St. Olav’s hospital is the only hospital that has adopted the controversial record and interaction system Helseplattforma. The difficulties have been so great that the introduction has been postponed both in Nord-Trøndelag and in Møre og Romsdal. The reports of poor patient safety, referrals that disappear, low efficiency and a system that is not user-friendly may lead to the introduction in Møre and Romsdal being postponed again. The board of Helse Møre og Romsdal will decide on this on 7 December. – Less time for patients One of those who believe that the Health Platform is not suitable for use in Norwegian hospitals is the trustee for the chief of surgery at St. Olav’s hospital, Monica Engstrøm. She says that patient safety is reduced, among other things because information disappears. She believes that there will be less time to treat patients because the system is time-consuming. And it is not always the patients with the most urgency who come first for treatment. – The system is cumbersome, information between us and other agencies does not come through, referrals get lost along the way and we are not sure that the patients will come to us in the right order, she said in Politisk kvartér on Wednesday. The criticism is supported in reports from both the Norwegian Health Authority and the National Audit Office. Monica Engstrøm is senior physician at the surgical department at St. Olav’s hospital in Trondheim. Photo: Morten Andersen / news – Can’t keep going This has caused Storting representative Bård Hoksrud (Frp) to demand that the work to introduce the Health Platform in Møre og Romsdal and Nord-Trøndelag must be stopped, and that the contract with American Epic systems be gradually raise. – This cannot continue. Everything that has come to light is so serious. Something must be done. Actually, I want to get rid of the whole system. In any case, we cannot roll out the system to new hospitals, says Hoksrud. – The contract with Epic must be terminated One of those who advocates for the contract with Epic to be terminated is the award-winning IT expert Per Morten Hoff. He was previously associated with IKT-Norway and has held positions in international IT organizations and government-appointed councils and committees. Now he believes that the difficulties in the health platform have risen so sharply that the contract with Epic systems must be terminated. – The contract should definitely be possible to cancel. The question is whether it is possible to terminate the contract. American contracts are known for being very special and difficult to get out of. They are often very much in favor of the supplier, says Per Morten Hoff. Per Morten Hoff is a Norwegian journalist and consultant. He has previously worked for ICT Norway and has represented several organizations and committees. Photo: Gaute Zakariassen / news – It is entirely possible to cancel the contract news has presented the criticism for both Helse Midt-Noreg, which took the initiative to establish the Helseplattforma, and for the company Helseplattforma AS, which today runs the system and is responsible for the contracts with Epic systems. – It is of course possible to terminate concluded agreements. But then the criteria to be able to do this must be present, writes Helse Midt-Noreg in an e-mail to news. The joint-stock company Helseplattforma AS also confirms that it is theoretically possible to terminate the contract with Epic. Based on the answers, it is nevertheless clear that there is a long way to go before this can become relevant. – It is possible to terminate the contract if the circumstances to be able to demand termination are present, wrote Acting Head of Communications Frode Nikolaisen in an e-mail to news. Nikolaisen states that the contract with Epic is an adapted version based on standard Norwegian government contracts. One contract has been entered into for the establishment and delivery of the Health Platform and one contract for subsequent maintenance of the system. In addition, there is a contract that governs the interaction between Epic and Helseplattforma AS. Requirements specification and the contract determines In connection with the tender round, Helse Midt-Noreg and Helseplattforma AS have drawn up requirements specifications totaling many hundreds of pages. There are requirement specifications for the functions in the Health platform, there are requirements for how the training should proceed, there is a technical requirement specification, requirement specification for maintenance, progress, testing and so on. The contracts that have been entered into cover both the delivery itself, maintenance and a contract on how various issues surrounding the establishment of the Health Platform are to be handled. The contract contains detailed information on how any breach of contract is to be handled. This applies to breach of contract both from Epic and from the Helseplattforma’s side. Translated from English, this is formulated as follows in the main contract: If the supplier (Epic) does not succeed, despite repeated attempts, in remedying a deficiency, the customer (Helseplattformen AS) can demand a proportional reduction in the contract price. In the event of a significant default, the customer may, after giving written notice and giving a reasonable deadline to remedy the situation, cancel all or part of the delivery contract for default with immediate effect. The contract also contains definitions of what can be considered a breach of contract: There is a breach of contract on the part of the supplier if the delivery does not comply with the agreed functions, requirements or deadlines. There is also a breach of contract if the supplier failed to perform other duties under the delivery contract. It is still not a breach of contract if the situation is caused by circumstances connected to the customer or force majeure. In addition to the contracts, an additional document has been received that deals with how the system will be developed jointly between Epic systems and Helseplattforma AS. Investing in error correction and improvement So far, there is nothing to indicate that the top management in the specialist health service or in Helseplattforma AS is close to wanting to terminate the contract with Epic systems. On the contrary, all signals are still about error corrections and that the system should be made more user-friendly. – The health platform admits that it has been very demanding for St. Olav’s hospital to adopt such a comprehensive solution. With too many errors and little user-friendliness, the healthcare company has not had the prerequisites to close, writes Helseplattforma AS in a press release. The press release also states that good work is being done with error correction and that the highest priority improvements and error corrections are on target. The next deadline for bug fixes is set for 6 December this year. – Not true Trustee for the superiors of the surgical department at St. Olav’s hospital, Monika Engstrøm nevertheless does not feel that the most significant errors have been corrected in the information. – That is not true. We have not seen those improvements. We have been working on this for a year, and the situation is the same for us who work in the system, she said in Politisk kvartér on news on Wednesday. This happens if they do not reach the target. Thus, the question still remains as to what happens if one does not reach the target and whether it turns out to be too demanding for all parties if the system does not reach the level that is in accordance with the requirements was asked when the purchase was made. IT expert Per Morten Hoff is worried about what might happen if such a case were to go before an American court. – It has proven to be difficult to get free from contracts where a dispute is conducted according to American law and law, says Hoff to news. Helseplattforma AS rejects this issue, and informs news that the contracts have been entered into in accordance with Norwegian law, and that any legal proceedings must be settled in Norway. – The contract is subject to Norwegian law, writes communications manager Frode Nikolaisen in an e-mail to news. This is also evident from the document news has been given access to, where it is stated that all disputes in connection with the contract shall be exclusively subject to Norwegian law. Yes or no in Møre og Romsdal On 7 December, Health Møre og Romsdal will decide whether the Health Platform should be put into use at hospitals in Volda, Ålesund, Molde and Kristiansund. The decision from the administration will be known about a week in advance of this. If the answer is yes, these hospitals will use the system from the end of April 2024. The health platform The health platform is responsible for implementing the introduction of a new and common patient record for the health service in Central Norway. The project is owned by Helse Midt-Norge RHF, Trondheim municipality and several municipalities through a separate limited company. The health platform was introduced in Trondheim municipality in April 2022. In November of the same year, it was introduced at St. Olav and six other municipalities in Trøndelag. The aim is to get all municipalities in central Norway on board, but for now several are waiting. If everything goes according to the Health Platform’s plan, the solution will be used by 40,000 employees in the health service, 720,000 residents will then be able to access their own records digitally through the solution. Health and Care Minister Ingvild Kjerkol has encouraged all municipalities in central Norway to join the Health Platform . The basic technical solution is provided by Epic Systems.
ttn-69
– Fully possible to terminate the contract with Epic systems if the conditions are present – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
