McKesson Practice Newsletter
Volume 2 Issue 2, Page 2
Keeping Track of Data
By Eric New
Many times when a facility is first cutting over to a new Hospital Information System (HIS) users will blame the system for losing data. “I know I put it in there” or “I can see it in my system, why you can’t see in yours.” Nurses become frustrated because they placed the order in the system, but the Ancillary Department(s) is/are not seeing the order. Nursing is calling Registration because they cannot see the patient in their system and the patient is on the floor in a bed. Some of these issues can be real problems, but most of them arise because of improper setup in all the systems that communicate with the HIS.
If there is a real issue, please take the appropriate action to resolve the problem. But here is a small tool that will help you save time and energy.
- Information Services/Information Technology Department should create a report of all the master fields that get communicated from one system to another via interfaces. For example, the patient location is usually passed in a HL7 message to systems that receive this data. If the location does not exist, that system may not add the patient.
- Document all the systems that receive data via interfaces; i.e. Radiology, Laboratory, Encoders, etc.
- Document the file build owners for the listed systems. Use the fields from the masterfiles spread sheet listed above. Create columns for all the fields and a row for all the systems.
- Once you have all the owners, create a routing document that can be used to notify the proper people of any additions, changes or deletions. Create an email group that will be linked to this routing document.
- The most important element to this process is creating a prioritization process to respond in a timely manner to the data being entered in those systems.
Once a process like this is in place and communications are timely, you should solve some of those issues listed above. Good Luck and Happy Building!
If you would like more implementation tips call us at 610.444.1233 or email us at vcs@getvitalized.com. You can also visit our website to learn more about the services and solutions offered by VCS at www.getvitalized.com.