The document module in Certain QMS is the core of the quality management system, bringing together the organisation’s internal procedures, guidelines, routines and other governing documentation in one place.
For many years, the solution has been used by large organisations in the healthcare sector, where it is referred to as the eHandbook — a term with a long history in the sector. The eHandbook in Certain QMS serves as the organisation’s digital reference for both practical working routines and other governing documentation that forms the basis for operations, internal control and systematic quality work.
Key features of the eHandbook
To support the requirements for document control, internal control and quality in the healthcare sector, the eHandbook in Certain QMS covers the entire lifecycle of governing documents — from drafting, internal consultation and approval through to publishing, use and revision. The solution offers, amongst other things:
- Flexible and customised document templates for different types of procedures, guidelines and instructions, making documentation more consistent and easier to maintain.
- Approval workflows and clearly defined roles for who can edit, quality-assure, approve and publish documents.
- Advanced role and access management, which can be integrated with the organisation’s AD/Entra ID, so that employees are automatically granted access to the right content based on their role and department.
- Restriction of sensitive information, ensuring that certain content is only accessible to defined roles or user groups.
- HTML-based and searchable documents, combined with the ability to upload various file formats and link to external resources.
- Change summaries, giving users a quick overview of what is new or changed in a document.
- Reading lists with acknowledgement, where managers can require employees to read selected documents and have confirmation of completion recorded.
- Review deadlines and automatic notifications, ensuring that documents do not remain outdated without responsible parties being followed up.
- Public document portal for external publishing of selected documents, so that procedures, guidelines and other information can be shared online — without requiring a login.
Scope and use of the eHandbook in the healthcare sector
Figures from the large healthcare organisations using the eHandbook in Certain QMS show that the solution is not a passive document archive, but a reference tool that is actively used by employees on a daily basis.
Usage data shows high levels of activity, with thousands of document views each day and a large number of unique users over time. This confirms the eHandbook’s role as a central working environment for governing documentation — for clinical staff, managers and support functions alike.
Examples of document scope and publishing:
| Organisation | Internal documents | Public documents |
|---|---|---|
| Oslo University Hospital HF | approx. 33,000 | approx. 8,000 |
| Vestre Viken HF | approx. 18,000 | approx. 8,000 |
| Helse Fonna HF | 8,000+ | approx. 500 |
| Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital | approx. 3,500 | 0* |
Public document portal – controlled sharing of governing documentation
Many organisations need to make parts of their documentation available to external users, whilst retaining full control over content, versions and publishing. With the public document portal, selected documents from the eHandbook can be published in a dedicated, open eHandbook portal that is accessible via a browser, with no login required. The documents continue to be maintained, approved and revised within the same solution before being published to the public portal.
In the healthcare sector, this is used, amongst other things, to share patient-facing procedures, information about services, collaboration routines with GPs and other stakeholders, and guidelines that are required to be publicly available. When documents are updated in the eHandbook, they are also updated automatically in the public portal, reducing the risk of outdated information being accessible externally.
The public document portal in Certain QMS thus enables secure public access to and sharing of documents, with full traceability and revision control maintained within Certain QMS.
Experiences from Oslo University Hospital
Oslo University Hospital (OUS) was established in 2009 through the merger of Rikshospitalet, Ullevål University Hospital and Aker University Hospital. The hospital is the largest in Europe, with 24,000 employees.
The eHandbook in a large and complex organisation
OUS has used Certain QMS for effective document control since 2010, and demonstrates a mature and considered approach to the use of the eHandbook. With a document base running to tens of thousands of internal documents and daily use by many thousands of employees, the solution functions as a central knowledge platform across disciplines, roles and locations.
Usage is high throughout the year, with continuous lookups of documents that are directly integrated into both clinical and administrative day-to-day work.
Training and role understanding as the key to effective system use
At OUS, considerable emphasis has been placed on training in the use of the eHandbook, and a dedicated internal support function has been established to build user competence over time. Experience shows that the way in which support and guidance are provided has a significant bearing on whether employees become confident and independent in their use of the system.
Rather than completing tasks on behalf of users, the focus has largely been on explaining how different roles should work within the solution and how tasks are carried out correctly. This has contributed to a strong understanding of roles, higher quality in system use and a clear reduction in the number of support requests over time.
Active use and high engagement with content
Usage statistics show that the eHandbook is used by many thousands of employees, with daily views of thousands of documents. Data from OUS also shows that the solution is not merely visited, but actively used throughout the year.
The figures indicate a high degree of engagement with the content, with employees navigating between pages, opening documents, using search and following the structure of the handbook — rather than retrieving individual documents in isolation.
When training supports quality compliance in practice
Training is not, however, solely about learning to use the system itself — it is about ensuring that quality work is genuinely put into practice across the entire organisation. At OUS, the eHandbook is closely linked to e-learning courses and competence plans associated with different roles, so that employees receive training in both their responsibilities and work processes — not just in the features of the solution.
To maintain quality in document work, employees who are to be granted write access must complete mandatory training before access is granted. In addition, checklists within documents are used to support the correct completion of key tasks in day-to-day work, and a refresher shortly after training is recommended to ensure that knowledge is translated into practice.
OUS's public document portal: a national reference for procedures and professional practice
The public document portal at OUS is not only used internally, but is also actively used by other actors in the healthcare sector. Healthcare professionals across the country can look up how OUS approaches various procedures, treatments and interventions, and use this as guidance in their own work. In this way, OUS effectively serves as a national reference for the design of procedures, the content of routines and professional practice across a wide range of areas.
This is closely connected to the role Oslo University Hospital plays in medical research and the training of healthcare professionals in Norway. As a university hospital, OUS contributes significantly to the development of professional standards, and through publicly available documentation this knowledge can be shared broadly across the sector — in a structured, quality-assured and up-to-date manner.
View OUS’s public eHandbook here: ehandboken.ous-hf.no
Taken together, the experiences from OUS demonstrate how the eHandbook can be used as an active tool for building competence, ensuring quality and enabling efficient operations — not merely as a place where documents are stored.
From documentation to quality in practice
In complex organisations, effective document control is a prerequisite for good and efficient management.
Experience from the healthcare sector shows that the true value of the eHandbook is realised when it becomes a natural part of day-to-day work — where employees can easily find current routines and training is closely linked to the governing documentation.
Over time, this contributes to shared practice, fewer errors and a stronger basis for improvement — and experience from Oslo University Hospital and others demonstrates that the right structure, clearly defined roles and active use deliver lasting benefits for the organisation as a whole.
Marte Sunde
Business Consultant