For those working in cardiac care, pre-op enquiries can be one of the most time-consuming tasks. Every time a patient with an implanted cardiac device needs a routine or emergency procedure, their records have to be checked by a Physiologist to ensure everything is up to date for those involved in the operation.
THE PROBLEM
For the NHS Lothian cardiology team, traditionally this process had been frustratingly slow. On average, a single pre-op enquiry would take between 5 to 8 minutes, often requiring extensive searches through paper records or even contacting other hospitals if follow-up care was being handled elsewhere. Tracking down the right people to provide this information was another hurdle and once gathered, multiple attempts were often required to get back to the enquirer, leading to further delays.
THE SOLUTION
Now, with EKORA®, all of the required information is stored in one place so when a request comes in, the Physiologist can pull up the patient’s electronic clinical record instantly leading to pre-op enquiries being completed in as little as 90 seconds. No more searching through paperwork. No more chasing down hospitals. No more back-and-forth calls. Just quick, seamless access to the information needed.
THE IMPACT
For the NHS Lothian team who handle dozens of pre-op enquiries every week, this isn’t just a small improvement, it’s a game changer. On average, they have seen savings of up to 80% of the time they used to spend on pre-op enquiries, which adds up to an incredible 12 extra days per year freed up by EKORA®.
Amy Young, Chief Cardiac Physiologist at NHS Lothian said,
“EKORA® has been transformational for our team. Pre-op enquiries used to be a time-consuming and often frustrating process, but now, with all the necessary information in one place, we can deal with these requests in a fraction of the time. This is just one of the many areas we have seen vast efficiency gains since implementing EKORA® and now we can’t imagine going back to the old way of doing things.”