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Bon Secours gets results with iSOFT

The pilot across five wards at the 343-bed Cork hospital has given consultants and nurses online access to test results from all of its laboratory departments including haematology, histology, blood bank, biochemistry and microbiology. The plan now is a gradual roll-out across all 21 wards, all nursing departments, theatres, consultants’ rooms plus pharmacy and radiology. Future plans include giving consultants remote-access. 

Before, hard copy results were distributed twice daily, but are now available online once tests are completed.

The development is part of ongoing moves to increase computerisation across Bon Secours in Ireland, which started in 2002 with iSOFT’s i.PM patient management system. Using its integration engine software, iSOFT has now linked i.PM to the hospital’s laboratory system for access to test results.

The next phase is to add order communications so tests are also ordered online so cutting the turnaround time still further. Cork is the test-bed for this too, with the first pilot project starting within the next three months.

Bon Secours’ IT director Ian Brennan says i.PM results reporting is proving a catalyst for getting clinical staff to use computers routinely. “Being Windows-based, the system is highly intuitive so everyone is finding it easy to use.

“Having all the patient information needed in one place is a huge asset,” he said.

“Consultants can examine and chart results to quickly identify trends in results, adverse results or sudden changes,” Brennan added. “Having results in the same i.PM screen as details like procedure history, care episodes and drugs dispensed makes it far easier to interpret results.

“If a nurse flags a result, then the consultant can log-in anywhere in the hospital, in their rooms or at home to investigate.”

The Bon Secours Health System Limited was established in 1993 to co-ordinate the management of hospitals under the care of the Sisters of Bon Secours. It is the largest private healthcare provider in Ireland.

With 1,900 staff, Bon Secours provides inpatient, outpatient and day-care treatment across a broad range of specialties.