This demo shows how staff will order, check on and review a radiology report in our new EPR.
Watch: the radiology ordering demo
The demo introduced how staff will use our new EPR to order, monitor and review radiology requests.
Clinicians will access Order Management from the Acute Status Board in the EPR, the area used to view and manage inpatients.
Access to the Acute Status Board and other parts of the EPR is role-based, so staff see the applications appropriate to their role.
Clinicians will search for radiology procedures, such as a chest X-ray, in Order Management, or find them through the menu. Orders will need a priority and answers to the relevant questions before they can be submitted.
The system uses patient and account information to support ordering. Some questions may be pre-populated from information already recorded during the patient’s current visit, while patient demographics can trigger additional questions, such as pregnancy information.
Staff will need to review pre-populated information rather than assuming it is still correct.
Once submitted, radiology orders can receive status updates from the RIS. These include order, vetting, booking and reporting statuses, with information such as rejection reasons, scheduled dates and critical results displayed in the EPR. Staff can also review order details and the audit trail.
Safety features in the EPR include duplicate-order checks, clinical conflicts and prompts for information such as eGFR before contrast CT. Depending on how they are set up, conflicts may prevent an order or allow an authorised override.
The programme is continuing integration and testing with RIS, PACS and specialist and third-party services. Further guidance and training, including an explanation of the terms used in the system, will be provided before go-live.
Key points
- Role-based access: You see the areas of the EPR appropriate to your role, including the Acute Status Board.
- Order Management: The main area for placing and reviewing orders. Clinicians open it from the Acute Status Board, which is used to view and manage inpatients.
- Priority: Choose stat, urgent or routine when ordering, then answer the relevant “ask on entry” questions.
- Questions that adapt: Questions can change with the patient’s circumstances. For example, pregnancy and last menstrual period questions may appear based on demographics.
- Pre-populated information: Some answers, patient details and clinician contact details can be filled in from the patient’s account or record. Check they are still accurate.
- Status updates: Orders receive updates from the Radiology Information System (RIS), such as vetting, booking, reporting and order status, scheduled dates and critical flags.
- Stopping a request: A clinician can submit a stop request where appropriate. For radiology, this sends a request to the RIS rather than simply deleting the order.
- Audit trail: You can see who placed or verified an order and the sequence of events.
- Safety checks: These include duplicate-order warnings and prompts for information such as eGFR before certain contrast CT requests. Some conflicts are hard stops; others can be overridden.
- Connected workflows: The programme is working towards integration with RIS, PACS and procedure and theatre workflows, with further testing needed for different sites, suppliers and specialist services such as PET-CT.