Quality Improvement Project: Post-Implementation Evaluation of an electronic requesting system for diagnostic tests in George Eliot Hospital

Abstract

Agathoklis Efthymiadis, Manoj Srivastava, Sarah Mills, Frank Liggins, Ian Ogden, Jino Sebastian and Sid Singh

In George Eliot hospital, pathology and radiology requests were traditionally made via paper. Paper forms can be lost, filled in and signed incorrectly, leading to delays in obtaining test results and compromising patient safety. Thus, a transition from paper requesting to an electronic requesting system for diagnostic tests was necessary. Such an electronic requesting system was initially launched in the Acute Medical Unit of George Eliot hospital. This enabled optimization of the electronic system in a controlled and small, but busy clinical environment. Once so optimized, this would facilitate a more successful roll out to the rest of the organization. The post implementation evaluation of the electronic requesting system was conducted using the Plan- Do- Study- Act cycle model for quality improvement. Business processes for both radiology and pathology were updated to ensure patient safety and improve workflow. The project team was only funded for the implementation phase and therefore human resources were limited to drive the post implementation phase of the project. Overall, the implementation of an electronic requesting system for diagnostic tests in George Eliot Hospital was safe. In addition, the quality of the diagnostic pathway improved because of better documentation and transparency. This increase in quality came at a cost of reduced time efficiency of clinical workflow. Generally, the post-implementation phase is neglected in the planning phase of any NHS Health IT projects and this has to be addressed.

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