Monday, 1 September 2014

Clinicians caring for some of Scotland's most vulnerable young people are able to make vital mental health treatment decisions more quickly - thanks to secure electronic record sharing.

Twenty-two Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) teams covering Greater Glasgow and Clyde are using a bespoke version of the clinical system EMIS Web, which allows them to securely share vital patient information within a single electronic record. Being able to check patients' case histories is enabling speedier, better-informed decisions than was possible with paper records. They have also dramatically reduced the time spent on paperwork - each clinician is saving around two hours per month.

Programme Lead Karen McFadden at Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board said that record sharing had been 'transformational' in allowing clinicians to make informed decisions more quickly. It enabled clinicians to conduct risk assessments based on a patient's previous mental health history and direct treatment accordingly, she added.

"One such case involved a vulnerable young person with suicidal thoughts who was taken to A&E following an incident of self-harm," she said. "The psychiatrist assessing the patient called on a member of the CAMHS inpatient team, who was able to access the notes from EMIS Web.

"The psychiatrist was able to ascertain that her risk of suicide was low but her risk of self-harm was very high. They were able to ensure that she was discharged to a suitable environment to ensure her safety."

Real-time information sharing via EMIS Web has also speeded up care pathway planning for patients, by enabling instant and efficient communication between colleagues in different geographic and specialist teams. This has helped to reduce stress among families coming into contact with mental health professionals for the first time.

Martin Bell, Director of Community, Children's and Mental Health at EMIS said: "The work being done at Greater Glasgow with this extremely vulnerable group of young patients is a supreme example of how clinicians can harness technology to enable secure data-sharing and deliver high quality, efficient care. EMIS Web is a sophisticated, versatile system that is also user-friendly, and we worked closely with the Greater Glasgow team to tailor it to their specific needs for mental health."

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