Author: Lauren Turner

Clanwilliam supports technology goals of care homes in Northern Ireland with digital transformation event

Posted on by Lauren Turner

Clanwilliam, the Irish-headquartered global healthcare technology group, met with over 70 care home managers and healthcare professionals last week at its event dedicated to unlocking the potential of digital transformation in Northern Ireland’s care home sector.

Delivered in partnership with Microsoft and the IHCP (Independent Health and Care Providers), the event ‘The Paperless Care Home’ focused on the impact of technology in care home settings, from effective bed management and medication and care monitoring, to patient engagement and improved feedback and communication loops.

Clanwilliam’s Epic Care, a cloud-based care home management software, took centre stage for the morning as long-time Epic Care customer Eddy Kerr, Hutchinson Care Homes and Shane Williamson, Clanwilliam Business Development Manager, discussed the positive impact of electronic patient records in care home settings – covering everything from safety to accessibility.

Pauline Shepherd (IHCP) gave participants important context on the wider aged care market in Northern Ireland and the crucial role it continues to play in the healthcare system.

Event partners, Microsoft, demonstrated the role devices such as the Microsoft Surface are playing in healthcare settings to support more agile and effective care delivery – and how they can be utilised specifically in aged care settings in conjunction with the Epic Care system.

Attendees also heard from ResHub, a resident experience platform, as they discussed the value that digital technologies can add for residents and their families; and patient feedback software, Doctify, showed the power of reviews and feedback in healthcare settings.

Eileen Byrne, Managing Director at Clanwilliam said: “We are delighted to have been able to host this invaluable event alongside Microsoft and the IHCP, providing crucial information and an opportunity to share ideas for the care home sector in Northern Ireland.”

“With over 25 years in the industry, we know what a central role technology can play in supporting better, safer, and more effective patient care across the healthcare market.

“There is a great deal of digital transformation opportunity within care homes to continue to support the excellent care they deliver, and we’re delighted to help provide platforms for this conversation.”

To find out more about Epic Care, visit www.epicsolutions.ie/epiccare/

Clanwilliam supports technology goals of care homes in Northern Ireland with digital transformation event

Posted on by Lauren Turner

Clanwilliam, the Irish-headquartered global healthcare technology group, met with over 70 care home managers and healthcare professionals last week at its event dedicated to unlocking the potential of digital transformation in Northern Ireland’s care home sector.

Delivered in partnership with Microsoft and the IHCP (Independent Health and Care Providers), the event ‘The Paperless Care Home’ focused on the impact of technology in care home settings, from effective bed management and medication and care monitoring, to patient engagement and improved feedback and communication loops.

Clanwilliam’s Epic Care, a cloud-based care home management software, took centre stage for the morning as long time Epic Care customer Eddy Kerr, Hutchinson Care Homes and Shane Williamson, Clanwilliam Business Development Manager, discussed the positive impact of electronic patient records in care home settings – covering everything from safety to accessibility.

Pauline Shepherd (IHCP) gave participants important context on the wider aged care market in Northern Ireland and the crucial role it continues to play in the healthcare system.

Event partners, Microsoft, demonstrated the role devices such as the Microsoft Surface are playing in healthcare settings to support more agile and effective care delivery – and how they can be utilised specifically in aged care settings in conjunction with the Epic Care system.

Attendees also heard from ResHub, a resident experience platform, as they discussed the value that digital technologies can add for residents and their families; and patient feedback software, Doctify, showed the power of reviews and feedback in healthcare settings.

Eileen Byrne, Managing Director at Clanwilliam said: “We are delighted to have been able to host this invaluable event alongside Microsoft and the IHCP, providing crucial information and an opportunity to share ideas for the care home sector in Northern Ireland.”

“With over 25 years in the industry, we know what a central role technology can play in supporting better, safer, and more effective patient care across the healthcare market.

“There is a great deal of digital transformation opportunity within care homes to continue to support the excellent care they deliver, and we’re delighted to help provide platforms for this conversation.”

To find out more about any of the materials used at the event, or to enquire about future events, please contact donal.onuallain@clanwilliamhealth.com.

To find out more about Epic Care, visit www.epicsolutions.ie/epiccare/

Dictate.IT awarded place on NHS Commercial Solution Procurement Framework

Posted on by Lauren Turner

Dictate.IT and it’s subsidiary Medisec have been awarded a place on the NHS’ Commercial Solution Procurement Framework following a comprehensive information gathering exercise.

The NHS Commercial Solution Framework (CSF) is a managed service that provides a suite of digital dictation solutions to NHS organisations. The framework offers a single point of access to a range of digital dictation solutions, including transcription, transcription management, and transcription reporting. It provides 24/7 support and customer care.

Dictate.IT, part of global healthcare group Clanwilliam, have been awarded under 4 lots: Lot 1: Products and/or Services Catalogue, Lot 2: In-house and outsourced digital dictation service solution, Lot 3: Outsourced transcription service solution and Lot 4: Managed service solution.

NHS organisations that sign up to the CSF can expect to save time and money by using Dictate.IT’s digital dictation solutions to manage their transcription needs.

