The Region of North Jutland in Denmark

The Region of North Jutland selected the Theriak Medication Management (TMM) System in 2004 to serve all hospitals within the region. The decision to roll out in the whole region was based on a successful pilot phase in Aalborg Sygehus. The main goals Region North Jutland wanted to achieve by implementing the system were to improve quality of the medication process, reduce medication errors and increase efficiency in the work of clinicians. TMM is now used to serve the 7 somatic hospitals within the region and multiple psychiatric units. The system is integrated as specialist system for medication in the general EPR infrastructure in the Region.

Successful Implementation

The system is used extensively across the hospitals and Region North Jutland’s experience has been very positive with high acceptance among clinicians. The installation is complex with multiple sites and the volume the system handles is significant with over 5,000 active users.

Region North is devoted to the strategy of selecting best of breed solutions and displaying them in a common clinical portal for the clinicians. As a part of that strategy TMM has now live integrations with the ADT system, pharmacy system, Clinical suite viewer and devices for blood glucose. Projects for further integration are ongoing.

Reduction of Medication Errors

The most significant benefits the use of TMM has brought the hospitals and people of Region North Jutland are great reductions in medication errors.

At least two thirds of the medication errors that occurred when the medical record was maintained on paper have been minimized or eliminated in Region North Jutland according to the Chief Manager of Clinical Research in Aalborg Sygehus.

The implementation of TMM has resulted in more clinical focus and better control of the medication processes as:

1. Prescriptions are made readable

2. Prescriptions are accessible at any time

3. The system perform an instant and systematic analysis for double medication, interactions and unintended side effects and supports clinical decisions

4. Instructions for nurses in the dispensing and administration process are clear and unambiguous

5. Medication status for each patient in a ward provides the nurses with actual overview

Increased Quality in the Medication Process

An important factor in Region North Jutland’s decision to implement a medication management system was to increase the quality in the medication process.

One of the key elements to TMM is a systematic approach for ensuring quality in the prescription process. This includes simultaneous allergy- and interaction control and options to build protocols, preparations and drug defaults as recommendations and guidelines for prescriptions.

These options have been in use within the hospitals of Region North Jutland for three years and have proven to be indispensible to clinicians. Protocols and drug defaults make prescriptions safer, protocols make it easier to implement standard regimens and save time in the electronic prescription process. The result is a significant drop in recorded severe interactions.

Reliable Partnership

“For several years we have been working on the ambitious project of creating a unified process and automated workflow around medication management in all the region’s hospitals. Our primary aim with the choice of TMM was to increase patient safety. The level of complexity around our installation is quite high as we have multiple sites around the regions and thousands of users. We have found our partners at CIS-Theriak to be extremely capable to take on a project of this large scale. Throughout the project we have felt our partnership grow stronger as the staff at CIS-Theriak really share our ambition and our goals with the project.”