New hospital technologies could improve patient safety, says Hiqa

The introduction of new technologies could lead to reduced mortality, increased patient safety, shorter waiting lists and reduce hospital overcrowding, the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) has said.

Dr Máirín Ryan, Hiqa’s director of health technology assessment and acting deputy chief executive, said a survey of 32 hospitals nationally to identify electronic systems currently in use in Ireland found limited use of such systems outside two hospitals where the technology was being used in very restricted settings.

She said the evidence from other countries was that such systems led to increased accuracy in the recording of vital signs which in turn led to improved mortality rates and morbidity rates for patients, the latter evidenced by reduced lengths of stay in hospital.

“The results of one study from the UK which most closely reflected the Irish context, and which specifically looked at the switch from a paper-based to an electronic system, indicated that the reduction in length of stay could lead to a substantial increase in hospital bed capacity... and a potential reduction in waiting lists,” she added.

Clinical care

“The electronic collection of this data would also provide us with data for audit of clinical care which in turn drives further improvements,” Ms Ryan said.

However, the implementation of the systems would require “significant capital investment” with an estimated cost of between €1 million and €1.3 million for a single hospital or between €40 million and €51.4 million to cover national implementation over a five-year period.

The authority's assessment of how information technology could improve outcome for patients followed a request from the chief medical officer in the Department of Health in October 2014.

A recommendation for the introduction of an early warning score was recommended by the National Clinical Effectiveness Committee in 2013.

In October of the same year, a Hiqa report on the death of Savita Halappanavar in University Hospital Galway recommended that a national maternity early-warning system be commissioned (the recommendation was mandated by the Minister for Health in late 2014).

Early warning score

Another of the report’s key recommendations was the introduction of a national early warning score across the wider hospital system.

As part of its assessment, Hiqa carried out a systematic review of the available literature in this area, examining 10 studies on electronic early warning systems and 17 on electronic clinical handover systems internationally, including one Irish study.

Hiqa recommended that all electronic early warning and clinical handover systems be developed in line with National Clinical Effectiveness Committee quality assured National Clinical Guidelines.