Basildon and Thurrock installs ViewPortal Healthcare
- 18 May 2007
The Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is using a new electronic document management system called ViewPortal Healthcare from SpectrumITech to store paper documents electronically and make them available to staff.
The trust required an electronic document management (EDM) system that would help them electronically store burgeoning paper archives and make the most important documents, such as key policies and procedures, available for sharing by its 3,500 staff.
The new system makes documents available via the trust’s secure intranet. The documents are controlled so that only authorised staff can view them. Published documents are classified to enable rapid retrieval, either via advanced ‘Google-like’ searches or folder navigation.
Basildon and Thurrock’s IT projects manager, Phil Burke said: “ViewPoint Healthcare is immensely scalable, providing an excellent repository that can be extended for use in a variety of departments throughout the trust.”
By using the EDM, the trust says it has saved the cost of printing and storing duplicates, saving time that would previously have been spent filing, searching for correct documents, working through approval processes and chasing reviewers’ comments, thereby increasing productivity.
Burke said: “Our requirements were clear from the outset. SpectrumITech translates our vision into a realistic, working solution that we can depend upon. Trust staff can be secure in the knowledge that they have instant access to the correct version of every policy and procedure document relevant to their work, at the touch of a button."
SpectrumITech’s sales manager, Charles Harmer, told E-Health Insider: “At a time when paperless hospitals are increasingly at the forefront of a hospital’s mind to increase efficiency, minimise risk and reduce costs, technology such as this can be a great aid.”
Harmer said with the National Programme for IT promoting the use of electronic patient records and electronic prescriptions, the need to remove piles of paper was at the forefront of minds in trusts.
“Hospitals have been using paper for decades now and in some locations, there are paper mountains almost reaching the ceiling in administrators’ offices. Searching through archives for relevant documents seems an almost impossible task, and the need to be able to find information rapidly is of the essence in such an environment."
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