Keeping it real: Artificial Intelligence to dominate digital health-tech in 2024

Keeping it real: Artificial Intelligence to dominate digital health-tech in 2024

Twelve months ago, MediRecords made eight predictions about health-tech trends to watch in 2023. While we weren’t too far off the mark, it’s fair to say some of these emerging trends are still, well, trending. Nonetheless, as we welcome 2024, it’s time to look forward again.

 

Any health-tech pundit will have two words for you in 2024: Artificial Intelligence. This is because the AI genie is out of the bottle. The race is on to use this nascent technology in healthcare so that it is safe, secure, accurate, and unbiased. Here are some of the ways AI is being deployed — or will be:

Smart notes: Using AI assistants to translate consultations into clinical notes should mean less administration and more time for person-centred care. This doesn’t mean the AI is diagnostic, just smart enough to summarise a conversation into pertinent points, after listening to a telehealth or in-person appointment

Data-driven decisions: No two patients are exactly the same but algorithms can detect patterns across thousands of previous cases and predict the statistically most likely path forward. This will be the basis for health coaching, chronic disease and other illness management programs, hopefully providing timely information at ‘teachable’ moments that can alter and optimise patient outcomes.

Handy insights: Your handheld device or wearable is likely to know things about you before anyone else. How hard you tap the screen, your vocabulary, tone of voice, gait, facial expression, skin tone, heart rate, respiration, perspiration and oxygen saturation are signposts to your mental and physical health. Combining these data points will enable earlier interventions. Imagine how powerful this could be for triggering a call to a clinician or counsellor when a patient needs help or reminding someone to take their medication.

Getting under your skin: A drop of blood, a lick of saliva and other bodily fluid samples can help you find long lost relatives but also medications that work better for you and foods that make the orchestra in your gut microbiome play in tune. Consumer kits for quicker insights into fertility, fitness, faeces and more, will become readily available.

Coming to your sensors: Data will be harvested from sources including your phone camera, your clothing (See This AI-Powered Sock Could Revolutionize the Care of People With Dementia | Tech Times) and even your toilet (See This Futuristic Toilet Sensor Reads Your Pee to Measure Health – CNET). If it can be measured, it will be.

Next available: As competition for healthcare-consumer dollars increases, buyer power is boosted. Consumers will expect Uber-style technology to find the next available appointment and have their results and medications delivered, pronto. If funding and regulatory hurdles can be leaped, healthcare could potentially be delivered globally.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Speaking of regulations, there’s much anticipation associated with the Federal Government’s recently released Digital Health Blueprint for the next decade; see:

The Digital Health Blueprint and Action Plan 2023–2033 | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care). A key commitment is that personal health data is available and interoperable – in other words useable — wherever you need care. MediRecords is actively involved in the Sparked community developing core national standards for FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources). We look forward to Federal incentives for adherence to new industry-wide data models so that healthcare organisations can seamlessly share information.

Looking within

The acclaimed US science-fiction author Ray Bradbury had the following to say about predicting the future: “Predicting the future is much too easy… You look at the people around you, the street you stand on, the visible air you breathe, and predict more of the same. To hell with more. I want better.”

This sentiment is central to MediRecords’ digital health wish list for 2024. We understand the job is never finished. Health tech can never stop striving to do things better, smarter and safer. MediRecords is building next-generation, cloud-connected healthcare. We can confidently predict we’ll be sharing major new product enhancements in coming months.

About MediRecords

MediRecords is Australia’s leading cloud electronic health record and patient management system. MediRecords is used by clinicians providing outpatient and inpatient care in community health, Defence, hospitals, emergency medicine, industry, universities, and telemedicine.

