Scotland shows the way towards a national EHR

The development of nationwide electronic health records and image archives is proving difficult in many places. Yet Scotland is showing the way, having completed one of the first examples of a truly national solution, installed by Carestream Health.

Implementation of the National Picture Archive and Communication System and Archive enables the cross-site exchange of data via a single clinical system. From Dumfries in the south to Shetland in the far north, Grampian in the east to the Hebrides in the far west, radiology departments are now able to access a common IT system to store and access data from the National Archive.

The implementation will also enable the creation of national medical records in Scotland for the first time, and builds the cornerstone of a future national electronic health record.

Charlie McCaffrey, managing director of Carestream Health in the UK and Ireland, talks about the project, how it differs from the approach taken by NHS Connecting for Health in England, and feedback from users now that the system is fully operational.

The experience of a busy radiology department at Stirling Royal Infirmary, part of Forth Valley Health Board, also demonstrates the day-to-day benefits of acquisition, storage, retrieval and display of digital patient images both locally and as part of the national network.

For more information about Carestream Health, visit www.carestreamhealth.com.