We’re excited to be awarded a place on this framework and further establishing our commitment to providing the NHS with the best speech recognition and digital dictation solutions on the market.

Rory Cremin, Acting Managing Director of Dictate.IT

Clanwilliam’s GP systems receive GPIT Certification

Posted on by Lauren Turner

Following a thorough accreditation process the National General Practice Information Technology (GPIT) Group has confirmed that Clanwilliam’s three GP systems – Socrates, Helix Practice Manager (HPM) and Health One – have again been accredited as part of their 2022 accreditation process.

The GPIT Group comprises representatives from the Irish College of General Practitioners, the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Department of Health. The aim of the GPIT Group is to promote the eHealth agenda in Ireland, in particular electronic communications and interoperability between GP and health service information systems. Certification of general practice software systems previously occurred in 1999, 2003, 2008, 2014 and 2018 and Clanwilliam’s systems have been certified in each of these previous reviews.

The GPIT run the certification process in order to:
• ensures that practice management systems support the requirements of general practice.
• help to coordinate the development of general practice systems with developments in health service information systems.
• promote interoperability between general practice systems and HSE systems.
• provide a roadmap for further development of the electronic health record.

The certification process involved a vendor self-assessment of their product and services against the certification test plan. Representatives of the GPIT then tested each system to ensure conformance with their requirements.

Speaking about the accreditation, Clanwilliam Health Managing Director, Eileen Byrne said: “The GPIT Accreditation is incredibly important to both our systems and our business. It effectively acts as a seal of approval from our key stakeholders and shows the value that Socrates, HPM and Health One add to our customers on a daily basis. As a business, we take pride in the ongoing development of our systems to ensure that they continue to provide the strongest digital foundation for our users while at the same time facilitating interoperability between GP and HSE systems.

Since the last accreditation round in 2018 our systems have evolved and been augmented to assist GPs with key HSE initiatives such as Chronic Disease Management (CDM), the Individual Health Identifier (IHI), Covid Vaccines, e-referrals, e-prescriptions and much more. We are very excited about what the future holds and are focussed on continuing to add value-adding functionality to our systems for both users and healthcare industry stakeholders alike.”

Clanwilliam wins award for leading GP system, Socrates

Posted on by Lauren Turner

Clanwilliam has won a coveted award for its GP system Socrates at the annual Irish Healthcare Awards.

Socrates scooped the prize for Best Use of Information Technology amongst stiff competition from some innovative healthtech systems and initiatives across Ireland.

Socrates supports hundreds of Irish healthcare professionals to deliver patient care with its user friendly and intuitive practice management software.  In announcing the award win, host Dr. Sumi Dunne commended Socrates for providing the functionality that enables GPs to manage the HSE’s Chronic Disease Management (CDM) programme for their patients. The ability to use the system to seamlessly send electronic prescriptions to pharmacies was also praised.

Socrates recently partnered with Billink Payments to enable patients to securely pay for their care remotely online through the click of a button. In the new year, Clanwilliam’s new patient portal app Pippo will launch to allow Socrates users to offer online bookings for patients, further streamlining the care pathway and experience for clinicians and patients.

The event, held on 1 December at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin, celebrated and rewarded the achievements, innovation and resilience of the Irish healthcare sector.

Eileen Byrne, Managing Director said: “We are delighted to have won this award in such a competitive category.  We’ve been serving the Irish healthcare market for over a quarter of a century, developing software that provides healthcare professionals with the strongest possible digital foundation.

Socrates is an excellent example of how good clinical technology can enhance processes, create efficiencies and support excellent patient experiences.”

Socrates is part of Clanwilliam Ireland, the Irish based division of global healthcare group, Clanwilliam.  From its beginnings as a 3-man start up, the Irish-head quartered business now has offices on three continents, with customers in 20 countries and nearly 2 million clinical users.

HealthLink SecureIT gaining huge traction

Posted on by Lauren Turner

HealthLink SecureIT is gaining huge traction with close to 1,000 sites around the country now using it.

The service gives health professionals easy and secure access to the private Connected Health network.

HealthLink has been a leading provider of access to Connected Health since its inception in 2005.

Unlike other Connected Health service providers, HealthLink offers three SecureIT options; Gateway (on premises firewall device), HealthLink SecureIT Cloud (enables access from Could-based systems) and Enterprise (rack-mounted for large on-premises installations).

Cyber security top of mind

HealthLink client manager Mike Harvey says cyber security is an increasing concern for the health sector, as evidenced by recent cyber attacks.

“Security is of utmost importance to the health sector and HealthLink SecureIT adds a crucial layer of protection against the ongoing threat of cyber-attacks,” Mike says.

“HealthLink’s SonicWall firewall solution delivers superior protection and is at the forefront of security technology.”

Customer support is available from HealthLink’s local team in Newmarket in Auckland.

“SecureIT is incredibly reliable. However, if support is needed then expert assistance is just a phone call away.”

Reliable and cost-effective

Mike says GPs, and more recently pharmacies, are benefitting hugely from SecureIT because of its reliability and cost-effectiveness.

