INHEALTH
healthcare solutions in hospitals and accessible community settings .
“ Of course , much of what we do is highly dependent on technology and that ’ s where I come in . I ’ m accountable for all our IT , ranging from day-to-day service , through to projects and development of new services .”
The software journey
The main challenge , O ’ Brien says , was creating a patient relationship management system that met InHealth ’ s specific needs .
“ Within a diagnostic services organisation there are two key applications ,” says O ’ Brien . “ One is called RIS – radiology information system – and the other is PACS – the picture archiving communication system . The former stores information about the patient , and the latter stores images of scans . About five years ago , InHealth realised that the RIS ’ s available off the shelf didn ’ t meet their needs . We see a million patients a year across 350 sites , very different to an acute trust , where you might see a lot of patients , but you ’ re in one place with the same team . We were different because of the breadth and reach of the organisation .”
InHealth ’ s solution to this issue is based on Microsoft Dynamics , but the IT team needed to design its own patient management system . The customised system allows the team to book slots in all clinics , access patient referrals , contact the patient and offer a number of appointments , book appointments , record outcomes and ensure the report gets back to the referrer . The new system has been live for six months , and InHealth is processing around 1,300 patient referrals per day , 25 percent more than with the previous system .
Patient focus
It is the patients who are truly at the core of everything InHealth does , and its Patient Referral Centre , which O ’ Brien oversees , ensures the greatest possible flexibility for customers and medical professionals alike .
“ For all intents and purposes , the Patient Referral Centre looks like a call centre , but we use very different techniques ,” O ’ Brien explains . “ We use call centre technology , but we ’ re not interested in how quickly
44 November 2016