ICT in Healthcare

Electronic prescription service

• GPs and nurses can send electronic prescriptions to a dispenser (pharmacy) of the patients choice.

• More convenient for patients• 70% of prescriptions are repeat medication

and can be time consuming using paper based methods

Patient Identification

• When a patient is in hospital they have a unique identification number (NHS #)

• This is a key field (unique) in the NHS database and helps distinguish patients from the same address

• Each patient is issued a wristband which includes their name; DOB; blood type and NHS #

Blood bar coding and tracking systems

1. Blood is taken from donors and tested to get the blood group (A, B, O, etc)

2. Blood is stored at the National blood transfusion service – bar coded labels are produced during testing and attached to bags

3. Matched blood is sent to hospital when needed and kept in blood bank – Blood bag is scanned before placed in bank

4. Hospital staff remove required blood by scanning their ID card – The blood bag is then scanned and taken to the ward

5. The patient who requires the transfusion has their bar code on their wrist scanned – if blood bag matches, transfusion given

Advantages of blood tracking system

• System provides a full audit trail by identifying staff taking blood; the time; location; time spent out of bank

• Eliminates paper records – saves time and space (filing cabinets)

• Cross matching information electronically eliminates the risk of patients being given the wrong blood

• Provides security• Used for stock control so that the blood matches patients

needs• Can find the donor/receiver if there is a cross-infection

Bar coding in health

• BC is a fast and efficient input method

• It can also be used for:– Identifying laboratory specimens– Some patient paper based records contain a bar

code on them for identification

Use of internet in health

• The internet is a huge group of networks joined together

• Firewalls ensure people can’t access the internet without permission

• Allows staff to send emails to patients• Allows staff to perform research• Enables patients to communicate with family and

friends• Can send information on lab tests or x-rays requested

by doctors from hospitals

Use of intranet in health

• A private network used within an organisation that makes use of internet technology

• Can be used to transfer patient data to different devices around the hospital

Use of extranet in health

• An external network that can be used by the customer, supplies and partners of the organisation as well as the organisation itself

• Secure – must have authorisation (username and password) to enter

• Suppliers can keep track of stock to ensure vital drugs and equipment don’t run out

• GPs can check the condition of their patients

Distributed medical databases

• A database spread over two or more servers in a network

• When a request is made the distributed parts of the database are merged into one which means multiple people can access it at once

• Advantages are:– Security can be improved as the data isn’t kept in one

place– Speed of access is improved because one server does

not have to deal with all the requests for information

Backup and recovery procedures

• It is ensure patient records are kept secure and backed up regularly

• Recovery procedures must be in place to recover lost data

Considerations for backup– Whether any downtime is acceptable (time without computers)– How much data needs backing up– Where is data stored– How often will copies of the data be taken– When is the data backed up