| case study

Kettering general hospital advance with ambitious digital transformation plan

Overview

As part of its ambitious ten-year digital strategy, Kettering General Hospital has undertaken a major records digitisation project with lead partner, System C, working in collaboration with Mizaic and Swiss Post Solutions (SPS).

3 key highlights:

Smooth integration of combined solutions for instant access to scanned medical records, via an electronic patient record system, safely and securely.
Cash-releasing, space-saving, and operational efficiencies achieved.
Kettering is set to completely clear its medical records library — a big milestone for any Trust.

Challenge

Digitising patient records was driven by three key factors:

Digital strategy

The project is part of the Trust’s ambitious ten-year digital transformation plan, with the ambition to be the ‘Most Digital Hospital Group in England,’ and deliver its high-quality specialist care more efficiently. The strategy follows the formation of a Group Hospital Model between two main sites — Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust — announced in 2020, alongside a number of services provided elsewhere.

Combined solutions

The scanning of medical records needed to be implemented to work seamlessly with the hospital’s Careflow electronic patient records (EPR) platform. System C chose Mizaic as its preferred partner, as the MediViewer™ electronic document management system (EDMS) integrates seamlessly with its EPR platform.

Demonstrating the business case for scanning

Mizaic presented the business case for scanning medical records. One of the primary benefits of the digitisation of records was that the Trust was leasing a large space — a former call centre — and using it as its medical records library. This was costing around £250,000 a year to rent, so not having to use this site would lead to significant cost savings.

It was also not uncommon for patients to be sent to one of the outlying health services, only to find their information could not be accessed from that location unless the records were brought via taxi. The Trust wanted the ability to easily access patient records from anywhere — safely and securely — for the ultimate in appointment quality, efficiency, and outcomes.

The Trust wanted the ability to easily access patient records from anywhere, safely and securely.

Implementation

Mizaic’s MediViewer EDMS was integrated seamlessly with System C’s Careflow EPR solution, to provide wholly-digitised records. The tightly-integrated platform enables clinical and clerical users to view the complete history of every single patient providing instant access to scanned medical records via the EPR — safely and securely.

The speed and intuitive design of Mizaic’s MediViewer EDMS means that clinical users can easily locate the patient-specific detail they need, at the point of care. The software’s SmartIndexing technology is particularly intuitive, classifying information in real-time, to enable content to be found at the click of a button.

Steps taken to ensure smooth implementation of the system included:

A phased approach

To maximise stakeholder engagement, a phased approach was taken to introducing MediViewer, beginning with ‘early adopters’ — Endocrinology, Diabetic, Geriatric, and Hepatology — before extending the roll-out, department by department.

Training

Mizaic trained the Trust’s clinicians on how to effectively use MediViewer, via personalised one-to-one and role-specific group sessions — virtually unheard of in a sector known for delivering generic classroom training only. Mizaic also trained the medical records team and helped them set up a savvy future scanning operation, to ensure a robust day-forward strategy.

Outsourcing a scanning partner

Scanning health records is a very specialised service, and for this extensive project, Swiss Post Solutions was contracted to back-scan the entire records library. New material generated from outpatient and inpatient encounters was scanned in-house by the medical records team.

Outcome

Digitisation of the Trust’s medical records and complete integration with its EPR solution, has delivered huge clinical benefits for the NHS and patients alike.

The speed and intuitive design of MediViewer means clinicians are able to easily find the key documentation needed at the point of care, for better quality appointment outcomes.

Appointment-critical information can be accessed from any location, on any device, with no more instances of missing notes. Fully digitising the patient record has also improved the flow of patients through the 600-bed hospital.

By implementing EDMS technology, the Trust is set to clear its medical records library this year. This means it will no longer have to pay for the costly lease of a building to store the records.

The MediViewer EDMS deployment was completed in 2021, and legacy record scanning for all patients, regardless of department, will be completed in 2023 — with the Mizaic team supporting the Trust via regular service review calls as the hospital-wide implementation programme continues.

Andy Callow, Group Chief Digital Information Officer for University Hospitals Northamptonshire NHS Group, said: “We are now able to make use of the advanced technology and data available to us to help support decisions about clinical care. Our aim is to be nationally renowned for our excellent digital tools that provide more time to care.”

We are now able to make use of the advanced technology and data available to us to help support decisions about clinical care. Our aim is to be nationally renowned for our excellent digital tools that provide more time to care.

- Andy Callow, Group Chief Digital Information Officer for University Hospitals Northamptonshire NHS Group

Jamie Hall, Head of Sales at Mizaic, added: “The digitisation of the Trust’s medical records will deliver huge clinical benefits. It will also help the Trust achieve many cash-releasing and operational efficiencies, all as a result of the implementation of EDMS technology. It brings Kettering and Northampton General Hospital — already working together in a group management model — the advantages of using the same document management platform.”

Sarah Peart-Bentham, Customer Director at System C, said: “The electronic management of records stored on paper is a key part of a hospital digitisation process. We’re delighted Kettering has made so much progress.”

Gary Harrold, CEO of Swiss Post Solutions UK & Ireland, concluded: “In support of Kettering’s digital transformation plan, our team was able to deliver results quickly, efficiently and on time, whilst adhering to the highest standards of data security around information handling.

“We are pleased to be working in partnership with System C and Mizaic to enable a safer and better patient experience, whilst simultaneously improving clinical collaboration and efficiency.’’