The future of patient data flow

Oulu University Hospital has been developing the Esko system in Oulu with a user-centric approach, and the Finnish Medical Association has chosen the system as the best in Finland.

“We use the latest technology and develop our solutions constantly. Right from the beginning the development process has included doctors, nurses, document management specialists and information technology experts. We’ve received very good feedback especially about the usability of the service,” said Pasi Meriläinen, System Manager from Oulu University Hospital.

OYS TestLab testing facilities and their digital testing platform has now been opened for the first time to all companies who are looking for test integration and data transfer between different systems. The OYS TestLab will also be used to train medical students as they can use the Esko testing system to enter clinical records and other information and test it in practice, which is unique in Finland.

Seamless integration brings savings
One of the central elements in a well functioning healthcare solution is that information concerning a patient’s treatment moves effortlessly between different systems at various levels. For example, when a patient is hospitalised, the doctor currently does not have access to the patient’s medication records from primary healthcare. In the future, this information will be found directly through the Esko system.

These applications have been tested in practice at OYS TestLab’s test environment between Oulu University Hospital’s Esko system, Tieto’s Lifecare database and CGI’s OMNI360 system. ICT service companies Tieto and CGI have opened the interfaces for test use, and the TestLab environment has produced good results.

“Previously we had problems with transferring the information in a cost effective and seamless manner between one system and another. The systems do talk with each other at the moment to some extent, but every exchange of information has had to be specifically requested or programmed. In the future, the information will be exchanged swiftly and seamlessly,” said Sanna Virkkunen, OYS TestLab’s digital platform main architect from Oulu University Hospital.

“It is vital for both healthcare and social services that the patient’s whole treatment path can be accessed from different systems. This reduces treatment costs and queues notably and improves treatment planning and implementation,” said Kimmo Alaniska, Tieto’s Head of Healthcare.
Finland is a forerunner in open interfaces

Tieto and CGI started cooperation aiming to open interfaces already in the beginning of 2000, when the companies developed interfaces for referrals and treatment feedback, that have later become national standards.

”In Finland we have a long history of active cooperation in developing systems – also between competitors. We are global forerunners in open interfaces, for example in transferring structured medical information from one system to another. Environments such as OYS TestLab allow interoperability of systems as well as user-based testing, and they also function as an excellent growth platform for new ideas and business collaboration. It is important that the Finnish market for the social services and healthcare information systems will develop on healthy basis and the possibilities of modern technology are fully explored,” said CGI’s Customer and Patient Databases Manager Juha Sorri.

Healthcare of the future will be mobile, interactive and analytical
In addition to creating conversational systems, the future will see more mobile and electronic service applications. Hoitu is a mobile app for the Esko system, developed by Oulu University Hospital.

“At the moment Hoitu is being used in Oulu’s University Hospital’s emergency room and in the future it will be adapted to the departments, too. With the app, nursing staff can check the patient’s general situation with just one glance and prioritise the critical patients with an up-to-date patient list which has information on their situation and patient specific requirements set by experts,” described Meriläinen.