6pm p l c : iFIT™ now live in Wales

November 30, 2016

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board is now actively running iFIT™ to manage and track their patient health records at their Wrexham Maelor Hospital.

It is the first Health Board in Wales to run the healthcare logistics management platform from 6PM and after only two weeks since the successful go-live they are reporting initial benefits of 50% increase in filing and a reduction in overall effort in the Wrexham Maelor records library by about 30%.

This increase in efficiency is due to them now having an automated, intuitive and process-led system that tracks and manages all paper-based records, temporary files, volumes and duplicates within the hospital's facilities through the use of passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. The Health Records staff are filing records at a faster rate as they now no longer need pre-sorting. Case notes can now be re-filed directly onto the shelf in any order and tracked to the shelf location.

In addition to the instant benefits being made with the simplification of the library filing and tracking systems, there is a reduction in the occurrences of missing files and staff time spent searching for them. Handheld RFID 'guns' now enable staff to find a set of notes with an RFID tag in any area of the hospital, ensuring that the availability of patient notes will not delay any treatment.

As a result of the tangible benefits being achieved, Betsi Cadwaladr is now pushing to complete the implementation of iFIT™ in all three of its sites.

iFIT's integration with the Welsh PAS will also prepare the path towards a full electronic patient record, and beyond the scope of paper records, Betsi Cadwaladr have the opportunity to further utilise iFIT™ to track medical devices, bed frames, mattresses, wheelchairs, pathology samples, and vulnerable patients. This will offer further cost efficiencies, improve the service provided to the patient and reduce clinical risk.

Danielle Edwards, Head of Digital Records for the Health Board said, 'This is the first key step on the Health Board's journey to the electronic patient record and has been welcomed by all custodians of patient records and their management teams. Working with the excellent project team provided by 6PM, we have every confidence that this will prove to be a great success and ultimately improve patient outcomes.'

Steve Wightman, Deputy CEO of 6PM plc commented, 'I am delighted to see the first Welsh Health Board adopt iFIT as a strategic platform. It is very satisfying to see them experience the same benefits as other hospitals that have done so and therefore plan the roll-out to further sites in the very near future.'