Hospital group Blackrock Health is to invest €25 million in a new digital transformation programme that will introduce electronic health records to its facilities and create 60 jobs.
The hospital group, which is owned by the Larry Goodman Trust and includes the Blackrock, Galway, Hermitage and Limerick clinics, also plans to introduce an integrated digital engagement platform that will connect patients, consultants and GPs, a move it says is the first of its kind in Ireland and will connect patient data for up to 325,000 patients across the four clinics.
The three-year programme will see Blackrock use the Meditech Expanse health record system, further developing a partnership that has been in place with the Galway Clinic since 2017.
The system will provide patients with their health history and seamless access to their records when attending one of the group’s clinics, with important information available to their GPs for any follow-up.
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“Improving patient care is always at the heart of the decisions that we make at Blackrock Health and that is why we are investing €25m to digitally transform the way we work across the group, which in turn will enhance clinical care and patient safety for the 325,000 patients we treat annually,” said chief executive Caroline Whelan.
“We are excited to embark on this three-year journey alongside our partners at Meditech which will enable staff across our four clinics to work in close collaboration and our patients to access one single health record, at any of our clinics.”
The group said the implementation of the system across all its clinics was a “natural step” following its successful implementation in Galway.
