The prestigious HIMSS-Elsevier European award for ‘Outstanding ICT Innovation’ was presented to CUH during the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s (HIMSS) Health and Care Conference in Helsinki.
The accolade reflects the Trust’s success in joining up healthcare for patients through ground-breaking digital initiatives.
CUH has linked its Epic electronic patient record system with West Suffolk Hospital’s (and with international hospitals), meaning clinicians can easily and securely share vital clinical information to advance shared patient care. The Trust has also enabled the county’s largest primary care service, Granta Medical Practices, to access electronic records of shared patients through a portal into its EPR, and has digitally linked with neighbouring Royal Papworth Hospital to speed up lab results.
Today more than 8,000 patients have access to CUH’s patient portal, called MyChart, giving them information contained in their electronic patient record - including appointment details, clinical correspondence, test results, allergy and medication details.
This award came after CUH was officially presented with its Stage 6 revalidation accolade against the new, tougher, international standards of the Electronic Medical Records Adoption Model (EMRAM). It means that the Trust, which became the first in the UK to achieve this accreditation under the new HIMSS Stage 6 judging criteria, has established clear goals for improving safety, minimising errors, and recognising the importance of healthcare IT.
CUH was also named as a finalist in the HIMSS-Elsevier Outstanding ICT Achievement award for its significant reduction in Trust-wide sepsis mortality through clinical and technical collaboration in developing innovative sepsis alerts within its electronic patient record.
Trust Renal Consultant and Chief Clinical Information Officer, Dr Afzal Chaudhry, said: “Winning a second award, and being named as a finalist in a third, has really made this an outstanding conference for us. It is testimony to everyone’s hard work to digitally transform the Trust. We are continuing to lead the way in UK digital maturity in support of high quality care for our patients.”
Image: Dr Afzal Chaudhry receiving the HIMSS-Elsevier Award for Outstanding ICT Innovation on behalf of Cambridge University Hospitals