Patient Administration Systems (often abbreviated to PAS) developed out of the automation of administrative paperwork in healthcare organisations, particularly hospitals, and are one of the core components of a
hospital's IT infrastructure. The PAS records the
patient
A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other hea ...
's
demographics
Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings.
Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as ed ...
(e.g. name, home address, date of birth) and details all patient contact with the hospital, both outpatient and inpatient.
PAS systems are often criticised for providing only administrative functionality to hospitals, however attempts to provide more clinical and operational functionality have often been expensive failures.
History
In the UK, IRC PAS was developed at
North Staffordshire Health Authority in the late 1960s.
It became widely used within the NHS and was supported commercially by
ICL.
Siemens Nixdorf acquired the PAS in 1996 but dropped support in 1998.
The
NPfIT
The NHS Connecting for Health (CFH) agency was part of the UK Department of Health and was formed on 1 April 2005, having replaced the former NHS Information Authority. It was part of the Department of Health Informatics Directorate, with the rol ...
project was claimed to have deployed a total 141 new generation PAS by 2008
but this figure had risen to only 170 by 2010.
Standard PAS Functionality
PAS Systems provide a number of core essential functions to hospitals:
#
Master Patient Index
# Appointment Booking
# Waiting List Management
# Record of Patient Activity
# Activity Returns/Billing
# Reporting
# Admission
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patient Administration System
Electronic health records
Health informatics