The MEDAKIS project
Background and aim
Need for EHR system at the largest (University) hospitals in Norway. Assumption that EHR systems developed for smaller (non-university, local) hospitals not were suitable for this purpose.
Funding
Mainly funded by the Norwegian government and the participating hospitals.
Duration
1997-2001
Vendor of system
Participating hospital(s)
The 5 largest hospitals in Norway (4 of which are university / teaching hospitals)
- St.Olavs hospital, Trondheim, Norway (home page)
- Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway (home page)
- Ullevaal Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
- University hospital of Northern Norway. (home page (Norwegian))
Course of the project
The project quickly ran into trouble because of discrepancy between its ambitions and the resources available. Read this (PDF) for more info. All hospitals had (legacy) Patient-administrative systems which the new system had to be integrated against. As a consequence of the complexity, deliverances and other important milestones became delayed, and the resulting system had a poorer functionality compared with the two other EHR systems at the Norwegian hospital market.
Outcome
Doculive EPR system implemented at participating hospitals. In 2005 University hospital of Northern Norway changed from Doculive EPR system to DIPS EHR system. As of 2006, Haukeland University hospital has decided to switch to another system as well. At the remaining hospitals, many users are dissatisfied with the system, and costs for maintenance, upgrades and integrations remain high.
Evaluations
The MEDAKIS project has been thoroughly evaluated. See references.
References
- Ellingsen G, Monteiro E. Big is beautiful: electronic patient records in large Norwegian hospitals 1980s-2001 Methods Inf Med. 2003;42(4):366-70 (PDF)
- Laerum H, Ellingsen G, Faxvaag A. Doctors' use of electronic medical records systems in hospitals: cross sectional survey. BMJ. 2001 Dec 8;323(7325):1344-8 (Full text in BMJ)
- Gunnar Ellingsen and Eric Monteiro. A patchwork planet. Integration and cooperation in hospitals, Computer supported coopertive work: the journal, 12(1): 71 – 95, 2003 (PDF)
- Eric Monteiro. Integrating health information systems, Methods of Information in Medicine: a critical perspective, 42/4:428 - 432, 2003 (PDF)