“Before we started working digitally, we processed 1,500 incoming and outgoing patient files in the archive every day. We had some difficulty in locating the files, because patient file movements were sometimes not recorded,” says Mamadou Bodian, archivist of the Confluence hospitals (CHI Créteil and CHI Villeneuve Saint-Georges).
Paperless hospital
Due to the large volume and high level of privacy of patient records, Créteil’s CHI decided to initiate a digital transition. The aim is to create a paperless hospital by digitising and unlocking paper patient files. The site chose Archive-IT to lead the project. “Archive-IT has convinced us of the Virtual Archive, a tool that makes records traceable and digitally available. Combined with the user-friendly viewer, the Virtual File, this fully meets the expectations of medical staff regarding digital records,” said Valentin Simon, director of Purchasing & Logistics at Confluence hospitals. The first phase consisted of digitising the existing patient files. Quickly followed by the creation of digital records for all new patients who were admitted from that moment on.
“The project was brought to a successful conclusion by eventually also linking the digitised patient files to our EPD. This was an important step, so that all data can be accessed centrally. As a result of this successful project, we decided to carry out the same project at the Villeneuve Saint Georges hospital”, says Abder El Assali, Information Systems Director of both hospitals.
Understanding the digital health challenge
“In addition to digitizing the paper files, we have focused our attention on the possibilities of the digital tool,” says Abder El Assali. “We are currently using the functionality to search by keywords in all documents. This is a real asset for a university hospital like ours to do research efficiently,” explains Valentin Simon.
Créteil’s CHI is also working on the concept of mobility in patient care. A test on the use of tablets will soon be launched to make it easier for doctors to access patient records. “Almost all departments now use electronic files. For the last two departments, obstetrics and ophthalmology, we expect to reach this milestone soon. Then the entire hospital will be paperless. We are now going to work together on the digitization project at CHI Villeneuve Saint Georges. Once that project has been completed, our two hospitals will be operational with the EPD,” concludes Mamadou Bodian.