Case management software hits the ground running at Royal Liverpool

A case management system installed just two months ago at the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust is already reducing the length of hospital stays and improving communication with patients and relatives.

 

Implementation of the clinical utilisation management system from a firm called Medworxx, believed by the Trust to be the first case management system in the UK, has already resulted in a reduction in patients who are ready to be discharged but have been delayed, for example.

 

The percentage of elective patients ready to leave had reduced from 5.4% to 4.6% since go-live, while non-electives had reduced from more than 7% to 5.8%.

 

The system, live in A&E, the medical assessment unit, intensive and coronary care units and medical, surgical and rehabilitation wards, pulls a direct feed of patient information from the trust’s iPM patient administration system.

 

Case managers are then responsible for assessing the management of patients based on the information provided, which includes identifying any factors that delay a patient’s treatment or discharge, such as delays in test results.

 

Deputy director of operations, Trish Armstrong-Child, told IT informatics site eHealth Insider: “From a patient and relative point of view, by having the system there’s so much more better communication with the patients and relatives.

 

"It isn’t about why these patients come in; it’s about identifying what is holding up their discharge, and now we can communicate that to them.”