ExtraMed are pleased to announce the successful "witness testing" of ExtraMed's integration with the Connnecting for Health ITK for 2 way information exchange of Admissions, Discharges and Transfers.
Patients were admitted to the iPM Patient Administration System and clinical activity recorded by ward staff on the ExtraMed Electronic Ward Whiteboards and Bed Management screens. Patient movements on the ExtraMed system were automatically recorded in the PAS in real time.
The witness testing was completed on the 15th April in CfH offices in Leeds with Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust acting as user witness. ExtraMed, CSC and CfH staff worked closely on the project to ensure effective delivery in very tight timescales.
Nick Picowicz IT Project Manager at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said “Two way integration between ExtraMed’s ward whiteboard capability and our PAS will ensure that all our clinical activities are properly captured in the PAS. I can see how this will have big benefits for the hospital, improving the effectiveness of the IT systems we have.”
Andy McKee Operations Director at ExtraMed said; "The ITK provides a tighter specification of HL7 messages and a standard reference implementation of those messages. As a supplier to the NHS we can use this to drive down costs by no longer having to rework integration at every site. Customers get the benefit of shorter timescales, lower costs and can share lessons learned by each trust.
This means that trusts have available a standard technology for integrating with compliant suppliers and suppliers can code against one set of standards. Both trusts and suppliers can ensure that lessons can be learned from each implementation and captured into best practice, instead of continually having to reinvent the wheel.
Ultimately this is all about improving patient care - ensuring that clinicians and managers have the correct information in their hands when making decisions can only improve patient care and make the health service more efficient and effective."