CSC (NYSE:CSC) in Austria has announced that it has successfully built an integral part of Austria's electronic health record (EHR), the Master Patient Index (MPI). The MPI, which was delivered on time and on budget, will be an essential component in enabling Austria's healthcare professionals to perform a nationwide search for patient information using the patient's social security number or eCard. Productive usage of the system will occur after approval of the act on Electronic Health Records in Austria and will be aligned with the ELGA master plan.
The system is designed to locate electronic records, which are held and stored at a local level, and enable the Austrian EHR to make them available to the appropriate medical staff in different departments and hospitals throughout Austria.
The records will be presented to healthcare professionals through a detailed, single view and ensure that staff have the most up to date information about the patient they are treating.
The Austrian Federal Ministry for Health holds overall responsibility for Austria's electronic patient record programme, ELGA (Elektronische Gesundheitsakte). In January 2010, a division of the country's social insurance department, ITSV (IT Services der Sozialversicherung) awarded CSC the contract to build the Master Patient Index and integrate it into ELGA.
"The MPI will provide high quality data which can be used by healthcare providers to reduce time spent trying to find patient information," said Dr. Thomas Hladschik, senior program manager at ITSV, who leads the project from ITSV.
"When the electronic health record is complete, clinicians will have all the relevant information at their fingertips, ensuring that there is no need for medical tests to be carried out multiple times, documents are accessible nationwide and the end-to-end process around patient care is enhanced and accelerated."
When fully established the project will see demographic data of Austria's eight million citizens loaded from the country’s existing Central Partner Management (ZPV) application, also developed by CSC.
The MPI is one of a number of components that will make up the complete patient record. Other aspects include a Health Service Provider Index, Document Register, Authorisation Concept, Logging System and Health Portal. These components will allow for several core applications to be accessed by clinical staff including discharge information and documentation, laboratory results, x-ray results and eMedication.
"This is a great achievement for CSC and a clear example of how a national programme can be successful," said Guy Hains, president, CSC International. "By providing a system that automatically displays detailed patient information at the point of care, clinicians will be able to spend more time treating their patients and providing the best and safest care possible. With this, CSC is transforming healthcare with better information for better decision. We are proud to be part of the Austrian vision for 'connected health' and the advanced architecture that has been implemented."
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About the Austrian Federal Ministry for Health
The Austrian Federal Ministry for Health (BMG) holds overall responsibility for Austria's electronic health record project (ELGA) and is supported by the federal states and the country's social insurance department, HVB (Hauptverband der Sozialversicherungsträger). A division of HVB, the ITSV (IT Services der Sozialversicherung) appointed CSC Austria in 2010 to develop and integrate the Master Patient Index into ELGA. The project, which is expected to be completed in 2012, will provide key healthcare professionals with access to electronic x-ray findings, electronic discharge letters, electronic laboratory data and electronic
medication history. An online portal with health information for citizens will also be developed to give citizens access to their individual patient data after eCard-identification.
About CSC Healthcare EMEA
CSC Healthcare EMEA is part of the CSC Global Healthcare Group, which serves both private and public sectors around the world. As a leading provider of interoperable, scalable IT healthcare solutions CSC is transforming healthcare with better information for better
decisions. Working with health ministries and healthcare providers across the region CSC Healthcare EMEA helps to drive reform and rise to the challenge of delivering a digitised health service. Spearheading the development of its product range is the CSC European
Solution Centre, which is complemented by CSC's global Innovation Centres.
Currently the EMEA group has healthcare operations in more than 11 countries, employing approximately 3,000 healthcare experts. As part of a global group it is supported by an extensive partner network and provides substantial experience of national healthcare markets.
About CSC
CSC is a global leader in providing technology-enabled business solutions and services. Headquartered in Falls Church, Va., CSC has approximately 91,000 employees and reported revenue of $16.0 billion for the 12 months ended April 1, 2011. For more information, visit the company's website at www.csc.com.