As patients of the health system, we transit through different services. In each medical appointment - whether in the SUS, private clinic or supplementary health, we generate a series of information: assessment of the clinical status, prescription of tests and medications, diagnostic indications. But the information tends to be fragmented, tied to the system of the institution that assisted us. And this fragmentation can generate undesirable impacts both on our health and on hospital management: duplicate exams, unnecessary repetition of treatments that had no effect, poor monitoring of drug interactions.

The key to solving this problem is interoperability, the ability for two or more systems to transparently exchange information. With the aim of improving data traffic between the hospitals managed by the Brazilian Company of Hospital Services (Ebserh), Ebserh developed, with the support of RNP, two complementary solutions: the Ebserh Health Data Network (REHDS) and the HU Digital platform.

Efficiency gains

HU Digital works as a gateway to REHDS data, allowing quick and easy consultation of information. The HU Digital platform has an interface for physicians and another for patients, both in web format and through applications for smartphones. There is also a third interface, which corresponds to an integrated version of the HU Digital with AGHUX, today the main software used in the units managed by Ebserh. Thus, when the health professional is inside the hospitals of the university network, they will not need to log in to the portal or application on his phone. Access will be given immediately by AGHUX itself. According to Simone Scholze, Director of Information Technology at Ebserh, “there are considerable gains in efficiency when information starts to circulate in a standardized format, favoring even more the networking of Ebserh hospitals”.

It is a benefit for the health professional, who provides care more safely. It is a benefit for the patient, who has a better health outcome. And it is a benefit for the management, which has better results, with a reduction in rates and length of hospital stay or a decrease in duplicate exams, for example.

The Ebserh Health Data Network is a patient-focused Electronic Health Record (EHR) platform. It works as a repository of standardized data to make connections between different systems. In addition to the practicality of accessing information, this standardization brings a series of other benefits. It is possible to qualify and contextualize data from different sources - such as orders and test results, diagnoses, allergies and medications that the patient is taking. The network thus allows professionals and managers to have access to a single medical record in any of the 41 units of Ebserh, which has approximately 25 million electronic medical records.

One of the main functionalities for the patient is that in the future they will also be able to share their data with people outside the Ebserh Network. Thus, if you have had surgery at a university hospital, but continue the follow-up at another health unit, the patient will be able to send the digital medical record to the doctor in the municipal network, for example, through the platform. To do so, simply inform the physician's CPF, who must create a login at REHDS through HU Digital to access the patient's history.

According to the General Law for the Protection of Personal Data (LGPD), the express consent of the patient is not necessary in the case of health protection, especially when the care takes place in the hospital of origin of the patient. For cases of care in other hospitals in the Ebserh Network, this access will be made with their authorization. In emergency cases, the healthcare professional may use a special access if the patient is unable to grant authorization. This authorization may also be revoked by the patient at any time.

According to RNP's Director of Services and Solutions, Antônio Carlos F. Nunes, "the actions carried out jointly with Ebserh will promote interoperability between the various university hospitals managed by the company from the REHDS, generating immediate benefits for physicians, managers and, mainly, patients of these public health services".

For the launch of REHDS and HU Digital in November, 25 million patient records will be integrated, with 10 million consultations, 5 million test results and 1 million hospitalizations. In the near future, it will be possible to integrate more public networks into the system, making the database more robust and interoperability more complete.