How digital patient records make life easier for medical practices
28.06.2023
Goodbye, paper patient records! What was previously written down by hand and stored in a drawer is increasingly being digitised. In Switzerland, the digital exchange of patient data and medical information is still in its infancy, but the end of physical filing is in sight. The solution from Axonlab and Ergon is proof that the digital exchange of medical records makes life easier for practices.
Until just a few years ago, it was common for doctors to write down the medical history of their patients on an index card and stow it away in a thick patient file. This handwritten approach is disappearing. In 2019, around 70 per cent of Swiss GPs recorded medical histories electronically. But that’s still a low percentage by international standards. In other countries, people work almost exclusively digitally. In Switzerland it’s a question of age. Almost without exception, family doctors under 45 work electronically. Doctors over the age of 65 keep their medical records mainly on paper (65 per cent). The change of GP generation has triggered a transformation that’s creating new opportunities.
Trend towards group practices and practice chains
Another development in the Swiss health system is group practices and practice chains. Fifty-six per cent of medical personnel now work in group practices. This model has various advantages: It’s easier to organise locums for holiday cover and to work with specialists. It’s also easier to create part-time jobs. Group practices are advantageous when it comes to making investments, for example when new equipment is needed. The fact that staff and resources are shared also means it’s possible to share the costs. Many group practices belong to a chain bringing together practices at different locations. Accounting, for example, benefits from this networking because it can be managed centrally. IT and human resources can be deployed across locations, simplifying internal processes. This reduces administrative work, and health professionals can focus on medical activities.
The challenge: transmitting highly sensitive data
The exchange of digital data between primary care providers such as general practitioners, paediatricians and specialists is challenging. This is especially true when data is sent across practice boundaries and thus across system boundaries. Because secure transmission is the top priority, passing on highly sensitive data usually involves a great deal of administrative work. If the medical record is written in different places on a decentralised basis, this also involves effort on the part of patients, who have to repeatedly identify themselves, register and recount their medical history.
This solution is the remedy
Axonlab saw a way of improving this situation for both healthcare professionals and patients. Together with Ergon, the specialist in medical laboratory diagnostics, software solutions and life sciences has developed a solution for structured data exchange. Its Axenita practice information system is designed to make the daily work of healthcare staff more efficient and the visit to the practice more convenient for patients.
Many group practices and practice chains already use Axenita in their daily business. Healthcare staff record patients’ administrative and medical information digitally. Until now, the only thing missing was a convenient and structured way of exchanging this data with other doctors and therapists in the same practice chain. Within group practices, the problem of sharing patient data could be solved with a fine-grained authorisation system. However, a greater challenge arose for practice chains. In practice chains, each practice has its own instance of Axenita which accesses its own database. In order to collaborate, data has to be exchanged across system boundaries. Another challenge is that the instances of Axenita involved may be in different versions.
Authorised staff decide on the sharing of patient data
The newly developed medical history exchange function makes it possible to share patient data within a practice chain for a limited period of time, provided that patients consent. The exchange functionality makes it possible to exchange and process all patient data in structured form. This includes master data, medical history data, medication, problems and diagnoses as well as documents. By importing and exporting the medical history, Axenita instances synchronise the patient record. The participating practices have the same view of the medical history on their screen and thus the same information about the patient. This function is based on a sophisticated rights system. The doctor providing treatment or other health professionals determine how long and in what way the exchange may take place.
When different software versions understand each other
Each practice decides for itself when to switch to a new version of Axenita. This means it’s common for different software versions to be used within a practice chain. That can lead to problems if older versions receive structured data that they can’t process. That’s now a thing of the past. Thanks to the medical history exchange function, older software versions are able to receive information from a new version correctly and display it in readable form. If the older version is updated later, the previously received structured data is automatically converted into the correct form.
Step by step to a digitalised healthcare system
A strength of the structured medical history exchange function is that everyone involved benefits, from primary care providers and specialists to practice staff and, not least, the patients themselves. The medical history exchange function makes life easier for practices if patient information doesn’t have to be entered again. Then it can easily be sent to another practice in the chain. It’s also much easier to obtain advice or to coordinate appointments centrally across practices. Factors like these simplify cooperation, reduce administrative effort and increase transparency. In the future, other service providers in the health sector could benefit, such as specialists who want to communicate across organisational boundaries. Further developments should enable the exchange of medical histories with existing clinic information systems used by hospitals – another step on the way to a networked, digitalised healthcare system.
This article was written by Manuela Vielmi, Business Analyst.