{"id":26598,"date":"2020-03-05T09:00:27","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T08:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-gb\/industry\/blog\/?p=26598"},"modified":"2020-03-04T13:58:05","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T12:58:05","slug":"managing-digital-transformation-in-community-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-gb\/industry\/blog\/health\/2020\/03\/05\/managing-digital-transformation-in-community-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Managing digital transformation in community care"},"content":{"rendered":"
Nestling in the shadow of the Black Mountains to the west, Herefordshire straddles much of England\u2019s border with Wales. Wye Valley NHS Trust is a provider of acute and community services in this very rural area of the country.<\/p>\n
Like many Trusts up and down the country, it has faced significant resource challenges, with ever-increasing demand on services and limited budgets.<\/p>\n
But when it comes to organisational investment, the Trust\u2019s community care services have become a key beneficiary.<\/p>\n
The community team have long been stretched. Parts of the patient\u2019s record were recorded manually, via spreadsheets. So the Trust decided to overhaul its legacy system \u2013 paper files and all. A new Electronic Patient Record System was put in for patients in the community via the EMIS Web platform system. This platform provides fast and secure online access to patient data while helping to integrate primary, community, and hospital care services.<\/p>\n
The next challenge was to equip community nurses with the right device. One that would enable flexible, mobile, and patient-centric working, while letting caregivers make the most of EMIS Web\u2019s joined-up tools.<\/p>\n
To inform its selection, the Trust engaged in a formal evaluation process.<\/p>\n
First, mobile teams would need a practical device that was light, portable and extremely easy to use on the go. This meant laptops were largely disqualified. The right device must be discreet, and not intrude on the nurse-patient relationship. And for long, hard shifts an all-day battery life was a must.<\/p>\n
The Trust also needed a single device system, which could be used across all applications to ensure resources are used to their full potential. And the IT team needed a secure device that could be managed remotely with ease \u2013 ideally, even configurable and wipeable remotely.<\/p>\n
Another key requirement was ensuring access to the full range of tools. This disqualified a well-known competitor device because, although it would support EMIS Mobile \u2013 which provides a diary view for the next two days \u2013 it failed to support all Trust applications under their distinctive operating system platform.<\/p>\n
In principle, Microsoft Surface Pro<\/a> satisfied all of the community care team\u2019s key requirements, including portability, usability, and compatibility with the full EMIS Web system.<\/p>\n But would it measure up in the field? To trial Surface Pro, selected users were given devices and asked to complete questionnaires. These included questions about weight, portability, screen display, usability, and battery life.<\/p>\n Team responses were evaluated and, with Surface Pro proving the best tool for the job, the Trust deployed 400+ devices to its community care workers.<\/p>\n The community care team \u2013 newly empowered to provide higher-quality patient care with greater efficiency \u2013 has contributed to this positive story. And Surface Pro has played its part in helping them improve processes, productivity and care.<\/p>\n For example, staff now have rapid, secure access to all the patient records and team details they need, from appointments to shift rotas. Remote collaboration is easy. And, with real-time note-taking removing the need to write up notes at close of day, each nurse saves on time which can now be spent seeing patients.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nImproving productivity<\/h2>\n
Managing change: care teams and new tech<\/h2>\n
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Maximising The Impact Of UK Firstline Workers On Surface With Microsoft 365<\/h2>\n
Find out more<\/h2>\n