Implementing an Integrated Large-Scale Clinical Information System for ISSSTE’s Hospital Network in Mexico

Abstract

AbstractThe Institute for Security and Social Services for State Workers (ISSSTE) is a large public provider of health care services that serve around 13.2 million Mexican government workers and their families. To attain process efficiencies, cost reductions, and improvement of the quality of diagnostic and imaging services, ISSSTE was set out in 2019 to create a digital filmless medical image and report management system. A large-scale clinical information system (CIS), including radiology information system (RIS), picture archiving and communication system (PACS), and clinical data warehouse (CDW) components, was implemented at ISSSTE’s network of forty secondary- and tertiary-level public hospitals, applying global HL-7 and Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standards. In just 5 months, 40 hospitals had their endoscopy, radiology, and pathology services functionally interconnected within a national CIS and RIS/PACS on secure private local area networks (LANs) and a secure national wide area network (WAN). More than 2 million yearly studies and reports are now in digital form in a CDW, securely stored and always available. Benefits include increased productivity, reduced turnaround times, reduced need for duplicate exams, and reduced costs. Functional IT solutions allow ISSSTE hospitals to leave behind the use of radiographic film and printed medical reports with important cost reductions, as well as social and environmental impacts, leading to direct improvement in the quality of health care services rendered.