Models of information systems devoted to medical-imaging labs: an experience in the CNR clinical physiology institute

At the end of the 1990s, the SPERIGEST project, supported by the Italian Health Ministry, and fully developed at the Institute of Clinical Physiology, established an operative integrated clinical and healthcare information system. Continuously evolving and dynamically optimising procedures and protocols solve problems of: harmonisation of instrumentation of different brands; management of multimedia data provided by different medical imaging labs; satisfaction of both clinical and research needs; legal and economical requirements; user-friendship of the system. A ten years experience shows positive approach by medical and healthcare operators, coordinated activity, higher efficiency, simplified procedures, major concentration on medical decision-making

Data Integration in Cardiac Surgery and Resource Management

At "G. Pasquinucci" Hospital in Massa, a section of CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology, an information system for cardiac surgery has been in use during the last years. This system was integrated with the Hospital Information System, already set up at the head of our institute in Pisa. Anesthesia data are recorded in the Operating Room (OR) as well as materials used during cardiac surgery operations. From the OR, data are transferred into the central clinical database, creating surgery reports in the medical record and filling in standardized clinical registers. Since 2000 a total of 2185 adult and 956 pediatric cardiac surgery operations were recorded

Data Integration in Cardiac Surgery Health Care Institution: Experience at G. Pasquinucci Heart Hospital

During the last ten years the Hospital Information System (HIS) was developed at the Institute of Clinical Physiology of National Research Council (IFC-CNR), recently reorganized on clinical side into the "Gabriele Monasterio Foundation" (FGM) by joint efforts of CNR, Tuscany Region and Universities. At G.Pasquinucci Heart Hospital (GPH), currently FGM\u27s section in Massa, the HIS was adapted and extended to Cardiac Surgery and Pediatric Cardiology. Data archiving and middleware integration through HIS network, connecting GPH with head institution in Pisa, allowed to achieve full secure access to patient information from any workstation within hospital or outside. PACS was developed using Open Source DICOM utilities. Electronic Medical Record is daily used since 2005 on both inpatients and outpatients. Recently telediagnosis was set up between Balkan countries and GPH in Massa

Electronic medical record in cardiology: a 10-year Italian experience

SummaryObjectives:the aim of this study was to report a ten years experience in the electronic medical record (EMR) use. An estimated 80% of healthcare transactions are still paper-based.Methods:an EMR system was built at the end of 1998 in an Italian tertiary care center to achieve total integration among different human and instrumental sources, eliminating paper-based medical records. Physicians and nurses who used EMR system reported their opinions. In particular the hospital activity supported electronically, regarding 4,911 adult patients hospitalized in the 2004- 2008 period, was examined.Results:the final EMR product integrated multimedia document (text, images, signals). EMR presented for the most part advantages and was well adopted by the personnel. Appropriateness evaluation was also possible for some procedures. Some disadvantages were encountered, such as start-up costs, long time required to learn how to use the tool, little to no standardization between systems and the EMR technology.Conclusion:the EMR is a strategic goal for clinical system integration to allow a better health care quality. The advantages of the EMR overcome the disadvantages, yielding a positive return on investment to health care organization

Laboratory data integration into medical record

Laboratory Information System, integrated with the Hospital Information System, has been developed at the G.Pasquinucci Hospital, section of Institute of Clinical Physiology of National Research Council (CNR), specialized in adult and paediatric cardiac surgery. The aim was to automate the testing process from clinical departments to laboratory and back into medical record. Laboratory workflow consists of three parts: (a) test ordering by clinical staff, printing bar-coded ID labels and transmitting orders by network to laboratory; (b) processing test requests and controlling identified specimens by laboratory staff, providing work orders to analytical instruments and validation of results authorizing delivery into the hospital clinical repository; (c) consulting test results in clinical departments by referring physicians through the electronic medical record. This year the system has been used on adult patients processing 135000 laboratory tests concerning chemistry, haematology, coagulation and immunology

Electronic medical record in cardiology: a 10-year Italian experience

SummaryObjectives:the aim of this study was to report a ten years experience in the electronic medical record (EMR) use. An estimated 80% of healthcare transactions are still paper-based.Methods:an EMR system was built at the end of 1998 in an Italian tertiary care center to achieve total integration among different human and instrumental sources, eliminating paper-based medical records. Physicians and nurses who used EMR system reported their opinions. In particular the hospital activity supported electronically, regarding 4,911 adult patients hospitalized in the 2004- 2008 period, was examined.Results:the final EMR product integrated multimedia document (text, images, signals). EMR presented for the most part advantages and was well adopted by the personnel. Appropriateness evaluation was also possible for some procedures. Some disadvantages were encountered, such as start-up costs, long time required to learn how to use the tool, little to no standardization between systems and the EMR technology.Conclusion:the EMR is a strategic goal for clinical system integration to allow a better health care quality. The advantages of the EMR overcome the disadvantages, yielding a positive return on investment to health care organization

Reviewing the integration of patient data: how systems are evolving in practice to meet patient needs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The integration of Information Systems (IS) is essential to support shared care and to provide consistent care to individuals – patient-centred care. This paper identifies, appraises and summarises studies examining different approaches to integrate patient data from heterogeneous IS.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The literature was systematically reviewed between 1995–2005 to identify articles mentioning patient records, computers and data integration or sharing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 3124 articles, 84 were included describing 56 distinct projects. Most of the projects were on a regional scale. Integration was most commonly accomplished by messaging with pre-defined templates and middleware solutions. HL7 was the most widely used messaging standard. Direct database access and web services were the most common communication methods. The user interface for most systems was a Web browser. Regarding the type of medical data shared, 77% of projects integrated diagnosis and problems, 67% medical images and 65% lab results. More recently significantly more IS are extending to primary care and integrating referral letters.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>It is clear that Information Systems are evolving to meet people's needs by implementing regional networks, allowing patient access and integration of ever more items of patient data. Many distinct technological solutions coexist to integrate patient data, using differing standards and data architectures which may difficult further interoperability.</p