Digital Hospital News Blog

What is a Digital Hospital? Do you need one?

"Digital Hospital" is a term we think we know,  or do we? What do international hospital experts think it is? Click for Dr Geissbuhler, Dr Cabrer's answers to:

1. Should every future hospital  building be planned as a “digital hospital?”

2. What if a hospital director has no plans to build a new hospital or hospital wing?
Can he or she still create a “digital hospital”?

Leader Health Founders: Pascal Detemmerman

 

Co-founder and CEO of Leader Health, Pascal Detemmerman reminds us that Leader Health's managers have been working for at least 20 years in healthcare ICT, time enough to note that IT decisions at the hospital are often purely technical and not based on the impact that the technology will have in real life..
 

LHSC Dipesh Patel (digital hospital architect, G+G)

Denise Silber (Digital Hospital News): G + G architects have been working with LHSC for 10 years, converting it into a « digital hospital », which goes well beyond the electronic medical record system. Please tell us more.

Dipesh Patel (G+G): The backbone of a digital hospital is of course the electronic patient record system, but, there are many other components : diagnostic imaging, hybrid operating theatres, in patient smart rooms, modular out-patient care, wellness centers, digitally-managed inventory and waste control….

All of these are impacting the physical lay-out of the hospital. Digital imaging requires larger, networked imaging rooms. Clinical practices require larger working spaces, so as to perform certain procedures without moving the patient. The growth of minimally-invasive surgery is increasing out-patient surgery. Single rooms provide for better control of infection. Telemedicine enables the hospital to complement its expertise beyond its walls. Power management and redundant systems become essential. Files no longer occupy space in the hospital itself. So, change management of the IT systems is intimately linked to the architecture itself.

As digital designers we bring a multi-disciplinary approach, combining knowledge of physical architecture and the emerging information technologies.

DS: What is on the horizon for G+G?

DP: Well, of course we'll always be active in Canada, because hospitals are lifetime projects, but we are also extending our activty to Europe. I'd say we are currently reviewing our next "lifetime partners" in other countries. Technology is always changing faster than can we design it. So when we meet up with a new hospital client, we know we'll be evolving together over the years, and it's a big mutual commitment. That's what we love about the business of hospital design, not to mention the better quality of care we help make possible!

LHSC Tony Dagnone, CEO 1992-2007, from legacy IT to digital hospital

Denise Silber (Digital Hospital News): Tony, when you became CEO of LHSC in 1992, the context was very challenging. Please tell us what you found and how you proceeded.

Tony Dagnone (London Health Sciences Center): Yes, LHSC was not equipped to address today’s needs. We were short on staff and long on paper. We hadn’t moved ahead on patient safety issues, such as automating protocols, computerizing order entry. The opportunity came in 1995, when we were merging three hospitals. We had to let go of the legacy IT system. So, we began to look around at what was available in software packages. It took 10 years to make a visible change. Today our system serves 7000 users each day.

DS: What were your major IT decisions and accomplishments ?

TD: We looked to see what could be computerized and in what order. We began with patient registration. Next came a computerized laboratory system. This was followed by the pharmacy order system and filmless radiology. LHSC brought together 8 hospitals in the region; we can all read one another’s images. We were careful to protect patient confidentiality. Access to an individual patient file by a healthcare professional is fully traceable.

Let me also mention the importance of change management. Launching a major IT project at the right time is key. In our case, the right time meant that the members of the organization have recognized that it’s time to abandon the existing system. And we explained the duration of the project from the beginning, so that people could work together for the long-term and avoid the frustration of missed deadlines. Over-promise is a huge issue in health IT.