Key features include meeting key health sector security standards, integration with other HealthLink services, automatic updating of virus protection software and flexible configuration to meet an organisation’s unique requirements.

“SecureIT is a premium, fully managed solution designed for healthcare organisations wanting to comprehensively utilise internet access in a secure and reliable manner and its success is being reflected in the uptake of users that we are seeing.”

For more information about HealthLink SecureIT, phone 0800 288 887, visit HealthLink’s website or email salesNZ@healthlink.net.


New eReferral form for the Cannabis Clinic

Posted on by Lauren Turner

The Cannabis Clinic opened in 2018 in Takapuna on Auckland’s North Shore and has already seen more than 10,000 Kiwis from around the country.

eReferrals can now be made to the Cannabis Clinic using CareSelect.

Cannabis Clinic founder Dr Waseem Alzaher says demand is growing for medicinal cannabis, which is used to assist with mild to severe health conditions.

“We see a wide range of people from kids to adults, professionals, people at the end of their life and everyone in between and we deal with a variety of symptoms ranging from mild to serious,” Waseem says.

“But the most common ailments we assist with are pain, anxiety and sleep problems like insomnia.”

The clinic employs 14 doctors and four nurses and consultations can be carried out face to face or online.

Taking the load off GPs

While GPs can prescribe medicinal cannabis, Waseem says the Cannabis Clinic has the expertise, resources and time to ensure patients are getting the best possible treatment plan and follow up care.

“If GPs refer patients through to us, it takes some of the potential pressure off GPs.”

Waseem says there is also a lot of paperwork for GPs, which the Cannabis Clinic takes care of when patients are referred to them.

“We are really lightening the load for GPs, otherwise it would be a huge time investment for a small number of patients.”

Waseem says some GPs may not know enough about medicinal cannabis to prescribe it with confidence.

“Or if a GP has a patient for whom pharmaceuticals aren’t having a positive effect, the patient is already self-medicating with cannabis, or they are having trouble building a trusting relationship with their patient, then the Cannabis Clinic is a good option.”

Incredible success stories

Waseem says the clinic has seen some amazing results and success stories.

“While medicinal cannabis is not for everyone and we don’t prescribe it to everyone, we’ve had some incredible success stories where ordinary people’s lives have been drastically improved and transformed.”

He says the Cannabis Clinic and its dedicated staff put a lot of energy and care into providing the service.

“If it’s possible to support a loved one with symptoms and make their life better with a safe and effective plant-based medicine, then that’s enough to say we are doing the right thing.”

The Cannabis Clinic is planning on opening new clinics in Christchurch and Nelson soon.

“We are looking for new doctors to meet the growing demand.”

How to refer to the Cannabis Clinic:

  • open the patient record

  • select the HealthLink icon

  • use the CareSelect search bar, type “Cannabis Clinic”

  • click “Compose Referral”.


Clinical Correspondence Workflow

Posted on by Lauren Turner

Traditionally, Primary Care clinical correspondence workflows include a specific digital dictation system. However, with advances in speech recognition, and it’s ability to dictate your notes straight into the clinical system, it’s now a viable tool to use for clinical correspondence workflows instead. So we thought it would be helpful to explore the difference between the two options.

Dictate to Cursor

If you’re not already familiar with dictate to cursor, it’s a speech-to-text function that allows you to dictate your patient notes directly into the patient record. It can be used anywhere that you can type, like EMIS and TPP, Outlook and Word and other apps such as AccuRX. Our dictate to cursor system is called Live.

The benefits of this method of data entry are clear: speaking is generally faster than typing and notes are also naturally more comprehensive when dictated because we tend to say more than we type. Dictate to cursor is an accessible solution for clinicians who may find typing difficult. There is also a canned text feature allowing you to insert blocks of text information easily, such as Covid or QOF information.

Many of our practices now use dictate to cursor dictating into the task function within the clinical system, which can then be picked up by the Secretary and pasted into the relevant template. As the clinician can see their dictation as they says it, the Secretary does not need to check with the clinician before managing the text. This eliminates the need for a traditional workflow tool, and follows the CQC guidance of inputting as much information through the clinical system as possible.

It really does not take very long. It goes straight to my medical typist, and that would take me a lot longer to type out.

Dr Emma Chapman, Okehampton Medical Centre

Clinical correspondence workflow

In a conventional clinical correspondence system, a clinician will dictate a letter and the audio file will be sent to the Secretary to be typed. Modern systems, like our Swift product, will transcribe the text using speech recognition, in order to reduce the typing required by the Secretary.

This process still uses speech recognition and reduces the typing required by both clinical and non-clinical teams, but also comes with a mobile app that allows you to dictate ‘on the go’. However, it means you’re unable to dictate into the clinical system or any other programme that accepts typing.

Good news!

The solution that suits you best depends on your practice, the staff and your area. Some clinicians may be more likely to embrace new technology, others may spend a lot of time in the community and find a mobile app helpful.

The good news is that with Dictate.IT you don’t have to choose – you get both for one unrivalled price. Which means your teams can work in whichever way suits them. Find out more.