References

“Tremendous emerging demand”: The security and data challenge in Australian healthcare – Cloud – Digital – Security – CRN Australia

AI May Be on Its Way to Your Doctor’s Office, But It’s Not Ready to See Patients – KFF Health News

Amazon Health Launches New Initiative To Address Chronic Conditions (forbes.com)

Cardiology has embraced AI more than most other specialties (cardiovascularbusiness.com)

Health technology in 2024: Projections for AI, digital health, and more (chiefhealthcareexecutive.com)

Use Technology to Support Your Clinicians | HealthLeaders Media

Why Providence had to ‘blow up’ the old way of providing care with virtual nursing (beckershospitalreview.com)

https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/addiction-recovery-provider-sees-success-ai-enabled-telehealth-meds-monitoring

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/disruptors/google-says-medical-ai-tool-is-performing-at-an-expert-level.html

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/digital-health/new-apple-headset-coming-in-february-could-be-used-by-hospitals.html

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/innovation/a-recipe-for-magic-how-baptist-health-is-infusing-ai-into-all-levels-of-care.html

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/mayo-clinic-inks-multimillion-dollar-deal-with-ai-startup.html

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/telehealth/is-virtual-nursing-overstated.html

https://www.pulseit.news/australian-digital-health/ifhima-2023-digital-health-adoption-in-primary-care-and-the-covid-effect/

https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/how-ai-powered-clinical-notes-api-could-boost-telehealth

https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/why-ai-will-never-eliminate-need-pharmacists

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    Email on Demand is now live on MediRecords
     

    Email on Demand is now live on MediRecords!

    Enhance your communication workflow with Email on Demand –
    MediRecords' latest feature!

    We are excited to share that Email on Demand is now live on the MediRecords platform! This new feature allows our users to send emails directly from MediRecords, removing the need to download files or switch between applications. By using our new email solution, users can streamline their communications, save resources, and have more time for patient-focused care.

    Users can now access Email on Demand from the Universal Communications Bar, which is located at the top right-hand corner of the MediRecords platform. When users click on the email icon, they will see a pop-up window where they can compose and send an email. Users can also attach documents from MediRecords files or from their local device.

    When using Email on Demand within a patient record, users can simply tick the checkbox to Select Current Patient, and the Recipient and Regarding fields will be automatically filled with the applicable details.

    Email on Demand is a useful feature that helps to optimise workflows and efficiency with benefits including:

    • Emailing clinic rosters and staff updates to internal practice users
    • Sending attachments to patients such as a Health Summary, Care Plan, prescriptions, medical certificates, and education resources.
    • Sending multiple document attachments to external healthcare professionals, regarding a specific patient.

    Interested in exploring Email on Demand further? Book a demo with our Sales team, and discover how Email on Demand can help to optimise your practice’s communications.

    Play Video

    Frequently asked questions

    Any document created as a New Letter or Imported into the Correspondence OUT grid will be available to be attached, provided that the letter status is Final. This means Investigation Requests, Invoices, Patient Education, and more, can be sent via email after being uploaded to the Patient’s Correspondence.

    While you won’t be able to receive a direct reply into MediRecords, you can include Reply-to instructions in the body of your email. All emails will come from a clear no-reply email address with an embedded footer that also indicates the inability to receive replies.

    Yes, you can send as many emails as you like, however you will be unable to include multiple recipients on one email at this stage.

    To keep your email safe and secure, the recipient’s email address must be confirmed and saved within a Patient Record or Contact.

    As with most email servers, a failure to deliver can take a long time and is not always immediately apparent. While you won’t be able to see a delivery status within MediRecords, if you’re concerned your email has not reached its destination, please speak to our Support team.

    A sent email will be logged as a Task in the Activities screen, and within the Patient’s Activities tab. This entry will include comprehensive details of the email, including all recipient and patient information, and even whether a file was attached or not, to provide peace of mind that your email went to the right place, and that you didn’t forget to attach that document.

    MediRecords utilises SMTP Port 587, as do many other major industry mail clients, such as Microsoft Outlook and Apple Mail. This is highly secure, encrypted and reliable, with additional layers of security compared to other ports.

    Looking to stay updated with the latest from MediRecords?

    Sign up to the newsletter

      Investigations: Improvements & new features
       

      Investigations: Improvements & new features

      How MediRecords is introducing smart new ways to manage Investigations requests and results.

      In MediRecords, ‘Investigations’ comprise the pathology and radiology Requests and Results that are housed within a Patient Clinical File.

      Once a patient has completed a test or scan, if the MediRecords practice is using Secure Messaging, results are sent direct to the MediRecords Inbox where clinicians can review the contents, create any follow-up recall activities, and link these to the Patient Clinical File. Alternatively, the practice may choose to manually upload results via the Inbox or the Patient Result Grid.

