Milton Keynes University Hospital Launches Clinical Decision Support For Radiology Referrals

Milton Keynes University Hospital has deployed the iRefer® CDS solution from MedCurrent UK Ltd., a global leader in radiology Clinical Decision Support (CDS) software solutions, in order to provide primary and secondary care clinicians with seamless access to real-time radiology referral guidelines directly within their existing clinical workflow.

MedCurrent’s iRefer® CDS solution incorporates the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) iRefer® guidelines, a collection of over 300 curated, evidence-based radiology referral guidelines, and integrates a user friendly interface directly to the Milton Keynes University Hospital Cerner Millennium EPR to help guide referring doctors in making the most appropriate imaging requests for their patients the first time at the point of care. The solution also factors in the patients’ clinical history, such as lab results and previous imaging, to ensure that recommendations are specific to each patient’s unique health profile and ultimately support better health outcomes. In addition, iRefer® CDS can potentially aid in reducing a patient’s exposure to unnecessary ionizing radiation by recommending more optimal imaging studies, as well as optimize utilization of healthcare resources.

Milton Keynes University Hospital represents MedCurrent’s first Cerner based integration in the UK.

Craig York, Chief Technology Officer at Milton Keynes University Hospital said:

“Milton Keynes is a digital-first hospital, and the Radiology Department is certainly no exception. We are really excited about the opportunities that MedCurrent and their product iRefer® CDS brings to the use of our Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system Cerner Millennium, and look forward to seeing the benefits it will bring to the patient experience we can offer.

There is a lot made in the news about IT systems, their use in the NHS, and how difficult it is to integrate them all together; this project integrated two systems securely, using best practice, working across two different system suppliers: proving it is all possible and certainly worth the effort.”

Debbie Phillips, CCIO at Milton Keynes University Hospital added:

“I am so pleased to see iRefer® CDS in our Cerner EPR. It provides clinicians with evidenced based guidance for imaging requests customised for local diagnostic pathways at the point of ordering and making it easy to get the right test first time thereby minimise delays for patients”.

The iRefer® CDS solution also includes a comprehensive Analytics module that will permit Milton Keynes University Hospital to derive additional insights from the usage of CDS and help drive further quality improvement initiatives within the organization. In addition, the MedCurrent Authoring Studio module will be used to incorporate additional local Milton Keynes University Hospital guidelines to complement the iRefer® guidelines.

Dr. Steve Herman, Founder & CEO of MedCurrent, said:

“MedCurrent is very excited to be working with the Milton Keynes University Hospital team to demonstrate how iRefer CDS can help clinicians deliver more appropriate evidence based care for their patients to improve patient safety and quality. In addition, this initiative also represents an opportunity to optimize resource utilization that will provide additional operational benefits to the hospital”.

About Milton Keynes University Hospital

Milton Keynes University Hospital (MKUH) NHS Foundation Trust is a medium sized district hospital that provides a full range of acute hospital services and an increasing number of specialist services to the growing population of Milton Keynes and the surrounding areas. With around 550 beds and employing more than 4,000 staff, the hospital sees and treats appropriately 400,000 patients each year comprising of both outpatient and emergency attendances.

Over the last 10 years, the Trust has invested significantly in its site and has developed a number of new services and pathways to improve outcomes for patients, as well as the experience they receive whilst in our care. A number of further developments are planned for the coming years as the health demands of the local population change. For more information visit www.mkuh.nhs.uk.

About MedCurrent

MedCurrent is a physician-founded Clinical Decision Support (CDS) company focused on improving the quality of care and managing health system costs through our innovative and scalable solutions, OrderWise® and iRefer® CDS. Our solutions enhance the clinical decision-making process with real-time, evidence-based guidelines integrated at the point of care to improve health and healthcare delivery. Deep healthcare experience, superior technology and business agility make MedCurrent a global leader in CDS solutions. For more information, visit www.medcurrent.com.