23 September 2022
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Mater Private Network (MPN) has embarked on delivering Ireland’s most ambitious and comprehensive Electronic Health Record (EHR) platform, MEDITECH Expanse. Backed by an investment of €26m, Mater Private Network will integrate MEDITECH Expanse in its Mahon-based hospital in Cork, and across its entire Irish network, including its Dublin and Cork, the Mid-Western Radiation Oncology Centre, Limerick, both Day Hospitals and clinics in counties Limerick, Offaly, Meath and Louth.
John Hurley, CEO, Mater Private Network, said “This investment of €26m demonstrates a significant level of commitment from our shareholder, Infravia, to the integration of transformational technology across the full scope of our network. The ultimate beneficiaries of our investment in digital transformation are our patients. The EHR will facilitate clinical integration across our network, enhance access and patient participation in their own care. Seamless personalised care across our network will further improve our excellent clinical outcomes and patient experience.”
Eric Neville, Chief Information Officer, Mater Private Network, outlined his vision saying “Having recently launched the Mater Private Network patient portal/app, this significant investment in the latest EHR technology is a major leap forward in our Digital Transformation and one we are all very excited about. Being a fully digital Network will be a gamechanger not only for us but for our patients and other healthcare institutions with which we collaborate”.
Lead clinician on the project, Dr. Róisín Ní Muirceartaigh, Consultant Anaesthesiologist and Chief Medical Information Officer, said “Every step in the transfer or communication of medical and healthcare information is a significant contributor to clinical efficiency. EHR is about introducing a single, unified patient record which will encompass the entirety of the patient’s journey with us. It also ensures any information brought in from other institutions has a single, safe, easy to find, digital location in the patient’s new e-Chart, quickly and easily accessed by every professional involved in their care.”
Working with their chosen provider MEDITECH, a large multidisciplinary team drawn from across the Mater Private Network will collaborate to deliver Meditech Expanse across its entire hospital network by 2024.
The scale of the investment demonstrates MPNs’ commitment to cultivating a sustainable digital connection with its patients and ambition to lead digital transformation in the Irish Healthcare market, which will improve both data accessibility and, through that, will optimise patient care.