Since 1 April 2004, the
Electronic Medical Records Exchange (EMRX), an initiative launched
by Ministry of Health (MOH), links all restructured hospitals, polyclinics
and national centres in the Singapore Health Services (SingHealth)
and National Healthcare Group (NHG) clusters.
EMRX allows the doctor treating a patient at a particular
hospital or polyclinic to view the EMR of the patient that were
created in hospitals of either cluster. For a start, inpatient discharge
summaries are being shared. More information eg. laboratory results,
operation reports, prescriptions, x-ray and other radiological results
will be shared in the long term.
Every time a patient visits a doctor, a detailed record
of the encounter, such as diagnoses, test results and medication
prescribed will be kept. These notes make up a patient’s medical
record. In the past, medical records were maintained on paper and
kept in individual folders by the hospital or clinic. If a patient
visited another hospital or clinic, the hospital or clinic would
maintain a separate set of records. The paper records of the previous
visits in another healthcare institutions were not available unless
specifically requested by the doctor.
EMRX enables electronic medical records to be shared
across all public hospitals and polyclinics. With quick and accurate
access to essential medical information, medical staff involved
in your treatment can customise treatment to better meet a patient’s
unique needs. Since the information include drug allergies, lab
test results, medical conditions like diabetes, and prescriptions,
doctors can call up such critical patient records with just the
click of a mouse, especially in an emergency.
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Currently, all paper-based records are
kept
at CGH’s Medical Records Office. |
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Dr Tan Wee Ping, Associate Consultant, making
use
of the EMR system when seeing patients at the A&E. |
CGH piloted an A&E EMR system since 1996 and
with SingHealth expanding and implementing a cluster-wide EMR system
in 2002, ward discharge summaries, operation reports and laboratory
results are available in the CGH EMR system.
“The SingHealth EMR system has already captured
the medical records of 1.4 million people who have visited a SingHealth
institution and some of these records go back as far as 20 years,”
said Mr T K Udairam, Chief Executive Officer, CGH and SingHealth’s
IT Steering Committee Chairman.
This proved vital when Mr Mohamad Dol was bought in
to CGH’s A&E department on 10 March 2004. 80-year old
Mr Mohammad fell and hurt his head. His son-in-law Mr Zainudin Awang,
who accompanied him to hospital, could not tell our doctors about
his father-in-law’s medical history. However, thanks to the
EMR system, our A&E doctors traced Mr Mohamad Dol’s medical
history as he had been previously treated at a SingHealth polyclinic.
“We found that the patient had multiple medical
conditions that needed to be addressed at the A&E and as he
is also on medication that predisposes him to bleeding so we admitted
him for observation instead of discharging him,” said A&E
Associate Consultant, Dr Tan Wee Ping.
Fast access to a patient’s medical record is
important. Dr Tan Wee Ping said, “Before EMR system was available
when a patient came in, we had to wait up to an hour for the CGH
medical records. Now it is immediate and covers all institutions.”
“We are ordinary people. We don’t
know what medication we are taking or our condition. At least with
the sytem, the doctors will know immediately,” said Mr Mohamad’s
son-in-law.
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