      MediRecords has recently updated the Investigations feature with new features to make workflows more efficient and convenient. Here are some of the benefits our users will enjoy thanks to improvements across Investigations:

      Save time and hassle: Easily renew a request by duplicating a prior request with the same details. These pre-filled referrals are beneficial for monitoring chronic conditions and for recurring tests. For example, suppose a patient needs a blood test every three months to check their cholesterol level. In that case, the clinician can simply renew the previous request and send it to the pathology provider without having to fill most of the details again.

      Keep track of patients’ results: Users can now link a Patient Result to the original Request from within the Patient Result Grid, to allow an end-to-end workflow for manual and/or paper results. This new feature enables users to close the loop for manual results by allowing them to connect two items and then update the Status of the original Request to Partially or Fully Received, with a couple of clicks. For example, if a patient has completed a chest x-ray to diagnose possible pneumonia, the clinician can easily link the Result to the Request from the Patient Result Grid, then update the Status of the Request to indicate that the Results have been received and reviewed

      Work at your own pace: Create a draft request and save it for later. This allows clinicians to add information or make changes. before marking a Request as outstanding. This becomes particularly useful when a patient may require a radiology test or scan, but pathology tests need to be completed prior. The clinician can create a draft Request and save it in the patient’s record. They can then edit the Request later to add more details (e.g. outcome of pathology results).

      Customise workflows & allocate new levels of priority: Our new priority fields provide more options on the level of urgency (e.g., routine, urgent, ASAP, STAT) of a request. We have also added new filters to help sort and search for patient requests and results.

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        Rural Mental Health Conference 2023: Insights from MediRecords

        Rural Mental Health Conference 2023: Insights from MediRecords

        Peer-support workers are the future of mental-health service provision, including in rural Australia, where the need is among the highest and access to services among the lowest, the Rural Mental Health Conference was told this week.

        Also, the conference heard that talking openly about mental ill health and suicide is essential to reduce stigma, increase understanding and activate prevention initiatives in communities.

        MediRecords was an industry sponsor for the conference in Albury, which was attended by mental health professionals, researchers, advocates and others.

        Conference co-chair Professor Russell Roberts, of Charles Sturt University and the Manna Institute, opened the conference by dispelling the oft-made claim that rural towns were dying. In fact, they have been growing for 20 years, boosted further by an increase in relocation to rural Australia during the pandemic, he said.

        Speakers highlighted workforce challenges including recruitment and retention, and low mental-health literacy, compounded by the housing crisis for people willing to move and live rurally.

        “Peer support workers are the future of mental-health service provision,” said

        Dr Chris Maylea, Associate Professor of Law at La Trobe University.

        Also, he argued that inadequate mental-health services for rural Australians was a breach of human rights.

        “Sub-par services because someone lives in a rural area – we should call that a human-rights violation, not a geographic disparity.”

        Mental Health Australia CEO Carolyn Nikoloski called for a national human-rights act – one that embedded mental health into human rights.

        Other themes from the conference included:

        • A dearth of mental health services in rural areas means people with mental ill health end up in the justice system. As the documentary film Solstice stated, people in urgent need of mental health care don’t get a helicopter flight to Melbourne like accident victims; the more likely options are a busy hospital Emergency Department or police custody.
        • Telehealth is increasingly essential for providing access to services where few or none are available locally and wait lists are long. The Royal Far West Centre for Rural and Remote Children’s Health gave an example of setting up a farmer with video-call technology so he could join a case conference for his daughter from his tractor. Clean Slate Clinic clinical nurse consultant Fiona Faulkner said the home treatment program enabled people in rural areas to seek support without the fear of being ‘outed’ in their small communities.
        • Kelly McGrath, of the Wesley Research Institute, highlighted the way that services need to adapt telehealth to support individuals, ensuring there is personalised tech help and financial support, and sensitivity to how and where people engage with telehealth – from having kids running around in the background or access at the workplace, where there may be insufficient privacy.
        •  Ruralaid is experiencing a significant spike in demand for its services in Queensland, where farmers have been confronted with floods, bushfires, rising costs and falling returns for produce.

        MediRecords is a cloud-hosted electronic health record and client management platform with industry-leading options for secure data sharing. MediRecords supports a broad range of telehealth care providers, including the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department.

