Design and implementation of an integrated information platform for emergency interconnection

Objective To establish a "patient-centered" integrated information platform for emergency interconnection. Methods Based on the existing software, hardware and network systems of the hospital, design ideas of the modularization, process and standardized were used to reshape the process of emergency diagnosis and treatment in department of emergency-critical care medicine of Huashan North Hospital, Fudan University, and develop integrated information platform for emergency interconnection, including triage, emergency physician workstation, electronic medical records, clinical pathways of key diseases, medical integration, electronic handover classes, imaging, testing, ultrasound, drug counseling and medication safety, performance appraisal and management systems of scientific research, etc. Results The information platform for emergency interconnection was successfully developed. The functional logic of each system was clear and concise. It had strong compatibility, stable performance and powerful processing capability. It could quickly query the target content and support free and fast switching of each window. At present, daily diagnosis and treatment of emergency patients were realized by informationization, which completely liberated the manual labor of medical staff, shortened the processing time of unit patient, and significantly improved efficiency of the work. At the peak of the patients' visit, the overall operation of the emergency department was stable, and all the work was carried out in an orderly manner. There was no delay of the diagnosis and treatment for critically ill patients in the emergency department. Emergency access to patients with key diseases was smooth, and waiting time was significantly shortened. Clinical decision-making of medical staff had been effectively regulated. The success rates of the patients with acute trauma or acute respiratory failure were significantly improved, the time of the critical treatment were significantly shortened in patients with emergency respiratory cardiac arrest or acute ST-segment elevation myocardial, and compliance rate of the door-to-balloon time met the requirements of the Emergency Room to Balloon Expansion Time (DTB) Alliance. Conclusion The integrated information platform for emergency interconnection ran through the whole process of emergency diagnosis and treatment, based on emergency clinical practice, which could meet the needs of daily work in emergency department and help improve the quality of emergency medical and department management. Key words: Emergency department; Interconnection; Information platform; Design; Implementation