In an interview with Sibel Buabeng-Atmaca, she shares with the program ‘Available urgently‘ that she used to have little interest in technology. “Unknown makes unloved. If you don’t know what digital data exchange is for you and how it can contribute to your patient’s care, you can become skeptical. For example, I was not waiting for extra clicks or work.”
Buabeng-Atmaca now thinks very differently and enthusiastically explains how she has come to appreciate digital data exchange. Buabeng-Atmaca, is an internist, allergist, clinical immunologist and supervisor of internal medicine at the emergency department at the Reinier de Graaf Gasthuis. She has now fully experienced the benefits of digital data exchange in practice. Before she came to work at the Reinier de Graaf hospital, she had never worked with the digital pre-announcement.
Patient informed prior to arrival
“In HiX I was familiar with the emergency department’s routing screen where you can see where all patients are and where you can register patients. At the top I suddenly saw a field for the ambulance. When you open that screen, you can see which patients are on their way to the emergency room,” Buabeng-Atmaca continues.
She finds the pre-announcement particularly valuable because colleagues can be well informed about the patient’s condition before the ambulance arrives. If it is already known in advance through the digital data exchange that the patient has low blood pressure, then it can be ensured in advance that the squeeze bags are ready, for example.
Get the right patient file quickly
This is particularly useful for seriously ill patients when the patient file can be retrieved when the ambulance is on its way to the hospital where the patient is known. It is then possible to see what medication he or she is using, what the history is and whether or not the patient wants to be resuscitated.
“In a patient of whom we know that he no longer wants to be resuscitated, this can be seen in time by the doctor on duty at the emergency department. Such information is crucial when making a treatment plan.”
Ask more targeted questions
Thanks to the digital data exchange, the paramedic can ask much more specific questions. Previously, Buabeng-Atmaca says, she was mainly busy listening to the paramedic when the patient was wheeled in. It is now the case that due to the digital pre-announcement that appears in the information system of the emergency department, important medical information from the ambulance is also shared with the emergency department. As a result, she says she can communicate in a much more focused way and she has more time to observe patients. After all, their clinical perspective is very important for healthcare professionals.
“If I don’t have to fully focus on what the paramedic says, I can focus more on the patient and what I see in him. This way I can draw the right conclusions faster and offer good care.”
Program ‘Available urgently’
Digital data exchange in emergency care made its appearance in the Southwest Netherlands region in April 2021 with a first frontrunner project to improve digital data exchange between the Rotterdam-Rijnmond Ambulance and the Accident and Emergency departments of Maasstad Hospital, IJsselland Hospital and Erasmus MC. The program ‘Available urgently’ started in 2020.
Until 1 July, healthcare providers and the suppliers of their information systems can use the ‘Available with urgency’ program to support to replace ‘the piece of paper’ with a digital message. For help or questions, please send an email to: info@metspoedbeschikbaar.nl
