Accelerated digital transformation

10 Dec

Aceso worked with Tū Ora Compass Health to implement their digital transformation plan in the space of a week

Background

COVID-19 has made a virtual working environment a necessity around the world. Even prior to the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the landscape of healthcare was changing. The momentum gained was part of the motivation for Wellington’s Tū Ora Compass Health to accelerate its digital transformation - moving entire workflows, services and up to 80 percent of consultations online in the space of a few months.

While Tū Ora Compass Health has been working on a digital transformation strategy with Aceso for the past year, the expeditious levels of response needed to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic dramatically accelerated the Primary Health Organisation's (PHO) plans.

“The wider impact of COVID-19 on businesses is probably creating enough strains as it is, but my view is, in for a penny, in for a pound and to use the situation to drive through change,” says Alistair Vickers, Chief Information Officer at Tū Ora.

“I believe now that the solution puts us in a far better place than we have ever been in before.”

Within the space of a week, GPs switched from doing 95 percent of appointments in-person, to conducting between 70 to 80 percent of these as telephone or video consultations.

Mental and sexual health services have also gone almost entirely virtual, with the PHO’s 30 mental health therapists starting both video and telephone counselling. With sexual health services specifically, the Indici patient management system is enabling video consultations, with a small number of clients still being seen in-person.

“I believe now that the solution puts us in a far better place than we have ever been in before.”
— Alistair Vickers, Chief Information Officer, Tū Ora Compass Health

Technology

Aceso used Microsoft 365, Microsoft Azure, Sharepoint and Microsoft Teams to aid the transformation. Previously most of the PHO’s general practices had opposed to virtual services using Medtech’s Manage My Health, Indici, and Doxy.me.

Tū Ora has implemented the full Microsoft 365 technology stack including collaboration tool SharePoint, Power BI tools and enhanced security. In addition, they are migrating to the cloud with Microsoft Azure and working towards staff being empowered to work remotely with fully functioning suites.

Challenges

While many New Zealanders have a smartphone - some do not have the data or Wi-Fi needed to make a video call or access their patient portal online. This was echoed by Chief Executive of Tū Ora, Martin Hefford, who told eHealthNews that challenges still existed to overcome this digital divide.

“That’s where we need to get solutions, for those who don’t have data. March was always going to be a very very busy month: turning on Microsoft SharePoint, a provider portal, Power BI, a new claims and payments system, the data warehouse, and moving to Microsoft Azure,” he said.

“We’ve had to put it on steroids and do it with one hand behind our back as many staff have gone to work at the five COVID-19 swabbing centres. This has meant that that team has been quite stretched, but nothing beats necessity and we have to be virtual and people have to make those changes.”

The switch to Microsoft 365 also uncovered issues Tū Ora were unaware of, which has enabled them to add their own tool kit of IT solutions.

"Often IT builds go over time and over budget. This one hasn’t."
— Richard Medlicott, Board Member of Tū Ora Compass Health

Results

Both clinical and non-clinical staff have embraced the new way of working, and Hefford says that people have been motivated to make changes - and adapt to them - quickly.

The PHO recently held an all-of-staff meeting involving more than 100 people on Microsoft Teams and Hefford remarked that it went amazingly well.

Training on Microsoft Teams and SharePoint since December 2019 had prepared staff for the switch to remote working. This new, virtual working environment has seen teams hold daily stand-ups and keep in touch with colleagues using the technology.

The PHO is also running a twice weekly video briefing with the medical director through Microsoft Teams, which is attracting around 100 GPs and nurses who log in for an update and ask questions via the chat function.

Future Plans

Richard Medlicott, Board Member of Tū Ora is looking forward to the new platform Aceso have been working on to go live in June 2020. “Covid 19 has accelerated change in the health IT sector. Wearing my hat as a PHO board member with expertise in Health IT, it has been gratifying to see IT projects with the progress bars almost all green. Often IT builds go over time and over budget. This one hasn’t. As a GP I’m looking forward to using the new platform, which will enable us to use our data in innovative ways to improve the health of our patients and the health of our businesses.”

Hefford says these are not temporary fixes, but a shift to a new way of working.

“I personally don’t think we will ever go back to [to the way things were]: a lot of things that can be done online in health, will be done online,” he says.