DIPS Operating theatre has been developed for use in planning and performing operations. When registering operations, the hospitals have different requirements concerning functionality and the need for information, and the product is therefore flexible and can be adapted.
DIPS Operating theatre communicates with other parts of DIPS, for example Medical coding, by transferring data registered during the planning and performance of operations to the operation records and registering anaesthesia in Medical coding.
Helse Førde HF has used the electronic system for planning and booking operations since winter 2008. ‘The operation module in DIPS is working well, since we already use DIPS as our electronic patient records. The departments have access to their patients and their operating schedule, and operation personnel have a good system that provides an overview of how the day’s operations are progressing,’ says Helge Eide, who is senior anaesthesia nurse in Helse Førde.
By using the DIPS appointments book together with the operating schedule, it is easier to utilise available resources across departments, and an updated operating programme for the date in question is always available. ‘We see that we make more efficient use of our time in relation to operations. Planning is more accurate and more long-term than before, but that can be challenging when individual patients have to be operated at short notice,’ adds Mr Eide.
Safe surgery in the Western Norway Regional Health Authority
A checklist can reduce the mortality rate and complications after surgery involving anaesthesia by as much as 40%. The Western Norway Regional Health Authority is now integrating a checklist into its day-to-day routines, based on a checklist for safe surgery prepared by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Chief physician Barthold Vonen manages the project in the Western Norway Regional Health Authority. He works from Helse Førde HF, which is the driving force behind the project, and he has great faith in it. ‘If the checklist is used in connection with all operations involving anaesthesia, we can reduce complications and the mortality rate after surgery by 40%. This is confirmed by the results of international research. So far, the results are excellent.’
The checklist, which is integrated into DIPS through a user-defined form, is a tool used for reviewing important procedures in connection with operations. Fewer patients will suffer if the list is complied with. ‘The form enables us to register patient information in a satisfactory manner, which we have not been able to do previously. In my opinion, this is an important step towards the next generation of patient records,’ believes Dr Vonen. The project manager also points out that the checklist may have a unifying effect on the different professional groups present in the operating theatre. ‘To get four strong autonomous professions to work more closely together is challenging. We hope that cooperating on the checklist will lead to interdisciplinary involvement in relation to the patient.’
The Northern Norway Regional Health Authority and the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority have decided to go for the checklist. ‘We are very happy with the project so far,’ says Dr Vonen.
Sources: d:mag 2010 and the experience memo from Helse Førde.