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          Innovative solutions: Transforming patient care with next-gen AI

          Innovative solutions: Transforming patient care with next-gen AI

          Using generative AI for almost-instant, accurate clinical notes is rapidly gaining momentum, with smart solutions emerging in Australia and globally.

          And telehealth may be one place this tech shines brightest.

          The fever-pitch buzz around generative AI in healthcare is not surprising, since it was valued at more than $1 billion last year, and poised to reach $22 billion by 2023.

          Documentation burden

          “With clinicians overloaded and staff shortages worsening, improving clinical documentation, workflow and optimisation of electronic medical records is more critical than ever,” as Dr Simon Wallace wrote in The Medical Republic this year.

          A survey last year of 1,000 UK doctors, nurses and allied health professionals revealed they spent an average of 13.5 hours per week generating documentation, up 25% in the last seven years.

          Here and now

          A team of Aussie doctors, designers and engineers at Heidi Health aims to “give healthcare providers superpowers” with their generative-AI clinical-notes tool. It records and transcribes consults, then transforms them into “whatever you need next — specific forms, patient explainers — or something else, just ask Heidi”.

          Being present

          Dr Shiv Rao, a US cardiologist and CEO of a Abridge, a vendor of generative-AI clinical documentation tech, told Healthcare IT News: “ … [Turning patient conversation into highly professional notes with quality and accuracy … [means] that we could refocus our profession on what matters most – being present and listening.”

          “We could all but eliminate the administrative load that has eroded the quality of doctor-patient conversations and has famously broken the spirit of many clinicians,” he said.

          The power of more than one

          Solutions that pair AI with existing tech are booming. For example, APIs have been developed to seamlessly integrate SOAP notes and other clinical notes into workflows and virtual-care platforms.

          Telehealth was fertile ground for AI, according to Kwindla Hultman Kramer, CEO at AI-video-audio specialist company Daily.

          “All audio is already being captured digitally, ready for transcription and summarisation. This makes telemedicine a good starting point for adding new AI tools into healthcare workflows,” he told Healthcare IT News.

          Safety first

          While it is acknowledged that generative AI in healthcare will have to address concerns about whether tools are safe, equitable and adhere to privacy requirements, internationally, countries are co-operating to create a safer future with AI.

          In November, Australia, and 27 countries including the EU, US, UK, and China, signed the Bletchley Declaration. This agreement encourages the safe, ethical, and responsible development of AI, focusing on human-centric, trustworthy, and responsible usage.

          The federal Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic, said while there is immense potential for AI to do a lot of good in the world, “there are real and understandable concerns with how this technology could impact our world”. 

          “We need to act now to make sure safety and ethics are in-built. Not a bolt-on feature down the track,” he said.

          MediRecords is an electronic health record and patient management system platform well suited for enabling and underpinning innovative new technology, including AI tools.

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            Eight reasons to embrace cloud technology in healthcare
             

            Eight reasons to embrace cloud technology in healthcare

            We’ve done the maths. But saving $600K in ten years is just one good reason to switch to the cloud.

            In today’s fast-paced world, healthcare needs to be as efficient and technologically advanced as any other sector. This doesn’t mean adopting the latest technology for the sake of it. It does mean delivering 21st-century healthcare and, by doing it right, reaping substantial, long-term cost savings, and significant workplace and environmental benefits.
            Here are eight reasons why cloud technology is essential to healthcare:

            1. Interoperability is the future
            Interoperability isn’t just a passing trend. Governments worldwide are moving towards legislating information sharing by default and cloud technology ensures real-time information exchange at the point of care. In contrast, non-cloud technologies, including cloud-bridging platforms, introduce multiple risks ranging from data integrity to security and governance issues. Cloud-based EHRs (Electronic Health Records) provide superior interoperability, enabling more coordinated and integrated care.

            2. Cloud technology drives operational efficiency
            From minimised IT overheads to consolidation of services and identity management, cloud technology reshapes how businesses operate. It offers universal access, strengthens data security, supports single source systems, and much more. Adopting the cloud doesn’t just mean upgrading technology; it enables overhauling and enhancing the operational fabric of your organisation.

