
· Informed business intelligence that will drive local and national management decisions.
Professor John Higgins, Clinical Director Maternity Directorate, South/South West Hospital Group said: “The introduction of an Electronic Health Record (EHR) the Maternal and Newborn Clinical Management System (MN-CMS) has enhanced care as it allows electronically recorded clinical information to be shared easily with relevant providers of care, as and when required through the use of a technology enabled solution. This will enable better, safer healthcare as it supports improvements in care processes, monitors quality and safety of care delivery and reduces the possibility of errors.”
The CUMH Local Implementation Team includes dedicated representatives from clinical, administrative, bio-med and ICT staff and is led by the local MN-CMS Project Manager. In addition, the LIT is supported by the HSE National Project Team (NPT), National Back Office (NBO) and the Cerner team. Both the HSE and Cerner teams have leads across key areas such as change management, migration, testing, training and reporting.
The Electronic Health Record (EHR) the Maternal and Newborn Clinical Management System (MN-CMS) is operating in Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH), University Hospital Kerry (UHK), the Rotunda, and the National Maternity Hospital (NMH).