Paris hospital first in EU to implement Picis CareSuite

Source:  Healthcare IT News.EU 
Date: 10 August, 2007
Written by Pamela Leavy, Contributing Writer

A private hospital in the heart of Paris stands as the first European medical center to implement Picis Inc.'s CareSuite Total Perioperative Automation software package.  Picis , a U.S.-based healthcare IT vendor, and Institut Mutualiste Montsouris in Paris have reached an agreement to integrate patient booking, surgical scheduling, supply chain management, revenue management, operating room clinical workflow and critical care through the automated healthcare IT software system.

Patients, surgeons, operating room nurses, and anesthesia providers will all benefit from this technology, said Philippe Mabille, general director of Picis S.A.S. in France, French-speaking Belgium and Switzerland. The Paris hospital will also implement Picis' point-of-care information system for intensive care units.

"Picis software provides physicians and nurses an accurate integrated record that will help them better understand all the variables that happened to patients on the ward," Mabille said. " The technology decreases repetitive documentation and phones calls, increases staff efficiency, improves communication and helps promote quality of patient care."

Government officials in France aim to automate hospital document and workflow processes by 2012 and Picis is dedicated to this initiative, cited Mabille, a 25-year veteran of medical system anesthesia and ICU technology.  Mabille declined to give the cost of the CareSuite package, instead offering that cost will differ across hospital facilities in Europe with primary emphasis on patient care, efficient use of hospital equipment and revenue savings.

"Total Perioperative Automation" software is in use in North American hospitals, providing pre-, intra- and post-operative documentation records. Institut Mutualiste Montsouris officials in Paris were unavailable for comment.

Meanwhile, Dr. Clydette de Groot, a part-time France resident, clinical professor and former director of behavioral sciences at a U.S.-based medical school, sees these kinds of healthcare IT systems as helpful to providers along the continuum of care and helping doctors prioritize what comes next.  "In hearing about this kind of system it is impressive because it can enhance continuity of care which is a constant challenge in healthcare systems," de Groot said.