            3. Unparalleled scalability with cloud solutions
            The adaptability of cloud applications is noteworthy. In a landscape that’s continuously evolving, cloud-based solutions can adeptly manage unpredictable usage patterns, support multi-party usage, and adapt to regulatory changes swiftly. With unparalleled scalability, cloud solutions are equipped to handle increasing data volumes, user counts, and evolving stakeholder needs.

            4. Cost Analysis: Cloud vs. on-premise
            When it comes to the financial aspects of healthcare, cloud solutions offer undeniable benefits. Consider the following costs associated with cloud and on-premise solutions. 

            Click here to view the below table in a new window.

            5. Adapting to the casualised workforce trend
            The post-pandemic period has witnessed a shift towards a more casualised healthcare workforce. The burgeoning telemedicine sector, and changing economic circumstances, have resulted in more flexible work arrangements. Digital platforms are bolstering this change, fostering work-from-anywhere telecommuting and freelance opportunities. Cloud technology stands at the crux of these changing workforce trends, ensuring seamless transitions and facilitating innovative care models for healthcare providers and consumers.

            6. Meeting patient expectations in the post-Covid era
            The Covid-19 pandemic reshaped many sectors, and healthcare wasn’t exempt. Nowadays, patients anticipate digital solutions such as online appointment bookings, e-prescriptions, and quick access to telemedicine. Beyond the functional solutions, they also expect a personalised touch to their care, and more involvement in decision-making. Digital healthcare, powered by cloud technology, enables safety improvements, real-time access to information, and an enhanced patient experience.

            7. Environmental benefits
            According to research, cloud computing can decrease carbon emissions by approximately 60%-70%. This not only reflects more sustainable utilisation of resources like water, but also effective management of waste products when decommissioning hardware. As opposed to traditional data centers, cloud data centers are known to be significantly more energy efficient. [1,2] Transition to the cloud means reducing the carbon footprint of your health business.

            8. Virtual care: The way forward
            With virtual care rising in popularity, especially in Australia, integrated patient data systems are crucial. Cloud-based EHR solutions offer healthcare providers location-agnostic access to patient data, ensuring comprehensive care, whether provided remotely or in-clinic.

            In summary, the transition to cloud technology in the healthcare sector isn’t just a tech upgrade; it’s a holistic approach to meeting modern business challenges head-on. Furthermore, the estimated costs savings over a 10-year period for a 10-doctor practice is over $600,000, not to mention the environmental benefits and peace of mind that come with outsourcing operations to a trusted partner.

            Whether you’re a startup or an established player, it’s time to harness the power of the cloud.

            [1] https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/products-services/the-cloud?energyType=true

            [2] https://aws.amazon.com/executive-insights/content/fighting-climate-change-with-the-cloud/

            This article was written by MediRecords CEO & Founder Matthew Galetto, and originally published by Health Services Daily and The Medical Republic.

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              MediRecords Feature Release: Email on Demand
               

              Feature Release: Email on Demand

              Email correspondence to your contacts and patients from any screen in MediRecords with Email on Demand.

              We are excited to announce that Email on Demand is being released very soon, a highly anticipated feature that allows our users to send emails from MediRecords with ease. Users will be able to send emails directly from MediRecords, without having to download files or switch between applications. By integrating our new email solution into MediRecords, users can simplify their communications processes, reduce administrative overhead, and expedite patient care. 

              Email on Demand is accessible from the Universal Communications Bar, which is in the top right-hand corner of the MediRecords platform. This feature allows users to securely send an email to any contact or patient in their database from any MediRecords screen. Whether they are in the Patient Clinical Dashboard, Appointments, or Billing screen, they can use this feature to share key information & attachments with patients and contacts.

              Play Video

              Email on Demand is designed to be easy to use and reduce errors when selecting recipient or patient details. When users are viewing a Patient Record and open Email on Demand, they can tick the checkbox to Select Current Patient, and the Recipient and Regarding fields will be automatically populated with the patient details. Users can also search for any contact or patient in their database from the Recipient field.

              The Send button will become Active when all required fields (Recipient, Subject and Message) have been populated. Before sending an email, a pop up will appear to ask the user to confirm the details are correct. The user can either Cancel or Continue. If the user cancels, the pop up will close and the user can edit the email. If the user continues, the pop up will close, the email will be sent, and the Email screen will reset.

