DOHA: Patients’ clinical records at Al Sadd Paediatric Emergency Centre (PEC) are going digital with implementation of the unique Clinical Information System (CIS) from Sunday. PEC is expecting delays in the transition phase and has advised visitors to avoid visiting the centre on Sunday for non-urgent cases.
Appointments may also take longer time during the transition period as staff and patients need to adjust to the new system.
The existing paper clinical records will be replaced by digital ones, with full implementation of CIS. Implementation of CIS is part of a planned roll-out across Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and Primary Healthcare Corporation (PHCC). Once CIS implementation is complete, patient records will be stored and accessed electronically across both organisations.
“We anticipate delays during implementation of the electronic application system.
“We ask patients and families to go to primary healthcare centres for simple complaints (on Sunday) to avoid congestion at Al Sadd PEC,” HMC said in a statement yesterday.
“During this time of transition and changes, we ask visitors, patients and families for their utmost cooperation with the medical staff at Al Sadd PEC. This will be very supportive and enable patient flow to be managed effectively,” it added.
Staff will need to gather more information from patients to register them in the new system and this may mean that appointments take a little longer than usual.
Therefore, the public has been asked to avoid visiting the PEC for non-urgent cases.
Dr Khalid Al Ansari, Medical Director, Paediatrics Emergency Centres, HMC, said, “My team and I are excited about implementation of the CIS system, which will standardise processes and provide the best and safest patient care that we aspire for and are always working to achieve.” The roll-out of CIS at the PEC follows its successful implementation in seven HMC hospitals.
The roll-out of CIS at the PEC also follows successful implementation in some PECs, dialysis centres, Bone and Joint Centre and many primary health centres.
The importance of an electronic medical records system was set out in the National Health Strategy for Qatar, launched in 2011. HMC and PHCC launched the programme in 2012, which is one of the most ambitious for the organisations’ future.
The Peninsula
