CSC (NYSE: CSC) announced that the county of Blekinge in Sweden is the first customer outside Denmark for its LABKA II Laboratory Information System. After going live in late October, the system will be used to support the Karlskrona and Karlshamn hospitals within the Swedish province administrative county, and provide healthcare professionals with a more efficient, safer laboratory information service.
LABKA has enjoyed considerable success in Denmark, where the CSC Healthcare Solution Centre is based. It is anticipated that the first use of the upgraded LABKA II suite beyond Denmark will mark the start of an international roll-out in other areas of Sweden, the Nordics and beyond.
Once fully operational, LABKA II will provide a system for test ordering, analysis and results reporting, and will be capable of communicating with all of the hospitals' existing laboratory equipment. Healthcare staff will also use the system to manage laboratory test requests, distribution of tasks, collection and processing of results, validation, approval, reporting, data exchange and quality assurance.
The deployment of the LABKA II system at both hospitals will streamline and automate the laboratory testing procedure, eliminating the need for paper records. Healthcare professionals will be able to electronically order tests and then process and record results onto the patient record electronically. Working with a vast range of modern and legacy electronic health record (EHR) software suites, the system can interface with more than 150 different types of laboratory equipment, enabling the hospital to leverage and protect investments in its existing infrastructure.
System benefits include reduced administration, increased efficiency, faster processing of results and increased accuracy resulting in safer patient care. Eliminating paper records also means increased patient confidentiality since results are accessible only to approved medical professionals, and data is delivered instantly to ensure that treatment is based on the latest information.
"Blekinge was attracted to LABKA II because of the model and track record of delivery and results within the Danish healthcare system,” said Agneta Sjöblom, healthcare systems manager for the province. “Its potential to increase efficiency and improve continuity of care, patient safety and clinical productivity through the provision of accurate information was also important."
"It was very important for us to have a reliable system that could integrate with the other patient software in our two main hospitals, as well as the systems used by the patient's own local doctor and health insurance company. The reporting functionality is excellent and the system will provide a huge advantage in terms of supporting internal workflows within the laboratories," Sjöblom added.
Freddy Lykke, managing director of the CSC Healthcare Solution Centre in Denmark, believes the successful implementation in Blekinge underlines how the company's solutions are now proving attractive outside Denmark and believes this is the start of an exciting international roll-out for LABKA II. "LABKA II was chosen by Blekinge because it was considered to be one of the most efficient and flexible laboratory information suites available," said Lykke. "Working through our Solution Centre also meant we could work with the province to tailor the system exactly to suit their individual, local needs. And what they highlighted to us was the fact the system is so easy to use with a built-in e-Learning function, eliminating the need for huge investment in training."
This flexible approach, Lykke believes, will encourage additional clients within Denmark and beyond to use LABKA II, either as a new installation or as an upgrade for an existing LABKA implementation.
Related news articles:
- CSC's Profile
About Blekinge Province
The province and administrate county in the south of Sweden has a population of circa 150,000 and has two main hospitals in Karlskrona and Karlshamn. These hospitals have a combined capacity of 500 beds and would expect to carry out, in an average year, circa 2.5m laboratory tests.
About CSC Healthcare Solution Centre
Spearheading the development of its product range is the CSC Solution Centre based in Aarhus, Denmark, where the healthcare sector has one of the most advanced IT systems in the world. With a track record, since 1972, of pioneering the development of healthcare IT solutions, the Solution Centre is helping to drive CSC's commitment and ability to deliver patient centric systems and services for healthcare providers throughout all European countries and beyond. Its strength is based on its mix of highly-trained IT experts as well as personnel with healthcare and clinical experience.
About CSC
CSC is a global leader in providing technology-enabled solutions and services through three primary lines of business. These include Business Solutions and Services, the Managed Services Sector and the North American Public Sector. CSC's advanced capabilities include system design and integration, information technology and business process outsourcing, applications software development, Web and application hosting, mission support and management consulting. The company has been recognized as a leader in the industry, including being named by FORTUNE Magazine as one of the World's Most Admired Companies for Information Technology Services (2010). Headquartered in Falls Church, Va., CSC has approximately 94,000 employees and reported revenue of $16.1 billion for the 12 months ended October 1, 2010. For more information, visit the company's website at www.csc.com.