              Email on Demand is a convenient feature that helps to enhance workflows and productivity. Users can use Email on Demand for various purposes, such as:

              • Emailing clinic rosters & updates to internal practice users 
              • Sending attachments to patients such as a Health Summary, Care Plan, prescriptions, medical certificates and education resources.  
              • Sending multiple document attachments to external healthcare professionals, regarding a specific patient. 

              To read more on how to use Email on Demand, please visit the following articles from our  Knowledge Base.

              If you would like to book a demo, please contact our Sales team here.

              Frequently asked questions

              Any document created as a New Letter or Imported into the Correspondence OUT grid will be available to be attached, provided that the letter status is Final. This means Investigation Requests, Invoices, Patient Education, and more, can be sent via email after being uploaded to the Patient’s Correspondence.

              While you won’t be able to receive a direct reply into MediRecords, you can include Reply-to instructions in the body of your email. All emails will come from a clear no-reply email address with an embedded footer that also indicates the inability to receive replies.

              Yes, you can send as many emails as you like, however you will be unable to include multiple recipients on one email at this stage.

              To keep your email safe and secure, the recipient’s email address must be confirmed and saved within a Patient Record or Contact.

              As with most email servers, a failure to deliver can take a long time and is not always immediately apparent. While you won’t be able to see a delivery status within MediRecords, if you’re concerned your email has not reached its destination, please speak to our Support team.

              A sent email will be logged as a Task in the Activities screen, and within the Patient’s Activities tab. This entry will include comprehensive details of the email, including all recipient and patient information, and even whether a file was attached or not, to provide peace of mind that your email went to the right place, and that you didn’t forget to attach that document.

              MediRecords utilises SMTP Port 587, as do many other major industry mail clients, such as Microsoft Outlook and Apple Mail. This is highly secure, encrypted and reliable, with additional layers of security compared to other ports.

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                A clinician’s MediRecords odyssey: unveiling efficient, mobile aged care medicine

                A clinician's MediRecords odyssey: unveiling efficient, mobile aged care medicine

                Here’s the latest in our series on how people use MediRecords. In this Q & A, Dr Gaveen Jayarajan explains why he made the switch to the cloud and MediRecords to power his Doctors in Aged Care mobile medical practice.

                Tell us a bit about your practice.

                I operate the Doctors in Aged Care mobile GP service that visits residents at several Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs) throughout metropolitan Melbourne. Our service exclusively does RACF work and is fully mobile and virtual; we see residents in their homes every week. We are committed to excellence in medical care of the elderly using innovative, non-traditional/hybrid approaches to healthcare service delivery.

                Associated with our medical practice, I have built the Doctors in Aged Care (DiAC) Facebook group, which is a community of over 2300 doctors Australia-wide.

                Please contrast MediRecords with the system you used prior to using MediRecords.

                I had used all the common GP clinical and practice management systems working as a GP in medical centres for the previous eight years. Usually clinics would use two different programs, one for clinical use and one for practice management (i.e., appointments/billing/claiming/reporting). When I started working full-time in aged care, I used a popular GP clinical software system which was server-based. This worked okay in a medical centre but was not well suited to mobile work visiting RACFs.

                As a doctor working in a challenging and inefficient setting, I urgently needed a reliable and stable solution. Hence my move to a cloud-based alternative, MediRecords.

                My initial apprehension with using a cloud system was what happens if internet speed and connection were unreliable? To my surprise this was a non-issue. Using mobile broadband devices, which now give NBN-type speeds in some locations, internet speed was not an issue. I could also use my mobile phone as a Hotspot if needed.

                MediRecords is an all-in-one, integrated clinical and practice management system. So, from a single browser window I could access the clinical functions I needed as well as seamlessly view my appointment book, create new appointments, perform billings, view current Medicare claims in progress, and generate reports for total invoices/billings over any time period.

                The third change was no longer having to engage and deal with a third-party IT service provider. Now all of this was handled in the background automatically; updates are   installed remotely with no disruption or major technical issues.

                How does MediRecords enhance your efficiency?

                I use the MediRecords appointment book as a key tool to manage my workload, maximise efficiency and provide proactive rather than reactive care.

