Design and implementation of the stacked, synchronised and iconographic timeline-structured electronic patient record in a UK NHS Global Digital Exemplar hospital

Abstract

BackgroundConventional electronic screen visualisation formats, which use tabs, dropdown menus, lists and multiple windows, present huge navigation challenges to health professionals. A unifying and intuitive interface for the electronic patient record (EPR) has been an elusive goal for software developers for decades.MethodsSince 2009, by working in an agile way, we have built and implemented a fully operational and dynamic system, the University Hospital Southampton Lifelines (UHSL), within our clinical data estate, in a UK university hospital. UHSL permits the continuously updated display of the EPR on a single desktop computer screen in an intuitive format. During this iterative evolution, we have resolved a number of practical challenges in data display, while maintaining our core aims of end-user optimisation and radical simplification of the interface. Concurrently, we have upcycled a significant volume of clinical e-content, some from as far back as 1991, into UHSL, and at a marginal cost.OutcomesUHSL went live in 2017 for all authorised staff at the hospital. It displays all e-records for 2.5 million patients and for more than 100 million documents and reports. It significantly reduces the screen time to navigate the individual EPR, and it offers substantial productivity gains in designated clinical services.ConclusionsUHSL has considerable further development potential as a National Health Service EPR interface, for the integration, display and ease of understanding of medical records across primary, secondary and community care.

Assessment of benefits of Echo Workflow Solution: Findings from a two-step Delphi study

“…This study’s findings complement studies that have shown that data integration, intuitive interfaces, reduced documentation, and fewer manual tasks help reduce user fatigue and decrease burnout. 8,9…”

“…This study's findings complement studies that have shown that data integration, intuitive interfaces, reduced documentation, and fewer manual tasks help reduce user fatigue and decrease burnout. 8,9 This study was conducted to understand to what extent the Echo Workflow Solution can help the Echo lab in the context of an integrated workflow and what needs to be further improved therefore the findings may be of interest to cardiologists specialized in echocardiography, sonographers, Echo lab management, and researchers. It is important to note that participants of this study in multiple geographical locations practicing in different healthcare systems and with varied patient populations found value in the Echo Workflow Solution.…”

New life for old cellular pathology: a transformational approach to the upcycling of historic e-pathology records for contemporary clinical uses

“…They retain fundamental clinical and research value long after their immediate clinical utility has passed, as long as they can be readily accessed. We have demonstrated how new life and utility can be brought to electronic cellular pathology records of any age, through 1 importation of the original data files into a modern database 2 ; linking directly into the EPR and specifically into a data visualisation interface and 3 creating access to those files in an appropriate retrieval and visualisation system.…”

“…We have created a data framework of stacked, synchronised and subject-specific timelines and dynamic iconographic representation of documents, reports and other clinical events. 2 This methodology permits the interactive display of the entire ‘whole-of-life’ digital record set for any patient on a single screen.…”