The La Plana University Hospital, in the Community of Valencia, Spain, is in the process of digitalizing of its clinical documents with the objective of implementing the Electronic Health Record at the care center.
The initiative, being led by the Clinical Documentation and Informatics Department, is not just seeking to digitalize the paper documents but also the clinical histories.
So far, the change has been comprehensively implemented in the surgical, outpatients, emergency and home hospitalization departments and partially (80%) in all the hospital departments. In total over 13 million clinical documents have been digitalized.
To avoid the creation of paper files, the bedside use of mobile information devices such as tablets and netbooks, has been implemented.
The measure is part of the “Paperless Hospital” plan which is currently in its third phase of implementation. According to Health Council estimates, the project will be finished by the end of 2015.
Manuel Llombrant, the Valencian Health Councilor, visited the Archive of the University Hospital and noted the Council’s commitment to the use of new technologies and the creation of paperless hospitals. “The implementation of the EHR offers a series of advantages as it will improve patient safety, ensure rapid access to clinical data, make care more flexible, prevent the loss of documents, make the system more efficient, reduce costs, free up physical space that can be used for other healthcare purposes and improve care and respect for the environment,” he explained.
Source: Consellería de Sanitat