                Every time a phone, email or fax request is received to review a patient, the patient’s name is entered into the appointment book for the next weekly visit day (or on the day of request if urgent) with an appointment type depending on the nature of the issue. It could be a “Regular” appointment or classified as for example, “Urgent’’, “Vaccine”, “Wound Review”, “Post-fall Review”, “Health Assessment”, “Phone Consultation”, etc. MediRecords allows multiple appointment types and durations to be created. Every time a patient is seen, a follow-up appointment is also made at an appropriate interval. When done for every patient, I can see with reasonable accuracy what my workload will be like. Unplanned extra patients, or “walk-ins”, can be added to the daily schedule depending on demand that day.

                We further enhance our scheduled care by using the recalls or “Clinical Actions” function. For every new patient we have recalls for core things relating to Medicare item numbers and due dates, e.g., Health Assessments, Residential Medication Management Reviews and Care Plan Contributions.

                Also useful for efficiency is the Tagging feature. I use Tags, along with another existing MediRecords feature of doing multiple patient invoices at once, to reduce the time taken to process daily billings to under five minutes.

                Another recent improvement has come with my API integration of MediRecords with Snapforms. Using Snapforms I created a “New Patient Details Form”. Now when a RACF asks me to take on a new patient, I email them a cloud-based form with a URL link. They complete all new patient details, attach a recent patient health summary or hospital discharge summary and a current medication list. After they hit submit, something magical happens! A new patient file is created in MediRecords with the key demographic data already populated, and a PDF copy of the form and any uploaded health summary or discharge summary and medication lists stored in the Correspondence IN tab in the patient file.

                I use MediRecords on multiple devices including my Surface Laptop, Samsung Galaxy tablet and Samsung Z-Fold 5 mobile phone.

                How does MediRecords enhance patient care?

                MediRecords allows me to operate with the lowest and leanest cost base and make it financially viable and sustainable for the long-term. It enables me to maintain safe and high standards of care that are consistent, repeatable and maximise quality of life for patients.

                What are your tips for people considering changing to MediRecords?

                Have a clear idea and rationale for why you want to move to the cloud.

                It can’t just be about saving money on software subscription costs or on upgrading or buying a new server. Independent GPs working at your practice will not be interested in this. Show them a way forward with a big picture view of how moving to the cloud can change the way they deliver healthcare, creating benefits they are not currently experiencing. Avoid trying to replicate like-for-like every feature of server-based software.

                What are you looking forward to with MediRecords in the future?

                The efficiencies we have been able to achieve by using cloud-based software have been done with an intense focus on optimising processes and managing costs – and without Artificial Intelligence (AI). We look forward to incorporating AI to further drive efficiency and improve patient care standards by automating more administrative processes and providing advanced clinical decision support and insights.

                If you’d like to showcase innovative ways you use MediRecords in healthcare, please reach out to us via sales@medirecords.com.

                Dr Gaveen Jayarajan is an investor and member of the MediRecords Medical Advisory Board.  

                Read more about Doctors in Aged Care on their website.  

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                  Critical care: 84% of healthcare workers facing burnout, putting mental health at risk

                  84% of healthcare workers
                  facing burnout, putting mental health at risk

                  On World Mental Health Day, it is timely to remember the importance of supporting the mental health of healthcare workers.

                  The latest data from Mental Health Australia’s (MHA) annual survey of the mental well-being of healthcare workers paints a concerning picture.

                  The survey found 84% of respondents reported that the pandemic’s demands lead to burnout in 2022.

                  The WHO describes burnout as a syndrome caused by unmanaged workplace stress. It includes feeling exhausted, negative about work, and ineffective.

                  Burnout is linked to a conceptualised “COVID-19 fourth wave”, alongside psychological trauma, mental illness, and economic strain, according to the US physician, Associate Prof. Victor Tseng.

                  Burnout significantly raises the risk of unsafe care by doctors and nurses, studies show.

                  In a review of 13 studies involving 20,643 doctors, “physicians with overall burnout had almost three times greater odds of making self-perceived errors,” found a study in the Journal of Patient Safety in 2022. The odds were almost identical for nurses, with burnout likely to providing poor-quality care, a separate study found this year.

