New E-Incident Management Project Kicks into Action!

New E-Incident Management Project Kicks into Action!

1 September 2014

Work has now commenced on a new electronic incident management system for South Island DHBs; a project which promises to improve patient safety outcomes and support a reduction in all types of risk for DHB patients, staff and visitors across the region.

The new system (RL6 Risk) will make it easy for staff to report and enter valuable information about patient safety and risk, enabling DHBs to monitor what is and is not working well and support managers to continuously improve the care that is provided. Further more the new system will make it easy for staff to access and share clinical learnings from outcome reviews, enable the creation of consistent reporting and support the collection and monitoring of patient safety data.

The system will support each DHBs commitment to providing a ‘just’ culture; one that recognises that adverse events and incidents will happen from time to time, and that through promoting a transparent and open culture of reporting and information sharing, staff will continue to learn and there will be ongoing improvement and refinement of patient care.

The landmark project is being coordinated by the Quality and Safety Service Level Alliance, a team consisting of representatives from each of the five South Island DHBs, who together are planning and managing implementation and roll out to each DHB over the next 12 months.

A formal contract and Statement of Work have been signed between the South Island DHBS and the vendor (RL Solutions) for the new electronic system which will replace the current incident management systems in place – some of which are paper based - with an electronic, coordinated and regional approach to managing and reporting on patient safety and risk.

A three month IT build process is underway; this process will enable the development of the taxonomies (or definitions) of incident, risk, restraint, hazard and feedback which will be used by all South Island DHBs, whilst ensuring that the new system will integrate smoothly with each DHB’s current IT system.

The system roll out is anticipated as follows: Canterbury DHB will be one of the first to commence the roll out in November, with completion expected by May 2015.

-Nelson Marlborough DHB will also commence roll-out in November and are due to complete it by end of the year (2014).

-Southern DHB will pilot the programme in two sites in November and rollout the system early in the new year (2015).

-West Coast and South Canterbury DHBs will follow suit in early to mid 2015.

The new system (RL6 Risk) has shown proven success both in New Zealand and internationally and is currently the leading vendor for supporting quality and patient safety initiatives. It is exclusively endorsed by the American Hospital Association and used by over 1,400 healthcare organisations around the world. RL6 is also being used by the Health Quality & Safety Commission and other DHB’s across New Zealand.

Benefits of the new system are many including:

-Easy access by staff to information that will help learning and improve patient safety

-Its simple interface design make it easy and straightforward for staff to report any type of event

-Reports can be created anytime, anywhere, in various formats without IT involvement

-Tools such as alerts and automated reporting will help reduce the time needed for staff intervention

-It is designed to help improve communication among staff and departments

-It works complementary to the clinical audit process

RL Solutions are delivering a five-phased approach to introducing the new system into each DHB and will provide professional service specialists, communication tools, technical set-up and training to support staff at each stage of the roll out. In addition, a working of clinical and management staff from each DHB is in place to coordinate and direct the project through its key phases.

This is the latest initiative to be introduced by Quality and Safety Group of the South Island Alliance – a collaboration of health professionals and consumers from across South Island DHBs and primary care who work together to co-ordinate initiatives that improve quality and safety for South Island patients and providers. For more information visit www.sialliance.health.nz

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