CM Health leaps forward in paper lite journey

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Counties Manukau Health has taken a “giant leap forward” in its journey to become paper lite with the use of electronic clinical notes.

The DHB introduced eNotes in early November 2020, with five wards (122 beds) in the Adult Rehabilitation & Health of Older People (ARHOP) service going live over four weeks.

eNotes allows interactions and reviews of patients to be documented electronically and can import clinical information from radiology results, laboratory tests and clinical observations into the clinical progress note. 

“It’s a game-changer and a giant leap forward for the organisation as we move towards a paper lite system,” says Sally Dennis, IS Clinical Change Manager at CM Health. 

The system was developed by Waitematā DHB’s Health Information Group where it’s called Centric Notes.

“It’s a fantastic application, which replicates what clinicians do on paper,” Dennis says.

“It’s intuitive and really user-friendly. Clinician feedback has been really positive and they require little training and support to get on and use the application.” 

An average patient in ARHOP generates around 30 pages of paper notes per admission. Some paper forms will remain on paper, however work in progress to assess how these can be moved to an electronic format.

“That’s a considerable saving in terms of volume of paper and where things are being stored,” Dennis says. 

“Clinicians now spend less time searching for notes as they are always accessible anywhere in the organisation and multiple people can access a file at the same time so there’s no hold ups or risk of information being misplaced.

“It’s hugely beneficial for patients as it’s an enabler to having care at the right time and the right place.”

Dennis says notes are also now legible and searchable via keywords or roles. Colour coding makes it clear what kind of health professional has written which notes and clinicians can set up templates and quick keys.

Benefits extend beyond clinical staff, as electronic notes make it easier for others such as the DHB’s clinical coders and ACC team to locate information, she says.

Dennis says word is getting around and other departments have started asking when they are getting the electronic system. The DHB plans to roll eNotes out to all inpatient beds by the end of this year. 

Waitematā DHB IS Clinical Change Manager, David Ryan says since launching at Waitematā in April 2019, Centric Notes has been used across 1000 inpatient beds to record 3 million distinct notes and viewed 10.7 million times.

“It’s a huge positive to see another DHB use this software. We know the rollout of Centric Notes will make things quicker and easier for Counties Manukau DHB staff,” he says.