                  One leading organisation supporting the wellbeing of healthcare professionals is the Black Dog Institute. It established The Essential Network (TEN), which aims to prevent burnout.

                  TEN offers practical resources , confidential personalised support and up to five free telehealth sessions.

                  “Every Australian has been impacted by COVID-19, but few have felt the brunt of the pandemic more keenly than health professionals,” said Black Dog Institute’s Deputy Director and Chief Psychiatrist, Professor Sam Harvey.

                  Mental Health Australia CEO Carolyn Nikoloski said that, for the first time in 20 years, Australia does not have a national mental health and suicide prevention plan. She said: “A national roadmap needs to be developed to address these concerning trends and ensure equitable access to mental health care supports for all people in Australia.”

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                    What are the keys to embedding telehealth into your practice?

                    What are the keys to embedding telehealth into your practice?

                    A new US study has identified reasons that some primary-care practices were better able than others to adapt to the surge in the demand for telemedicine during the pandemic.

                    We wanted to know if the Australian experience was the same, so we asked our telehealth partner, Coviu.

                    The study of 87 US practices, in the Annals of Family Medicine, found key factors were:

                    • Prior experience with virtual health, such as knowing the importance of grouping telehealth visits together; and
                    • Triaging rules, that is, clearly or not clearly knowing which patients could be treated virtually and which required an in-person visit 

                    Coviu observed during the pandemic that primary-care practices, boosted by the rapid introduction of universal Medicare reimbursements for phone and video telehealth, were quick to adopt phone for telehealth, but were more reluctant to adopt video telehealth, according to CEO Silvia Pfeiffer.

                    “This has remained the major approach to telehealth in primary care,“ Dr Pfeiffer said.

                    “This trend persists despite the government’s push for the adoption of video and compelling evidence suggesting that, for many visits, video results in better outcomes than phone calls.

                    “But for many primary-care services, phone telehealth is completely adequate, and for many patients without connectivity, phone is the only telehealth option.”

                    Coviu confirmed that practitioners throughout the Australian healthcare system demonstrated greater adaptability to telehealth when it was already integrated into their practice model, such as in rural settings, or when it was part of their pre-pandemic strategy.

                    “The absence of clear and consistent triage guidelines, especially early in the pandemic, contributed to the challenges faced by healthcare providers,” Dr Pfeiffer said.

                    “Triage guidelines help determine which patients should receive in-person care, telehealth consultations, or home care, and their absence can lead to uncertainty and increased workload for clinicians.”

                    She said when initially adopting telehealth during the pandemic, primary-care practitioners faced significant challenges including “unmet basic requirements, such as the absence of webcams or sufficiently powerful computers for telehealth”.

                    “In addition, many GPs lacked adequate training on what could be accomplished through video telehealth.”

                    Today, obstacles to wider adoption of telehealth include, “the stigma associated with video consultations, particularly among practitioners accustomed to in-person care”, Dr Pfeiffer said.

                    “Slow change management within healthcare organisations hinders progress, with a perception that video visits are inferior to in-person appointments, which does not apply in all instances. For example, mental health advice often leads to better outcomes when delivered via video in the comfort of a person’s own home.

                    “Reimbursements are still a challenge as the rules continue to change, causing confusion.

                    “Misinformation about privacy and security concerns as well as regulatory requirements also loom, impacting patient trust.

                    “Furthermore, inadequate training, both in technical software use and determining the clinical appropriateness of remote consultations, remains a hurdle.”

                    Factors Coviu says lead to successful telehealth adoption include:

                    1. Digital knowledge within practices that already had digital communication mechanisms set up with their clients.
                    2. Practices that strategically integrated telehealth into their workflows and adopted technology to make this seamless
                    3. Practices that prepared their staff with training on their virtual-care workflow
                    4.  Adoption of triaging rules by clinicians, as proposed by industry experts such as the RACGP, and other industry bodies and federations.

                    MediRecords has partnered with Coviu to streamline booking of video consultations with practice clients. Once your Coviu account is connected to MediRecords, any consultation nominated as a telehealth appointment auto-generates a link to the Coviu virtual consultation and your client is sent an invitation via SMS or email.

                    MediRecords and Coviu are both Australian developed cloud-hosted health technology companies.

                    Read more about Coviu on their website

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