Central Denmark Region strengthens quality and patient safety through care guides
Over the next few years, patients and citizens in Central Denmark Region will be offered a new way of communicating with the hospitals in the region.
- Thanks to Aarhus University Hospital, who has been the driving force behind this project, we have started a revolution in communication with patients. When we introduce the Patient Guide platform from Emento, communication will be coherent from the appointment letter all the way through to the patient's discharge. It provides overview, security and coherence and makes things more smooth for both patients and employees,
says Ole Thomsen, Executive Director of Central Denmark Region.
The Care Guide benefits patients - and staff at the same time
The region has recently made agreements with the IT companies KMD and Emento to deliver the digital platform for customized patient guides at individual departments.
The Patient Guide platform is already used at Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Aarhus University Hospital, and Diagnostic Center at Regional Hospital Central Jutland. Patients have already expressed satisfaction with the new service.
- We can see from the preliminary evaluations that their personal care guide is perceived as user-friendly, and that patients are more informed, feel safe and take responsibility for their pathway when they use the patient guide,
says Jørgen Schøler, Medical Director at Aarhus University Hospital.
The idea to make patient guides came up when wards became aware that the many pages of written patient information was considered difficult to read, use and understand. Therefore, a co-creation process was started involving both users and healthcare professionals in the development of the Patient Guide platform.
In the patient’s patient guide, the patient gets the relevant information at the right time in the pathway. The patient no longer receives everything at once, but only what is relevant in relation to examination, diagnosis and treatment - based on the principle of the right information at the right time.
Content from the hospital websites is used for the patient guides . The patient guides will be supplemented with short videos, relevant links and animations.
The Patient Guide platform also makes it possible for staff to monitor if patients have received and accessed the information timely: this could be a notification to start fasting. This is reassuring for both staff and patients and ensures that staff resources can be used more adequately.
Adapted to the patient's needs
As a patient guide is digital, the material can be quickly adapted to patients' needs.
- Traditionally, communication in healthcare is a kind of one-size-fits-all approach, where the healthcare system communicates in the same way and sometimes an overwhelming amount of information is given at the first contact. There is a need for communication based on the patient's needs and individual pathway. The Patient Guide platform modernizes the dialogue between patient and staff, and KMD is committed to contributing to the public sector in an innovative and secure way,
says Merete Søby, Director of Data-driven Solutions at KMD.
In the development of the Patient Guide platform, Emento has taken a starting point in the needs of citizens and patients. In collaboration with Central Denmark Region, the focus has evolved over time into a broader perspective on IT, communication and digitization, where learning in communication and improving the patient's and citizen's health literacy have been paramount.
- For a long time, we have collaborated with Aarhus University Hospital and the patients on the development of the Patient Guide platform. Therefore, it is very satisfying for us that patient guides can now benefit patients across Central Denmark Region,
says Allan Juhl, CEO of Emento.
Facts about the timetable
Central Denmark Region, Emento and KMD are now starting collaboration with the first departments across Central Denmark Region to upscale implementation across the region. During 2021, the plan is to roll out more patient guides and then scale the implementation.
