Virtually all aspects of the Paediatric Cardiologists workload are catered for within HeartSuite. Outpatient clinics and waiting lists can be easily managed by the clinician himself and/or his secretary. Clinical data such as that relating to Echocardiograms, Catheterisations andPacemakers are stored on the system with automated calculation of a myriad of useful diagnostic tools such as centiles, catheterisation calculations and normal values for given patient groups. Since cross-mapped coded diagnoses and procedure data are entered through easy to use browser interfaces, clinicians can take control of the coding and reporting of their work both for the audit and charging of their work. By bringing together disparate information such as drug prescriptions,follow-up and nursing inpatient data, HeartSuite can generate comprehensive immediate discharge summaries for inpatient stays.Perhaps most importantly they have all of the information they require immediately to hand from letters to patients to clinical images all in the one place saving time and effort searching for physical medical records. By centralising data which would often be spread across a number of databases and paper based systems HeartSuite also greatly improves the quality of information as well as it’s completeness.

In HeartSuite Surgeons may manage their waiting lists more effectively with full reporting capabilities on aspects such as the time patients are on lists, automated TCI letter generation and cancellation management and follow up. Extensive details of surgical procedures may be recorded with cross mapped coding and reported with audit returns subsequently generated automatically.

HeartSuite includes a request system which allows staff to manage investigation work lists. There are specific modules for Echocardiograms, ECG’s(EKG’s), Exercise Tolerance Tests, Pacemaker Follow Up and Event Monitors which generate documentation for the patients medical record. Any image data may be ‘attached’ to patients in common formats such as DICOM and then accessed over a network. Activity reports are available to report and manage workload. An unique new improved comprehensive pacemaker management system will be added as a standard option in HeartSuite before the end of 2007.

Inpatient stays are recorded using an extremely easy to use calendar based interface. Staff handover lists may be automatically generated at the end of shifts. Liaison/Specialist Paediatric Cardiac nurses have their own very popular module within HeartSuite which allows them to manage their workload, record consultations with patients and parents as well as allowing them to send letters using the document generation system. Clinicians may make electronic requests for nurse consultations that can then be actioned.

HeartSuite has a comprehensive integrated document and letter management system which increases the efficiency of secretarial staff. Typically all letters to patients are generated from easily configured templates which are then stored centrally and available to all users with sufficient security rights within the system. Sophisticated functionality allows data from virtually any part of the system to be embedded within letters automatically. The data in letters is ‘frozen’ at the time of generation to ensure it’s integrity even if the patient’s details subsequently change. HeartSuite uses the latest version of Microsoft Word for letter generation thus reducing the need for staff training, whilst offering all of the functionality of that application.

With the constantly improving outcomes for patients with congenital heart disease, the ACHD population continues to grow. The challenge for clinicians is to provide a seamless transfer of care to ACHD centres as well as allowing long term outcome audit data to be available. HeartSuite has a specific module to record and manage ACHD patients. In addition if you refer those patients to an adult centre you can give seamless access to the data you have built up on HeartSuite while they were at your centre while allowing the ACHD clinicians to continue to add to the dataset. HeartSuite also has a Fetal Cardiology module. Patients may be tied to the records of their mother and siblings allowing data gathered during fetal echocardiography to seamlessly be attached to the baby once it is born while also allowing clinical audit to be done on outcomes, risk factors etc. In addition there is a module for Dieticians through which they may record feed details with automated calculation of calories per feed etc. HeartSuite includes an MRI module which has been developed in conjunction with Guys Hospital in London, a leading centre in the use of MRI in paediatric cardiology. There are also screens for Deaths, Final Discharge and Final Transfer.

With HeartSuite you don’t need to compromise or wait! The typical scenario for users of other paediatric cardiac systems is one of frustration because most are effectively just modified adult cardiac systems. Instead of hoping that ‘at some point in the future’ the functionality you require will be added to meet your requirements, as a paediatric system even if we haven’t done it before you have thought of it, we can subsequently modify HeartSuite much more quickly than comparable hybrid systems.

A common complaint of other healthcare information systems is ‘We have entered lots of data but we can’t get it out!’ HeartSuite uses an ‘Open Systems’ approach and has been developed using Microsoft software tools. As a user this means that you may query and analyse your HeartSuite database using virtually any common software tools such as Excel, Access, SPSS depending on your preference. In addition HeartSuite allows the enormously powerful industry standard Crystal Reports to be used to embed commonly used reports within the HeartSuite client. This means if one user creates a useful report then it can be made available instantly to all (or specified) users from within HeartSuite. As part of the implementation of HeartSuite we provide literally dozens of preconfigured reports and queries that you may use as they are or as a template for your exact requirements. We also offer extensive advice and help on reporting and querying HeartSuite thereafter.

HeartSuite has been designed in order that each function within a department benefits both in their own work by using the system, but also from the data entered by everyone else. Too often healthcare databases end up half used with countless empty fields. Our flexible approach means that we tailor HeartSuite to your unique requirements giving your staff a feeling of ownership in the process from the earliest stages. All of our sites have had specific needs delivered as regards their data requirements, interfaces with existing systems and legacy data transfer. During implementation we use training staff with a clinical background at paediatric cardiac centres which greatly alleviates any concerns your staff may have as regards such a large cultural change in working practices, as they can demonstrate how HeartSuite has worked for them. This is one of the main reasons that HeartSuite installations have been so successful where so many other systems fail.

Every centre has it's own internal ways of working, requirements, onsite equipment and systems. Every HeartSuite implementation is unique based on the customers requirements. The key to the success and popularity of HeartSuite amongst its loyal users is our ability to work with our users to constantly meet their changing requirements.