Alder Hey goes live with Meditech Expanse EPR

Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust has become the second trust to go live with the Meditech Expanse electronic patient record (EPR) system.

The web-based Expanse EPR offers mobile and app-based workflows, real-time updates, access to historical patient data, analytics and reporting tools and a patient engagement portal, among other features.

Kate Warriner, chief digital and information officer at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The EPR is a foundational piece of our technology puzzle. It provides built-in tools to improve quality outcomes, support patient engagement, and enhance care coordination.

“Additionally, the interoperable platform will support new technologies as we continue our longstanding commitment to innovation.”

Alder Hey signed with US-based Meditech’s cloud-based Expanse EPR back in 2019 as part of the trust’s five-year Digital Future’s Strategy. The EPR was initially slated to go live in Autumn 2020.

Under the five-year strategy, Alder Hey also plans to implement Meditech’s Expanse Oncology outpatient system, which provides automated scheduling and decision-support tools for oncology teams.

It will also implement Meditech Surveillance, a predictive analytics system designed to help care teams identify high-risk patients and prioritise care accordingly.

Michael Malone, associate VP of customer product support at Meditech, said: “Alder Hey exemplifies how an organisation can combine innovation and technology to transform healthcare for patients and providers.”

Malone added: “We look forward to continuing to work together as they harness the infinite opportunities for advancement that Expanse provides.”

In November 2021, Alder Hey became the first specialist trust in the UK and the first paediatric hospital in Europe to earn HIMSS EMRAM Stage 7 accreditation for its digitisation efforts.

Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust was the first to go live with Meditech Expanse in November 2023.

East Cheshire NHS Trust and Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust plan to deploy a joint EPR underpinned by Meditech’s Expanse later in 2024. Other trusts currently implementing Expanse including the Norfolk and Waveney collaborative and South Tyneside and Sunderland Trust.