MediRecords Product Update August 2021
 

MediRecords Product Update: August 2021

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Fee Bidder, Junior Product Owner

See what we’ve been working on and released over the last month...

We are excited to announce the recent changes and updates we have released into the Medirecords product. Below you will find a summary of each of the changes we have made. 

Increased File Size Upload Limit

The file size limit has been increased across MediRecords, to allow you to upload larger file sizes. This change affects the following areas within MediRecords:

  • Clinical Drawings (Patient Clinical & Resources)
  • Patient Clinical – New Correspondence In
  • Patient Clinical – Correspondence Out (imported documents)
  • Secure Messaging Inbox
  • Secure Messaging Outbox
  • Investigation Results
  • Bulk Scan Upload
  • Referrals

Provider Number Added to Health Professionals Grid

You may now view the provider number for a contact from within the Health Professionals grid within Resources. 

Interested Parties & Usual GP Mail Merge Fields Added

New mail merge fields have been added to the letter editor, so you may now import a patient’s Interested Parties and Usual GP directly from the patient’s record. These fields are found within the Patient table when editing a template or letter. When using these fields, the following will occur:

Interested Parties:

  • The Provider’s name and Provider Number will be imported (if recorded against the Contact record).
  • The Category of Referrer will display if the party were recorded in the Referral section in Patient Details.
  • Any notes recorded for the Interested Parties will be displayed in the Details field.

Usual GP:

  • The Interested Party marked as the patient’s Usual GP in their Interested Parties will be displayed.

 

Search by Provider Number on Health Professionals Grid

You may now search by a provider by entering their provider number into the search bar available at the top of the Health Professionals grid. Results will be returned when you have entered a minimum of 3 characters from the beginning of the provider number. 

Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS21) EPC Template Added

The DASS21 form is now available as an EPC template within the consultation window. Answering the questions will provide a scoring for each category, and an overall scoring with appropriate diagnosis.

 

Chronological Appointment Agenda View

The Agenda view in Appointments will now display all appointments in chronological order, rather than grouping the appointments by provider. This improvement aims to improve the Agenda’s usefulness when looking to see the appointments booked for a certain patient, or provider.

 

Stickiness Implemented in Contacts Area

When searching in the Health Professionals or Service Provider grids, you will no longer lose your search term after opening and closing a record. This assists with finding the correct contact record where a contact may have multiple records for different locations.

 

Stickiness in Filters Applied for Tasks/Activities

When applying filters within the Tasks/Activities window, you will now be able to apply separate filters for each patient.

These changes have come about from customers like you, who have given us their feedback.  MediRecords is committed to continuous improvement to allow for ease of use of our product, so if you have any feedback, please let your account manager know!

See you next month for more exciting new features and functions within MediRecords.

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Fee Bidder, Junior Product Owner

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    MediRecords Product Update July 2021

    MediRecords Product Update: July 2021

    Fee Bidder - Headshot cropped

    Fee Bidder, Junior Product Owner

    See what we’ve been working on and released over the last month...

    We are excited to announce the recent changes and updates we have released into the Medirecords product. Below you will find a summary of each of the changes we have made. 

    Observations Improvements

    Improvements have been made to the Observations function, so that all observations may now appear within the timeline graph view, rather than a selected amount, improving visibility of a patient’s health over time.

     

    Percentile Value Added to Observations Grid

    The PCT value will now display within the Observations grid when the Percentile tick-box has been selected.

     

    Added Hover Information to Timeline View

    Hovering over an entry in the Observation Timeline view will now display the percentile value, the user who created the entry, and the date of entry.

    Appointment Book Username Update

    Provider usernames have been updated within the Appointment Book to display First and Surname. If a status has been added to the provider and their full name exceeds the character limit, then only the provider’s surname will be displayed alongside the status.

    Given Field Added to Immunisations Grid

    The Given Field is now available within the Immunisation Grid, so you may tell at a quick glance whether an immunization was given elsewhere, given within the clinic, or if the immunization was declined.

     

    Practice Wide Patient Chat

    Users may now view all chat threads on a Patient Record Dashboard, regardless of who created the chat message or received it. This ensures that all chat correspondence is available on the Patient Record for all users.

     

    Comments Added to Investigations Grid

    Now when viewing the Investigations grid, you may see any Comments that have been added to a result item. A preview of the comments will be displayed where space allows, and hovering over the preview will show the entire comment.

     

    My Health Record Fields Added to Encounter Form

    Checkboxes have been added to the Encounter Form, for “Uploaded to My Health Record”, and “Health Summary Sent to GP”, for practices using My Health Record functionality.

     

    Activities Filter Change

    Activities will now be ordered by earliest due date first in both the patient record and within the Activities/Tasks window, to improve the prioritisation of Activities.

     

    New Print Letter Button Location within Letter Editor

    The Print button has been moved from within the More menu, to it’s own button above the letter, to improve the speed of printing letters.

     

    Fee Schedule Updates

    The following fund schedules have been successfully uploaded into Medirecords, and are available immediately. 

