This weekend, a health record system called HealthPlatform will be launched in St. Ola.
There is uneasiness even before the introduction. Among others, it has one hundred intensive care nurses It requested that the system not be introduced In the hospital.
Martin Aldruther worked as a subject matter expert at the Health Platform for many years. He was involved in the creation of a new joint patient register for the health service in central Norway at a cost of NOK 4.2 billion (see fact box).
He is a specialist in vascular surgery at St. Olav’s Hospital and has worked on developing an IT system on behalf of vascular surgeons.
He resigned as subject specialist this summer.
– Difficulty arguing with colleagues and friends. Altreuther says it’s hard to realize that something you’ve invested a lot of effort into isn’t turning out so well.
St Ola’s managing director Creith Osweth believes concerns about major changes are natural. He says the hospital is as well prepared as possible.
– Epic is one of the world’s largest suppliers of registry solutions for hospitals, and Osweth says it’s reassuring to see no hospital more ready than St. Ola’s.
There will never be enough
Subject matter experts at the health platform are experts recruited from the healthcare system who helped design and develop the registration system. This is to ensure that the IT service meets the needs of all parts of the healthcare system.
In all, more than 500 subject matter experts are engaged in various job percentages, health platform statistics show.
They don’t have statistics on how many subject specialists have withdrawn in total, and refer to hospitals and municipalities.
Martin Altreuther was involved from the beginning and developed a system for vascular surgery.
Initially, he believed that the health platform could become a good and user-friendly system, which would be better than the health platform in Denmark, which caused great dissatisfaction among the health workers. He says that doubt came at the end.
New versions of the journal system were ready, but Altruther was not impressed with the result.
– It’s complicated and difficult to use, and as I see it, it won’t be enough, he says. He believes that Epic’s system at the bottom is old and difficult to change and change systems other than the US healthcare system.
Finally, he decided to resign from his post.
“The main reason is an anxiety I’ve been dealing with for a while” He writes in his resignation letter.
– Why did you leave?
– If I can say in one sentence, that the system is not good enough. I don’t want that on my conscience, says Altreuther.
Altreuther believes the solution is more complex and difficult to change. He didn’t see that that would ever be enough.
Photo: Stein Roar Light / NRK
Not comfortable talking
Altreuther fears the system will lead to reduced efficiency and thus increased waiting lists.
A 5 percent reduction in efficiency for a health system already operating on the edge of a cliff could have serious consequences over time, he says.
– Don’t you feel a sense of loyalty to an organization you helped create?
– At the top is patient loyalty and a functioning healthcare system. When I say that it puts both patients and the healthcare system at risk to the point that we can’t do our jobs, you have to speak up, even if it’s too inconvenient and deeply entrenched.
– The health platform is about to be introduced and it is clear that there is no deviation from that plan. Wouldn’t it be nice to play the subject matter expert role and help make the system as good as possible?
– If I had believed it could be done better, I would have done it. But I found that in my mind we were not able to use it, he says.
It ends for various reasons
According to Altreuther, he knows many subject specialists who have resigned for similar reasons. He mentions two others at St. Ola’s, but thinks there are more.
Of the eight people who left Trondheim municipality, three of them have started working full-time at the health platform. At St Ola’s, three subject specialists have resigned from their roles. 13 chose not to extend and three left their jobs at the hospital.
Three resigned out of concern
St Ola’s managing director Greith Osweth said the hospital was ready ahead of the launch.
Photo: Bent Lindsettmo / NRK
According to the hospital’s director, Aswad, the subject matter experts are critical to the hospital’s fit-for-purpose solution and few replacements are expected.
– Subject specialists will continue in their clinical work, and most of those who have left have returned to other positions and roles at St. Olave and outside. Three have justified their dismissal. The majority have been replaced by new subject matter experts, he says.
Hells Nord Trøndelag has hired 28 subject matter experts for the health platform. A total of 13 of these have chosen to withdraw or extend their contracts.
The reasons are various. Some have challenges working in English, some have found it very difficult to connect with clinical work, and others have started working on the wellness platform. According to Katinga Meirik, who is professionally responsible for introducing the health platform in Hels Nord-Trøndelag, two people have resigned due to, among other things, lack of motivation.
– None of our subject matter experts resign because they have doubts about the solution or the quality of the solution, and for some the working method is demanding, Meyrick says.
He says Hels Nord Trøndelag is not concerned about dropouts, adding that it is a normal turnover percentage in the healthcare system.
– We don’t think it’s anything special, says Meyrik.
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