Challenge
Maastro is an internationally acclaimed radiotherapy institute delivering cancer care in the Limburg region of the Netherlands. Consisting of the latest imaging and radiotherapy equipment and has started treating cancer patients with state-of-the-art proton therapy at the beginning of 2019.
Until recently, all patient information was stored in the Maastro hospital system by responsible care professionals and the patients were not able to access their health information online, meaning the latest information provided by Maastro clinicians were not visible to them.
To offer their patients a greater autonomy, Maastro was searching a proper Digital Personal Health Environment solution to empower them in:
- secure and user-friendly 24/7 accessibility to health data overview,
- greater medical data mobility,
- the information about the upcoming ambulatory appointments they’d have to take part in,
- health information in a standardised and interoperable format.
At the same time, the institute aspired to comply with the Dutch National VIPP programme to implement data exchange with PGOs utilising Medmij and BgZ standards.
Aim
To achieve their vision, the customer teamed up with Parsek and Open Line to install a cloud-based secure digital patient access as-a-service to all patients that are managed within Maastro hospital by using a Vitaly solution for patient access.
The empowerment of the patients is being achieved by providing them with the same information that is stored in Maastro hospital information system (HIS) and is in line with the VIPP programme requirements that are set by the Dutch government.
Solution
Using Vitaly, Maastro is increasing the comfort of patients by enabling secure and remote access to all relevant patient information. The Maastro Patient application is allowing patients:
- a holistic and structured health information overview accessible 24/7 (documents, conditions, medication, immunisations, intoxications, …) via XDS and FHIR integration to Maastro Hospital Information System (HIS);
- An easy login to their digital health record due to integration with National authenticating system DigiD);
- To export their health overview summary in a structured HL7 CDA and/or PDF format 24/7;
- An overview of up-to-date upcoming appointments created in the Maastro institute within the application.
How it works
The patient registers and logs in using DigiD authorisation app that is integrated with the application and allows Dutch citizens to access any externally integrated system easily and securely by providing their unique credentials. This kind of authorisation approach ensures that patient personal data are always available only to the patient.
Patient login via DigiD app
After successful identification via IdP, patient is redirected to his own Maastro Patient Record. The patient is able to view a comprehensive data overview, displayed in a structured manner via XDS integration with Maastro hospital information system. Moreover, the patient is able to download his latest medical information in a PDF format with a simple click.
Moving along the navigation menu, the patient can see a complete list of all encounters with Maastro organisation, consisting of date and hour, type of meeting and a short description of appointments.
By XDS integration with Maastro, patient can access and view all health-related documentation and information (documents, statuses, diagnosis, complaints, medication, allergies, intoxications) that are created in Maastro hospital system in a structured and easy-to-interpret manner within the application.
Within the Maastro Patient portal, patients have a clear overview of their upcoming appointments in Maastro institute and can more easily plan their time with all information needed (appointment type, location). The appointments are integrated with Maastro scheduling system and present the latest information available.
The patient is able to download all his health-related data within the application and so becomes the owner of his health information and gets full autonomy in terms of owning and transferring his data.
Integration profiles & Data Structures
With the introduction of the patient portal, Maastro is in line with Dutch hospitals and Dutch laws and regulations 2020 that ensure that healthcare institutions can offer a digitally enabled patient portal. Maastro stands for an innovative care environment and is constantly evolving to deliver the best for the patient.
The whole process is designed as a web-based application in a user-friendly manner with the end goal of making every step of the process efficient considering standards within the Healthcare IT domain and complying with MedMij standards within the Dutch National Healthcare. The solution complies to the following standards:
- Patient Identifier Cross-Referencing (PIX)
- Cross-Enterprise Document Sharing (XDS)
- MedMij FHIR use case BGZ
- HL7 CDA medical summary with Nictiz specific templates
- DigiD
Key benefits
For patients
- Increased trust in the care process due to a greater health information accessibility.
- Access to a multi-source clinical documentation via patient’s own portable devices.
- Better adherence to required appointments.
- Higher related literacy due to a greater information availability.
- Simplified complexity of administrative processes.
- Increased overall patient experience & satisfaction.
- Reduced cost and time needed for logistic of transferring the health data in case of moving or travelling.
For professionals
- Less administration and greater productivity due to empowering patients to access their health information online.
- Delivering better service out of hospitals and closer to patients.
- Increased trust due to patient’s empowerment and higher literacy.
- Possibility to access patient’s data and health issues in a structured manner by a wider spectrum of healthcare providers.
First user feedbacks
Project manager Maastro, Marlies Jager-Knops: “We are very pleased with this great milestone that we have worked hard on in recent months. About 10 to 15% of current patients have taken a look at the portal since going live and are positive about the user-friendly environment. They indicate that the information shown is clear and easy to retrieve. ”