This week marks one year since the Trust transitioned to a new Electronic Patient Record (EPR) System, digiCare, becoming the first in the UK to implement MEDITECH Expanse.
The legacy EPR system, MEDITECH Magic was implemented back in 1996 and no longer met the changing digital demands of the Trust. This was a huge change for all staff and a journey that continues today.
The design, development, testing and implementation of the new system took over 2 years with a dedicated team working to ensure it met the clinical digital demands of the Trust. This involved staff and teams from all departments.
Matt Connor, Chief Digital Information Operating Officer at Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust said “It’s hard to believe we are already one year on into using MEDITECH Expanse and the significant amount of hard work that went into the transition and the work that continues within the digiCare programme. A lot has happened in the last 12 months with thanks to our talented digital team, Trust staff, MEDITECH and other partners. We recognise we are still early in our ‘Optimisation Phase’ of digiCare, with many improvements and listening events planned. Thank you to you all for your patience and continued support.”
What has been done since?
During the last 12 months further changes have been made to better improve the system for staff and patient care. Further integration with other clinical systems for demographics, referrals, scheduling, consent forms and anaesthetic charts have been implemented, improvements in patient communication tools and increased information sharing with partner organisations and more streamlined clinical documentation to support our clinical teams.
Leigh Strong, Director, International Client Support & Implementation at MEDITECH said "MEDITECH is extremely proud of all the hard work and commitment that Liverpool Women's staff have put in to make our first NHS Expanse implementation such a success. After one year of collaboration, including both challenges and successes, we look back and see what a tremendous digital change has occurred at LWH that ultimately benefits the patients of the Trust. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Liverpool Women's and working collaboratively to further optimise the system utilisation for additional staff and patient benefits. Happy One Year Anniversary of the digiCare Programme's go-live!"
What do the next 12 months look like?
As with all systems digiCare continues to grow and improve, over the next 12 months the team, working with MEDITECH will rollout new and improved features. Some of which include, laboratory result integration, outpatient prescribing, increased information sharing with partner organisations and GP referral integration. Among others these will go to further support our staff and patients across the organisation.