CSC, a leading company providing healthcare IT solutions, announced the successful establishment of the Master Patient Index (MPI), a new stage of the electronic health record (EHR) project in Austria. The MPI will allow healthcare providers in Austria to search, on nationwide basis, for patient information using social security number or eCard.
The MPI will act by searching for electronic records operating at a local level. Later on, the Austrian EHR is allowed to access these local records to gain information for its database.
The electronic patient record program in Austria, ELGA (Elektronische Gesundheitsakte) is carried out by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Health. The Ministry is taking complete responsibility for this program. CSC was selected in 2010 by ITSV (IT Services der Sozialversicherung), a section in Austria’s social insurance department to establish the MPI for the Austrian EHR system.
Dr. Thomas Hladschik, , senior program manager at ITSV, said "The MPI will provide high quality data which can be used by healthcare providers to reduce time spent trying to find patient information,"
He Continued "When the electronic health record is complete, clinicians will have all the relevant information at their fingertips, ensuring that there is no need for medical tests to be carried out multiple times, documents are accessible nationwide and the end-to-end process around patient care is enhanced and accelerated."
Guy Hains, president, CSC International, said "This is a great achievement for CSC and a clear example of how a national program can be successful. By providing a system that automatically displays detailed patient information at the point of care, clinicians will be able to spend more time treating their patients and providing the best and safest care possible. With this, CSC is transforming healthcare with better information for better decision. We are proud to be part of the Austrian vision for 'connected health' and the advanced architecture that has been implemented."
