Striving to drive care quality, efficiency and safety through medical device integration
- By Philips
- March 01 2025
- 3 min read
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) has long been focused on creating a digital healthcare environment to improve the lives of patients. At the center of their strategy is a fully integrated electronic patient record (EPR) and a comprehensive medical device integration (MDI) strategy. As a leading academic and clinical research center, it is critical to create an environment where all patient information collected, including medical device data, is available and accessible within one record.
At-a-glance:
- Partner
- CUH is a specialist teaching hospital that serves the people of Cambridge and eastern England.
- Challenge
- CUH wanted a single solution for medical device connectivity and data management to inform clinical decision-making -- from the intensive care unit and surgical theatres, to the general ward and post-acute care areas.
- Solution
- CUH chose Capsule’s Medical Device Information Platform to support its medical device integration (MDI) initiative. Implemented in the ICU and ICU contingency unit, surgical theatres and anesthesia, the project integrated cardiac monitors, ventilators, anesthetic devices and CO2 monitors with the electronic patient record and clinical research.
- Results
- Documentation time savings in critical care equivalent to £2.6m annual staff time*
- Increased number of anesthesia theatre cases by 225 a year*
- Decreased theatre turnaround time by 3 minutes per case*
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) is one of the most well-known healthcare trusts in the UK. Comprised of Addenbrooke’s Hospital and The Rosie Hospital, CUH’s vision is to improve people’s quality of life through innovative and sustainable healthcare.
In 2017, 99% of the Trust became paperless as a result of its eHospital digital program and implementation of a Trust-wide EPR. Medical device integration (MDI) was a key component of this initiative.
Integration complexity
CUH wanted a single solution for medical device connectivity and data management to inform clinical decision making — from the intensive care unit and surgical theatres, to the general ward and post-acute care areas. CUH was looking to use device data for multiple purposes — first to automate EPR documentation, and then to supply data to clinical research systems, and beyond. This required a system that could capture inbound connections, but also parse the outbound data into multiple, customizable feeds to meet the requirements of other systems. Cambridge University Hospitals needed an experienced partner to help navigate the nuances of device integration and create an overall plan.
With the Capsule solution, medical device data is automatically and immediately transferred into our EPR. This approach has been key to enhancing data accuracy whilst at the same time freeing up our nurses for more patient-centered care.
Dr. Afzal Chaudhry
Chief Medical Information Officer
Cambridge University Hospitals
Phased, enterprise strategy
In parallel with the EPR implementation, CUH chose Capsule’s Medical Device Information Platform to support its medical device integration (MDI) initiative. The phased implementation approach began with the intensive care unit and surgical theatres. Phase two expanded MDI across remaining high acuity care areas and additional device types, and expanded the use of data into clinical research. Phase three will include MDI for the general wards, the emergency department, and the use of data for decision support analytics.
Striving to improve efficiency and patient safety*
As a result of MDI, Cambridge University Hospitals believes that it is experiencing improvements in clinical efficiency, accuracy of information and time redirection to activities intending to support patient care and safety. Clinicians no longer spend time on manual charting, often making unintended transcription errors. Overall clinical documentation is faster, more accurate and resulted in many improvements:
- Documentation time savings in Critical Care equivalent to £2.6m annual staff time
- Increased number of Anesthesia/Theatre cases by 225 a year
- Decreased Theatre turnaround time by 3 minutes per case
- Support patient safety improvements through returned focus on direct patient care, appropriate clinical interventions based on accurate, quality data and reduced treatment delays
- Improved data availability for EPR documentation, clinical research, and in the future, analytics and clinical decision support such as NEWS2 (UK National Early Warning Score)
CUH was awarded HIMSS EMRAM Stage 6 status for its digital innovation efforts, and MDI was a key factor in its designated as an NHS Global Digital Exemplar.
Continuous value
As CUH continues to expand and strengthen its digital strategy into other care areas and analytics, the demand on medical device information as a data resource will grow. CUH is currently evaluating analytics within the Capsule system that can help ensure connectivity uptime, improve battery management, and optimize device utilization.
Striving to drive care quality, efficiency and safety through medical device integration
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Disclaimer
* Based on the outcomes stated by the Cambridge University Hospitals, UK - www.cuh.nhs.uk/documents/178/Brochure_eHospital_Website_Version_September_2019.pdf.
Results are specific to the institution where they were obtained and may not reflect the results achievable at other institutions.