Bluespier helps Stepping Hill achieve 90% compliance for NJR submissions

All case data is accurately captured, data quality has improved and the need for manual

input and effort has reduced. How Stepping Hill NHS Hospital Trust has improved their National Joint Register submission rate using Bluespier
May 2012

Background Stepping Hill NHS Hospital is a large Foundation Trust serving a population of approximately 400,000 people in the North West. They have used the Bluespier system in Trauma and Orthopaedics since 2009. On average, 80 National Joint Register (NJR) reportable cases are carried out each month for hip and knee procedures. Shoulder, elbow and ankle procedures can be recorded on Bluespier however the NJR does not permit these to be electronically uploaded.

Summary For each case the Hospital must report the date of operation, surgeon, case type, operative specifics and implants used, to the NJR. The NJR website allows electronic upload of hip and knee procedures; for other procedures the data has to be input manually. Before using Bluespier the Hospital had to identify a member of staff to gather the data and then input this onto the NJR website. Clinicians use Bluespier at Stepping Hill Hospital to complete their operation notes. The data from these is then extracted for uploading to the NJR website. Since July 2011 process has been led by Mr David Johnson and his team. This means that the hospital administrative staff no longer need to input the NJR data manually and the data quality is excellent as it is generated at source from the clinicians. The data can then also be used for internal auditing.

Results The submission rate of reporting to the NJR has been significantly improved by the use of Bluespier, improving from 75% to over 90% for 2011 with continued improvement since then. As clinical staff were already used to capturing data in Bluespier, minimal change was required to capture 3 additional data items at pre-op and to train users to scan their implant bar codes into Bluespier.

Bluespier International Ltd, Gaudet Luce Golf Club, Middle Lane, Droitwich, Worcestershire, WR9 7JR Telephone: 08450 626260 (UK only) +44 (0)1905 770505 (International) Email: info@bluespier.com Internet: www.bluespier.com

The quality of the data being submitted has also improved with: o NJR Consent rate increasing from 70% to 97% o NHS number recording increasing from 90% to 99% o BMI recording increasing from 35% to 75% The new process involves the use of a Bluespier developed NJR implant lookup table. The first time this is used, the user is taken through a few additional steps to ensure the correct implant data is recorded. The system then learns and updates the local table to allow the implant confirmation to occur more quickly the next time. The Bluespier Co-ordinator produces monthly reports to highlight any data issues that may cause problems with the upload, so that theatre and clinical staff can amend the patient records where required. Bluespier uploads the data once a month and gives month end reports to the Trust showing the number of cases uploaded and any that have gone into the edit stack. The upload can is now performed quicker and more efficiently than previously and the need to validate overrides during submission has reduced to less than 4%. Each month an average of two to three cases are stacked for editing, usually because the implant bar code has not yet been registered with the NJR. Once the unregistered implant has been identified, it is a simple process to register these with the NJR which means any future patients with the same bar coded product will upload automatically. The electronic upload has meant all case data is accurately captured at the time of surgery, data quality has improved, the timeliness of the upload has improved and the need for manual input and effort has reduced significantly.

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Bluespier International Ltd, Gaudet Luce Golf Club, Middle Lane, Droitwich, Worcestershire, WR9 7JR Telephone: 08450 626260 (UK only) +44 (0)1905 770505 (International) Email: info@bluespier.com Internet: www.bluespier.com