Current eMR Applications
Current Electronic Medical Record (eMR) Applications supported by the Clinical Application Support Unit (CASU) include:
The following applications (except the Inpatient Summary) are Cerner systems. The Children's Hospital at Westmead is a Gold member site of the Cerner Corporation, who has more than 25 years' experience in health informatics and provides more than 30 applications to enhance clinical effectiveness and managerial efficiency in health care environments in Australia. Cerner is the leading provider of health care information technology solutions designed to fundamentally transform care delivery. (Cerner website).
PowerChart
The Electronic Medical Record (eMR) is a system that provides clinical information for patient care and treatment via a computer. PowerChart is the computer application used at The Children's Hospital at Westmead (CHW) to access electronically stored medical records of all inpatients.
PowerChart is the core information system that captures information generated by the clinician to document the care process from admission to discharge. Current medical record data available includes access to patient demographic information, visit history, laboratory and radiology results, allied health referrals, discharge summaries and outpatient letters, echo reports, growth chart data and emergency visit summaries.
Each patient's medical record is instantly available online, and various displays regarding the patient's status are placed at the care giver's fingertips. At the same time, the confidentiality of the patient is protected by security safeguards.
PowerChart has rules, prompts and alerts to provide decision support and avoid ordering errors. It will be linked to information sources that are evidence-based to provide a powerful clinical decision support tool. It is an automated solution to the needs of clinicians at the Children's Hospital for accurate and timely clinical data.
PathNet (Classic)
PathNet is the pathology laboratory system used at CHW and is linked with PowerChart and Patient Management. Orders are entered electronically by the clinicians into PowerChart and an electronic message is sent to Pathnet. When the laboratory completes the test, the results are then available through PowerChart for clinician's to view. Updated patient demographics are sent to Pathnet from Patient Management ensuring all systems are synchronised with the most current information.
Patient Management
The Patient Management system was implemented in May 2004 and replaced the outdated patient administration system, HOSPAS. Patient Management is integrated with PowerChart, Scheduling and the Medical Records applications (Coding and Tracking).
Patient Management is used for admission, waitlist, discharge and bed management functions. Information collected on all our patients is based on standards of identification developed by the NSW Department of Health. The system has been customised at CHW to reflect the business processes and rules which guide valid data entry.
The Bedboard provides a visual display of patients and beds. Its purpose is to enable wards to maintain an on-line census by updating patient transfers and discharges on the system and replace the manual procedures.
Scheduling
Scheduling is the component of the eMR system used at CHW to assist with attendance details and the coordination of clinical service appointments for outpatients.
Scheduling is the core system within the hospital that captures information required to successfully book an appointment for a patient. It is the primary means for managing all aspects of Outpatient clinic appointments and is increasingly becoming important in the coordination of events for patients admitted to the hospital (inpatients) e.g. for medical imaging diagnostic testing.
Scheduling has strong links with both PowerChart and Patient Management with views of proposed patient schedules, clinical service orders, previous patient visits and demographics shared between each. Scheduling information also supports the requirements for financial, medical document imaging and NSW Health reporting systems.
Each patient's schedule is instantly available online, and various displays regarding the patient's status are placed at the care giver's fingertips. At the same time, the confidentiality of the patient is protected by security safeguards.
Scheduling has rules, prompts and alerts to provide decision support and prevents conflicting appointments. It is an automated system that addresses the needs of clinicians and other staff at CHW enabling them to improve the experience for patients and their families.
Profile
The coding and tracking systems are also Cerner modules and hence share the one patient demographic repository. As inpatients are discharged, both their electronic medical record and administration information can be accessed through the coding application to complete mandatory information both for patient care and NSW Health requirements.
Medical records may take the form of the traditional paper-based record, or electronic record, or a combination of both. The tracking system records the type and quantity of each record for each patient.
Inpatient Summary
The Inpatient Summary (Discharge Summary) is a system which produces a document at the completion of an inpatient stay by the Attending Doctor and is then viewable in PowerChart. It's purpose is to highlight to the patient's general practitioner and paediatrician, the purpose for the admission, results of tests and follow-up care recommended. Information on the Inpatient Summary may include: allergy information; immunisation details; principal diagnosis, other diagnoses; medical history; examinations; investigations, medications; and follow-up recommendations.
This document was updated on Wednesday, 30 August 2006.
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