Australian innovator integrates EHR and whiteboards

MELBOURNE, Australia – An independent study of the implementation of Alcidion’s Miya Precision at Alfred Health has identified a wide range of benefits attributed to the adoption of electronic patient journey boards to facilitate inpatient clinical workflows.

In 2022, Alfred Health selected Miya Precision as a solution to address the challenges presented by outdated patient tracking systems, allowing them to streamline communication and real-time access to patient information across multiple wards.

The solution takes advantage of FHIR based real-time bidirectional integration to aggregate data from Alfred’s EMR, PAS and numerous other systems to provide a single view of the patient’s information.

Clinicians can execute patient workflow activities directly from the electronic journey boards, streamlining day to day activities and releasing time to care. Example activities include bed requests and allocation, observation management, handover notes, results management and discharge planning.

The Miya Precision platform can also natively enable remote patient monitoring, although this has not been implemented as part of this project.

Alcidion is now eyeing the Canadian healthcare sector and may soon be offering its solutions here, the company said.

The study conducted by Monash University and funded through the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), revealed several key findings:

Access to real-time patient information – A key advantage of Miya Precision is the FHIR based real-time two-way integration with existing health IT systems. The study found that prior to the deployment of Miya Precision, wards experienced a 25-40% discrepancy between patient information in the EMR and the whiteboards used to manage patient care. This discrepancy was completely eliminated with the adoption of Miya Precision and the electronic journey boards resulting in enhanced patient safety, streamlined clinical updates to patient records and more time to care.

Improvements to discharge planning – Prior to the adoption of Miya Precision, almost 40% of patients did not have an Estimated Date of Discharge (EDD) captured in their record. As a result of the implementation of the electronic journey boards, 100% of records now include an EDD, captured on the electronic journey board and passed back into the EMR and PAS. Changes to EDDs require a reason to be provided, aiding in the analysis of discharge forecast accuracy and supporting continuous improvement efforts.

Reductions in length of stay – During the course of the study, a consistent decline in patient length of stay was observed, decreasing by 12.1% over an 18-month period. Emergency department length of stay also saw a reduction during the implementation period, suggesting an improved availability of beds in the inpatient facility.

Reduction in outliers – When beds are not available, patients may be directly admitted to a ward where they were not intended to be placed, with staff who may be unfamiliar with their condition. These patients are known as outliers. The study identified a 17.7% reduction in the number of outliers at the point of admission, indicating improved availability of beds and visibility of both incoming patient demand and bed capacity in target wards.

Consistency in ways of working – Resourcing flexibility is critical for a hospital to effectively manage spikes in demand and resourcing shortfalls. Before the implementation of Miya Precision, the study identified 30 different workflow variations across the Alfred at the ward level, posing challenges for staff in terms of efficiency and patient safety when moving between wards. Using a consistent electronic journey board with configurable columns, the Alfred team now has just nine clinically aligned workflow variations. This supports the customised delivery of patient care whilst enabling staff to move between wards without having to learn new ways of working.

Efficiency in bed allocation – The study also reported that the duration of calls related to the management of beds decreased by 67%, freeing up resources to take on additional work. Miya Precision enables the digital allocation of beds, relieving clinicians from the need to call and speak to a bed manager to request a bed.

In response to the study findings, Alfred Health chief digital health officer Amy McKimm (pictured) said that, as a predominantly digital health service, Alfred Health is committed to improving patient care by ensuring individual care is supported by patient level health data that flows across the health service.

“The end ambition is to have a process that can oversee patient management and flow across all pathways, identify areas of concern or constraint, and support remote care either in patient’s homes or partnered hospitals/health services,” Ms McKimm said.

The Alcidion team is proud to support Alfred Health, one of Australia’s leading digital health systems, with this study showcasing the positive impact of real-time integration and electronic journey boards for patient flow management.