The Norfolk and Waveney Acute Hospital Collaborative has officially rolled out its new clinical transformation programme by implementing Meditech’s Expanse electronic patient record (EPR) system.
Under the latest effort, a single instance of Meditech Expanse has been launched across all three acute care hospitals included under the Collaborative – Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals, James Paget University Hospitals, and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn.
The initiative aims to deliver 'better joined-up care' through a shared record, marking the most extensive collaboration to date between the Trusts.
The Collaborative selected Meditech Expanse to enhance interoperability, safety, and patient engagement.
This project is seen as a transformative step towards providing improved patient care by equipping staff with accurate and readily available patient information.
The deployment of Expanse will further create a unified digital health record for patients, which will be accessible across all three acute Trusts.
This will facilitate seamless care transitions and equip the care team with a comprehensive patient history.
Meditech’s cloud-hosted model will support the expansion of acute and outpatient EPR for the trusts, integrating different solutions such as business and clinical analytics, oncology, labour, delivery, and surveillance.
To further patient engagement and communication, the Trusts will introduce Meditech’s Expanse Patient Portal, which will act as a digital front door, enabling patients to self-schedule appointments, access test results, and communicate with clinicians.
Meditech UK and Ireland executive general manager Charlotte Scott said: “The Trusts have a large and diverse patient population that will benefit significantly from the implementation of Expanse. The result will be safer, more efficient, and integrated care that facilitates better outcomes.”
Collaborative has deployed the new Expanse EPR to replace a combination of paper-based records and software currently used by the Trusts.
To assist with the implementation and engage staff in the project, the three hospitals have established a Change Network team, which will help standardise workflows, test the technology, and facilitate ongoing internal support for the transformation.
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals chief digital information officer and EPR senior responsible officer Dr Ed Prosser-Snelling said: “This EPR system will form the backbone of our electronic clinical data systems and open the door for our staff and patients to access the benefits that artificial intelligence and other technologies bring.”
