A new recording system for endoscopies at Mildura Health Private Hospital (MHPH) looks set to benefit both patients and medical staff who will now be able to immediately receive doctors’ notes and images taken during the procedure.
The Endobase system – the installation has helped the hospital achieve the Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard for accreditation – works by gathering and linking data from an endoscopy, storing it in a centralised database, readily accessible to send to other medical staff and patients.
It also works to ensure specialists are performing an endoscopy – commonly performed to investigate potential cancers, ulcers, bleeding, and abdominal pain – in line with Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standards, and to reduce the amount of time spent manually entering data following the procedure.
MHPH General Surgeon, Dr Jim Tryfonopoulos – who is one of five specialists who perform endoscopies at MHPH and who was the first to use the new system on Tuesday – says it’s a positive move.
“Within a few seconds of a report from a gastroscopy or colonoscopy being generated, it can be sent off, which certainly helps with information flow. Previously, we had to do two reports, one handwritten and one on the computer, whereas this will be one centralised system which is a lot more efficient,” he said.
MHPH Acting Nurse Unit Manager, Linda Stone, says, “the system can formulate a patient letter allowing a patient to go home with the actual report from their endoscopy. It also provides more accuracy.
“For example, if the surgeon comes across any polyps, they can accurately document where it is in the colon and record exactly where it is removed. Further down the track, the surgeon can do a repeat colonoscopy and go back and look at those specific areas to do a comparison. Previously, they would not have the photos unless the surgeon brought them along with them.”
