Health Information Management: Integrating Information Technology ...

STRATEGY, IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION 149
availability, we will aim to introduce a PACS on the basis of reducing the
operational costs of image-producing departments.
Over the next five years, we will take the following steps:
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implementing hospital-wide PACS;
implementing electronic order and results communications in all caresupporting
departments;
achieving one patient agenda by integrating all departmental agendas in
one master patient agenda.
Integrated planning
Should aim at the role of planner of care activities. This could be
individual care activities, or care activities in the context of hospital-wide
integrated planning. We will have to investigate whether we will aim at
introducing treatment trajectory planners, or whether we will work with
departmental planners (capacity planners), or with a mixture of both. This
role has as its most important aspects:
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planning and monitoring care activities from the viewpoint of one
patient agenda, individually or in the context of a care pathway;
the earliest and furthest possible planning of care activities in the context
of a protocol or care pathway, within a department, hospital-wide and
ultimately in a regional context;
the earliest and furthest possible planning of care activities in the context
of a single capacity or multiple capacities (mostly a traditional
departmental focus). For this, insight into all resources (people, space
and equipment) constituting a capacity is necessary.
The information systems involved are: integrated planning system,
planning modules order management systems or departmental systems,
specialist work-stations, etc. Functions include: care activities planning,
capacities planning, treatment trajectory planning, care pathway
management, etc.
Over the next five years, we will take the following steps:
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introducing and utilizing an integrated planning module;
achieving one integrated patient agenda;
defining care pathways and treatment protocols;
piloting treatment trajectory planning;
providing access to planning functionality in a regional context.