“Through EDM we can guard who can view patient records in a more controlled way.” 

Philip Smith

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust

The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust had 180 million pages in its records library, with the number of documents growing daily.  Not only was storage costly, but it was difficult for physicians to access patient information quickly.  This was particularly important for urgent admissions, where service level agreement compliance required notes to be with the patient within two hours.

EDM deployed a dedicated scan and transfer service that covered existing record libraries.  Documents were packed and collected overnight to ensure that records remained available for relevant clinics.  In order to meet the Trust’s service level target for urgent admissions, EDM also provided a rapid response service in which records were scanned and made accessible within two hours.

Approximately 5,000 employees across Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust access the images EDM has scanned, with approximately 6,000 patient records retrieved per month.  Patient records are viewable immediately from anywhere within the Trust, and no time is wasted searching for mislaid files.  Due to the success of the initial deployment in the maternity, general patient and A&E departments, the Trust extended the service to the human resource and payroll departments.

The Trust expects to save £1.2 million on warehouse rental alone, as this extra space will no longer be needed to store archive records.  The Trust can also reduce the size of its vehicle fleet to transport notes from location to location, which has delivered additional financial and environmental benefits.  Security and confidentiality standards have improved as well – EDM has never lost a set of notes, and the secure data link ensures only authorised personnel can access records.  This, together with faster access to patient records, has led to an overall improvement in the Trust’s compliance.

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