Despite the lack of funds from the Victorian government for the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) initiative, the leaders at the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) fought for a funding approval and went through a review of enterprise content management (ECM) solutions. Hyland’s OnBase Solution was finally selected and the solution was implemented across Melbourne Health. It became the primary clinical record for completed patient activity. 

Dire need to deal with Information Technology (IT) sprawl

RMH was faced with a situation where numerous departments within the hospital were buying their own software to facilitate their respective operations and work processes. This resulted in numerous disparate systems that were unable to relay information to one another. These information silos also made accessing and sharing information difficult. Often, healthcare personnel had to hoard physical copies of medical information for fear of being unable to retrieve the information later. 

By implementing the Hyland OnBase ECM system, RMH was able to alleviate the issues arising from information sprawl. Healthcare personnel can now integrate, manage and organize electronic information obtained from the separate IT systems and databases. The ECM system enables efficient digitization and management of healthcare information into an organized system which streamlines decision-making and document workflows within the hospital. 

Enabling smoother healthcare operations

Healthcare professionals at RMH are now able to access and view a more holistic record of a patient’s information. The ECM system consolidates clinical documentation in a single location, providing clinicians with easy access to a patient’s previously scanned records as well as any coded information such as alerts and allergies from the patient administration system.

This facilitates patient care and improves the quality of care delivered. Consolidated health information is made readily available at the various touch points within a patient’s healthcare journey, ranging from clinic appointments to theatre bookings and emergency department presentations.

Another benefit of the ECM system  is that it allows clinicians to easily share any pertinent medical information to other healthcare providers, which can potentially lead to better patient outcomes. Research efforts can also be performed with greater ease as the ECM offers access to patient information to multiple researchers simultaneously while providing a repository for research documentation.

Outdated processes of clinicians moving physical copies of information from one clinic to another can now be substituted with an automated online workflow that advances documentation to the next step and keeps track of progress as each step is completed.
 
Reduction of costs and acceleration of revenue cycle

In the past, there was a need for a fully staffed night shift department in health information services to retrieve records for the ED department whenever it was needed. However, with the ECM in place, the ED staff at RMH can now simply retrieve the information electronically at their own convenience. As such, the hospital is anticipating a reduction in its clerical staff by approximately one-third.
 
With the information made readily available on the ECM’s highly secure web browser, the organization’s coding team is also able to work from home. This cuts down on travel time and increases the productivity of staff since the time saved can be redirected towards their work.  

Click here for more information on RMH’s ECM implementation and digital transformation journey.