King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has been recognised for its digital maturity, which measures the trust’s ability to use technology to the advantage of patients, writes Pablo Munoz…
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) has recognised the trust’s IT team with an outstanding valuation following their assessment, which makes it one of a few hospitals across Europe to reach this level.
HIMSS, a global leader in digital health standards, has defined digital maturity as the blueprint for a safe, modern hospital system and uses an INFRAM (Infrastructure Adoption Model) scale to evaluate hospitals around the globe, ranging from Stage 0 to Stage 7.
While most hospitals sit around Stage 2 or 3, King’s College Hospital reached Stage 6 accreditation on 25 March, which brings it closer to the three hospitals in London that are Stage 7 accredited: Great Ormond Street Hospital in Bloomsbury, Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield and Cleveland Clinic London in Belgravia.
Professor Clive Kay, chief executive at the trust, said: “I am consistently impressed by the dedication and commitment shown by our IT team, and by the extraordinary efforts that have gone into improving our digital capability to support all of our teams to deliver the best possible care to our patients.”
HIMSS highlighted the London Ambulance Service integration in their assessment, which allows vital patient information to arrive ahead of the ambulance, and the digital triage, which makes patient assessment quicker on site.
In addition to strong cybersecurity and digital resilience plans, the digital secure patient portal, MyChart, was praised for its benefits, which allow patients to see their test results, manage appointments and message their doctor directly.
These achievements support NHS England’s long-term ambition to expand and modernise digital health technology across the NHS.
