New PhD project at the NST

Could cut waiting times by half

Conditions such as hernias, gallstones and sacral cysts are not life-threatening and are relatively easy to treat. But they cause great pain to the patient, and often lead to sick leave from work.

Today, all patients must first be referred to the hospital by their GP. There, they must undergo a new examination, before a booking is made for the operation itself.

Straight to surgery
One of the subprojects in the doctoral degree "New telemedicine services at a department of surgery" will explore possibilities for reducing the waiting time – and thus the patient's pain – by introducing telemedicine in simple day surgery.

"We would like to make it possible for the GP to write such precise referrals that patients can be scheduled for surgery without needing to be examined again at the hospital," says PhD student Knut Magne Augestad.

This means that the patient needs to go to the hospital only once, instead of twice. As each department at the hospital receives several hundred referrals every year, this also means that the hospital releases resources, which can be used for other aspects of patient treatment.

Electronic referrals via Norsk Helsenett, the Norwegian health network
But to achieve this, the researchers must create new electronic forms for such referrals. The forms must be simple and precise enough to avoid misunderstandings.

When the new referral forms are ready, the researchers will test the new technology and the new routines with between 100 and 150 patients.

"The referrals will be sent digitally over the health network, and we believe we can make the communication between the patient's regular GP and the hospital better and faster in this way. This will benefit the patient," concludes Augestad.

The One-Stop project forms part of the doctoral degree "New telemedicine services at a department of surgery". The project starts in January 2007 and will last until the end of 2010. The work is being funded by the telemedicine research committee of the Northern Norway Regional Health Authority.

The study will be conducted in collaboration with the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery at the University Hospital of Northern Norway. The electronic cards for direct referrals will be created by Well Diagnostics AS.

Do you need more information about this project?
Please contact Knut Magne Augestad, Senior Advisor, telephone +47 974 99 442

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