It is now two weeks since St. Olav adopted the new Helseplattformen record system. Many health workers have previously demanded that the introduction be stopped. The hospital was originally supposed to introduce the system in May, but postponed it at the last minute because they considered it unreasonable to introduce it at that time. Although some employees express themselves positively about the introduction, many are also very worried: – I think this is going to take a toll on us. That’s what Susan Francis Deane, section head of diagnostic imaging at St. Olav, says. Hospital director Grethe Aasved said earlier this week that she is most worried about precisely this department at the hospital. The system is too poor, which means that the department is struggling to keep up the pace: – Quite radical measures must be taken, said Aasved on Wednesday. She says the solution is in the process of being rebuilt. Section chief: – Redde Deane quit his job today, and says that the introduction of the Health Platform is a contributing factor. Deane says she can’t vouch for the system. – We have never been so frustrated. We’re not just worried, we’re scared. This is going to go wrong. The section supervisor says the problems are very serious and that the employees see no long-term solution. – Although it will eventually work better for clinicians, it will never be functional enough for radiologists, says Deane. Can paralyze the whole hospital The department for diagnostic imaging has 250,000 examinations a year, and over 90 per cent of the patients in the hospital visit the department. – We can paralyze the entire hospital’s operation, because we are the bottleneck, says Deane. According to the superintendent, the department was on its knees even before the introduction, due to understaffing. Now she looks darkly at the future. Deane criticizes the top management for not being clear enough about how serious the problems are: – We don’t feel it has been communicated well enough how serious the system’s errors are. We have expressed ourselves so strongly and we have marched in torchlight against the system, and from the outside it sounds like these are minor mistakes and they are not, she says. Referrals were not received Morten Troøyen is clinic manager for diagnostic imaging at St. Olav. He is very sympathetic to Deane’s concern, when employees have to use a system with so many errors. Employees struggle to send out answers to radiological examinations to external referrers, such as GPs. The employees did not receive confirmation that the 800 sent results had arrived where they were supposed to. Now it turns out that most did, says the clinic manager. But 60-70 results must be sent again, on paper in the post. In addition, performed examinations end up in the wrong place in the system, says the clinic manager. This means that frustrated employees have to spend a lot of time looking for results that end up in the wrong place. Morten Trøyen is clinic manager for diagnostic imaging at St. Olav. He describes the situation as serious. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news The waiting lists are growing The department is now working at 60-70 per cent of normal capacity, says Troøyen. He adds that some of the reduced capacity was planned. – The situation is serious, there is no doubt about that. This is because the Health Platform has many errors which mean that we do not get up to speed, says Troøyen. As a result, the department does not get to examine enough patients, which in turn leads to waiting lists that are longer than is appropriate, says the clinic manager. The problems in the department can also lead to longer waiting lists in other departments, if they persist. – It will not paralyze the hospital’s operations, but it can clearly affect other departments if the problems persist, he says. Troøyen does not recognize Deane’s criticism that management downplays the seriousness of the problems. – As clinic manager, I feel taken seriously by both the director and the Health Platform, that is important to say. Our focus on problem solving is very strong, he says. Results were not forwarded The department still manages to handle acute and seriously ill patients, despite challenges. There have long been long waiting lists for the department, but they have increased after the introduction of the Health Platform, says the clinic manager. Troøyen is concerned about the increased waiting lists and says it is unclear when they will manage to get them down to a good level. – Is it the case that the waiting lists are unreasonably long? – We prioritize the most serious and urgent cases. But there can be less serious cases where you have to wait longer than is okay, says Troøyen. Message of concern to the state manager Managing director Grethe Aasved on Wednesday summarized the introduction so far: – There are many who are satisfied and think it is going very well, and others who are quite despondent, she said. A number of consequences have been reported after the system was screwed up at St. Olav: Referrals to the hospital disappear in the system Epicrises from the hospital do not reach the GPs Increased waiting lists in several departments Tasks on work lists end up in the wrong places in systems Cumbersome processes to handle pharmaceuticals Complicated work processes for secretaries and doctors Patients receive the wrong SMS that the appointment has been canceled or else Aasved has previously been concerned about referrals to and from the hospital. – Now we have problems with some e-mails, such as epicrisis and X-ray responses, not reaching the GPs. We are working to obtain an overview of the extent of the problems. She assures that both St. Olav’s, the Health Platform and Epic have this as their top priority. – We take this very seriously, and have today sent a report of concern to the state administrator. It can potentially threaten patient safety, when GPs do not receive important information from the hospital. At the same time, we have initiated measures by sending out letters manually where we know there are problems, she writes to news. Grethe Aasved, managing director at St. Olav, says a number of errors in the system have been fixed. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news GPs: – A bit insecure The GPs have also noticed the consequences of clumsiness in the record system. Several people have experienced not getting epicrisis from St. Olav, writes Adresseavisen on Friday. An epicrisis is a summary of an examination or treatment of a patient. The GP newspaper interviewed says he usually receives 10-20 digital letters or epicrisis every day from the hospital. After the introduction, he has received five messages in 12 days. – It is more difficult to follow up the patients. It seems a bit unsafe, says GP Erik Mørch to Adresseavisen. Management at Helse Midt are satisfied After the introduction, several hospital departments have halved operations and increased staffing. The aim is to return to normal operations after four weeks. The management of Helse Midt-Norge, which co-owns the solution, is satisfied with the actual introduction of the Health Platform at the hospital. This is according to a status report that was presented to the board of the health region on Thursday. However, employee representatives on the board are concerned about whether the hospital will be able to become as efficient as before – within four weeks. – We are completely dependent on them getting enough support to correct mistakes. Necessary improvements, particularly in imaging and drug handling, must be made before further introduction of the Health Platform. That’s what Lindy Jarosch-von Schweder, group representative for the Academics in Helse Midt-Norge, says. Lindy Jarosch-von Schweder is the group trustee for the Academics in Central Norway. The picture was taken on an earlier occasion. Photo: Kjartan Ovesen / news Hospital director: Challenging to correct everything in a month Jarosch-von Schweder is afraid that cumbersome workflows will affect quality and patient safety. This must be rectified during the introduction period, says Jarosch-von Schweder. Hospital director Grethe Aasved is unsure whether the hospital will return to normal activity within four weeks: – Right now it looks a bit challenging that everything will be fixed in four weeks, but the goal is there and all resources are being deployed to manage it, she said to news on Wednesday.
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– Sleeps badly at night – news Trøndelag
