QEH digital records rollout ‘set for July’

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is expected to roll out the first phase of its digital patient records system by July, officials said Wednesday, as the hospital’s digitisation process continues to make steady progress.

The QEH has partnered with digital management service provider Abergower to digitise 170 000 medical records. Of these, 75 000 have already been completed since the project began last August.

Chief Executive Officer Neil Clark said the initiative to modernise Barbados’ healthcare information system is aimed at eliminating longstanding inefficiencies and delays associated with paper-based records.

He said: “We’re digitising approximately 170 000 patient records and transforming those records into secure, structured, accessible digital information. Nearly four million pages of records have already been scanned, representing nearly 75 000 patient notes, with thousands more being processed each month. That is real progress, and that is momentum.”

He explained that the new system will allow healthcare providers and patients faster access to information, leading to safer clinical decision-making.

“Digitisation gives us faster access to information, safer clinical decision making, and a more efficient service for both patients and staff, and all of us here may one day be a patient. It also gives us something equally important, confidence in access to our data.”

Clark noted that the transformation goes beyond scanning, converting paper records into real-time, usable data.

“From a QEH perspective, this work is a critical foundation for what comes next. We are delivering as we speak, that full health information system for the hospital, a system that will transform how we manage patients, how we track care, and how we run our services, but the health information system is only as strong as the information within it. Digitisation is what makes that system work.”

Speaking at the launch of Abergower Barbados in Wildey on Wednesday, Clark said the hospital is on track for an initial rollout within two months.

“We should see deployment going out onto the wards and the clinics around July time and then beyond that, I would expect it would take two or three months to get full deployment of the system in, but this is going to be a significant change to the way we’re working.”

He explained that several elements are being implemented simultaneously, including digitisation, equipment upgrades, cybersecurity measures, and staff training.

“A number of these things all have to line in together. The training on the actual software has already started, the communication with our staff has already started. We identified 60 super users in the hospital across different departments and disciplines who were going to help train, train the trainer style of deployment.”

Clark added that the process also includes outfitting wards and clinics with the necessary infrastructure.

“One of them is digitising the records, buying the PCs, the equipment to go out onto the wards and the clinics, establishing a medical-grade Wi-Fi network to make sure that when the nurse walks around the ward, she can wirelessly stay connected to the information. A really important one is ensuring our cybersecurity resilience, and we have an external team, working with the Minister of [Innovation] Science and Technology and external consultants who’ve been brought in specifically to target and test that were resilient. And so a number of these things all have to line up together.”

Despite the technical progress, Clarke acknowledged that the biggest hurdle will be changing long-standing work habits.

“The biggest challenge for me isn’t all those technical elements, it’s that behavioural change. People naturally go back to how they used to do things, and even if you try to bring these changes in now, I see people trying to manualise a digital process where steps that they’re thinking about don’t need to exist anymore.”

He added: “With digital, we can actually change the whole flow of the patient journey, and we no longer have to do it this way, just because we’ve been doing it that way for the last 62 years.”

With physical implementation set to begin in July, the hospital is aiming for full rollout by the end of 2026.

Once fully implemented, Clarke said the system is expected to extend beyond the hospital to other healthcare facilities.

“When you present, or anybody presents at A&E, the A&E team will have immediate access to your medical records. They don’t have that now. As they search, trying to find the medical record, they have to start testing, duplicating tests, duplicating diagnostics. As you come into the A&E department, they will have full access to your medical records, and as we move further along this journey, we digitise the QEH, we then connect with the polyclinics, and even further down, establish connections with private clinics.”

Clark expressed confidence that the system will significantly improve efficiency and patient care, even as broader challenges remain.

“No matter where, the A&E department can have full access to what’s been happening to you over the last few days, and that saves them time having to repeat tests and those delays that come with repeating the tests….The digitisation won’t fix all those challenges [patient surges] but it will certainly make access to that data much faster, and data is king.”

(LG)