Dramatically Modernizing Health Care Delivery:
Mount Carmel Medical Group in Ireland to Launch MEDITECH System
(7/25/2007)

Eager to modernize and provide state-of-the-art care to patients, Mount Carmel Medical Group has selected MEDITECH's MAGIC Health Care Information System (HCIS) to replace its existing disparate technology solutions and paper-based methods. Mount Carmel Medical Group consists of three privately held hospitals: Aut Even Hospital in Kilkenny, St. Joseph's Hospital in Sligo, and Mount Carmel Hospital in Dublin, which will be the first site to implement the MEDITECH system.

"Our top reason for choosing MEDITECH is the seamless integration among their full range of software applications," states David Farrell, Mount Carmel Medical Group's I.T. manager. "We believe the MEDITECH system will help us achieve our goal to provide top quality services for the entire continuum of care, so at the end of the day, you have a complete picture of the patient and everything related to his or her care."

It's Unanimous: Hospital End Users Eager for MEDITECH
The Mount Carmel staff members are quite eager to utilize MEDITECH's HCIS. Anticipating the benefits of streamlined daily workflow processes, users are very supportive and enthusiastic about the conversion to a paperless environment and are in fact volunteering for implementation team positions.

"Our staff members had the opportunity to see for themselves how MEDITECH's system would help improve care delivery and clinician workflow, when we visited other MEDITECH sites," says Farrell, citing nearby Galway Clinic as well as London Clinic in the U.K.

Just as the system is a hit with current staff, Farrell expects the HCIS also will attract new top-notch clinicians and hospital personnel. "Today's generation of care providers is technology literate and demands a sophisticated system in place to support their work. We are excited to be able to provide that now," says Farrell.

From an I.T. perspective, Farrell explains the integrated HCIS will eliminate cumbersome interface maintenance issues which only sap I.T. and financial resources. "Rather than expend energy on managing complicated interfaces, it's far more important for the hospital to instead focus on improving health care," says Farrell.

Standardizing Processes Key to Future Success
Mount Carmel Medical Group will be undergoing a phased implementation plan. To start, Mount Carmel Hospital will install general financials, followed by administrative applications, and finally the clinical software.

Honing and standardizing implementation processes will be critical. With Mount Carmel Hospital as the pilot site for implementation rollout, the other two affiliated sites are set to mirror the hospital's successful implementation while each subsequent phase is concurrently being completed at the first site. "The initial phase of Mount Carmel Hospital's implementation is scheduled for November 2007, with the other facilities to follow in January 2008," adds Farrell.

Fully expecting the standardized approach to lead to a successful implementation across all three facilities, Farrell points out the MEDITECH system may also provide the organization with an advantage in fulfilling the government initiative involving the co-location of private hospitals on the grounds of public hospitals. Recently, Mount Carmel Medical Group has been selected as the preferred bidder for the private hospital co-location project with Sligo General Hospital in Sligo. Additionally, Mount Carmel Medical Group has been the only organization invited to bid for the private hospital co-location project at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown in Dublin.

"The MEDITECH system can be rolled out very easily to other sites," explains Farrell. "I envision our MEDITECH system will play a major role in this initiative for private hospitals to assist public hospitals in the facilitation of patient care."

As Mount Carmel Hospital is just getting started on implementing the MEDITECH HCIS, Farrell has already set his sights on other ways the organization can maximize their use of the system. He is especially looking forward to standardizing the organization's business processes, particularly with regards to patient billing. "Using MEDITECH's software, we will be able to perform reporting and benchmarking functions we were not able to do before. The MEDITECH system will help us better analyze hospital performance and identify areas for improvement to care delivery," concludes Farrell.

 

About Mount Carmel Hospital
Mount Carmel Medical Group (Churchtown, Ireland) consists of three privately held hospitals: Aut Even Hospital in Kilkenny, St. Joseph's Hospital in Sligo, and Mount Carmel Hospital in Dublin, which is the first site to implement the MEDITECH system. Mount Carmel Hospital holds the prestigious Joint Commission International accreditation standard recognizing commitment to providing the highest quality patient care. The Mount Caramel Medical Group is quickly establishing itself as the premier private health care operator in Ireland. The MEDITECH system provides the organization with an advantage in fulfilling the government initiative involving the co-location of private hospitals on the grounds of public hospitals.

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