    • AHSA
    • BUPA
    • BUPA Diagnostic
    • DVA
    • HBF
    • Medibank Private
    • Mildura Health
    • NIB
    • St Luke’s

    These changes have come about from customers like you, who have given us their feedback.  MediRecords is committed to continuous improvement to allow for ease of use of our product.

    See you next month for more exciting new features and functions within MediRecords.

    Fee Bidder - Headshot cropped

    Fee Bidder, Junior Product Owner

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      MediRecords Product Update June 2021

      MediRecords Product Update: June 2021

      Fee Bidder - Headshot cropped

      Fee Bidder, Junior Product Owner

      See what we’ve been working on and released over the last month...

      We are excited to announce the recent changes and updates we have released into the Medirecords product. Below you will find a summary of each of the changes we have made. 

      Batch and Expiry Fields Added to Custom Drug Recipes

      When creating or editing a drug recipe, you may now add your own batch number and expiry. Once a drug has passed the expiry date set within the recipe, you will not be able to prescribe this drug again.

       

      Alcohol and Smoking Indicators in Patient Screen

      You may now review the alcohol and smoking status of a patient easily, due to 2 new icons added to the patient field. Provided a patient has their alcohol and smoking status recorded within the Tobacco and Alcohol sections of the patient file, these icons will be displayed beside the patient’s date of birth. Hovering over these icons will provide additional information.

       

      Unchecked Mail within Patient Record

      Now when you click on the unchecked mail icon within the patient record, you will be directed to the appropriate result or secure message in question for quick review.

       

      Additional Claim Type – Scheme – AGC (Access Gap Cover)

      Scheme-AGC has been added as a default claim type within the ECLIPSE configuration window found within Preferences > ECLIPSE. More information on the Access Gap Cover claiming process can be found here: https://www.ahsa.com.au/web/doctors/agc

       

      Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) July

      During July, Medicare released a schedule containing a significant number of item number removals, modifications, and additional items. This has been successfully uploaded into Medirecords, and be used immediately. The majority of the changes were related to Telehealth, Cardiac & Orthopaedic item numbers. For more information on the MBS changes, please view the Medicare website.

      These changes have come about from customers like you, who have given us their feedback.  MediRecords is committed to continuous improvement to allow for ease of use of our product.

      See you next month for more exciting new features and functions within MediRecords.

      Fee Bidder - Headshot cropped

      Fee Bidder, Junior Product Owner

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        MediRecords Product Update May 2021

        Product Update May 2021

        MediRecords Product Update: May 2021

        Megan Harker

        Megan Harker, Support Team Lead

        See what we’ve been working on and released over the last few weeks...

        Telehealth Appointments Now Supported by Appointment Widget

        We’ve also introduced some changes to the way our Appointment Widget supports Telehealth Appointments.  These appointments can now be made online and the link for the appointment will be sent to the patient in their confirmation SMS. 
        Please ensure your Telehealth appointments are configured correctly to appear on your website’s widget.  

         

        Free Text Start Time 

        We’ve introduced the ability to free text appointment times when making or editing appointments.  The new function lets you type into the appointment time field more specific start times, and also allows you to use 24 hour time which then converts to an AM or PM time in the appointment book.  

         

        Filter Letters and Templates

        You can now add a filter within the MediRecords Letter Templates search table to indicate that you want to search within your favourites.  This will allow you to create a search within only your preferred resources.

         

        Resources are now Alphabetized

        Letters and favourites are now alphabetized in the letter editor, meaning ease of use for our customers.

        New Fields Added to Provider Billing Activity Reports

        To allow for greater visibility, two new fields have been added to the Provider Billing Activity Report.  ADJ – which shows the amount of adjustments or write offs to the invoice and Outstanding which allows for more visibility of the amount outstanding on the invoice.

        Configure Button Has Moved

        We’ve recently moved the Configure option from the More menu to a button on the sub menu when setting up new users.  This will reduce the amount of clicks needed to configure new staff for practices.

         

        Letter Writer Improvements

        Several new fields have been added to the letter writer mail merge library including reason for visit, notes associated with medical conditions including current, past and selected, preferred name and all providers.

         

        Patient Header 

        The hover state on the patient header is now shown in full without having to scroll up or down.

        Drug Recipe

        Your custom drug recipes now support more than 6 ingredients.

        Unread Mail Indicator

        On the patient record there is now an alert to show if this patient has any unread correspondence in any of the provider’s inboxes.  Click here to learn more.

         

        Prescribing Approval Process

        Prescribed authority prescriptions functionality has been improved with additional information now displayed on the approval screen including: Hotline Number, Patient Name, Patient Medicare Number, Patient DVA, Prescriber Number, Authority Form No and Authority item.

        These changes have come about from customers like you, who have given us their feedback.  MediRecords is committed to continuous improvement to allow for ease of use of our product.

        See you next month for more exciting new features and functions within MediRecords.

        Megan Harker

        Megan Harker, Support Team Lead

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          Feedback from GPs on the Front Line

          Feedback from GPs on the front line:
          How does the budget announcement respond to the challenges identified in the Aged Care Royal Commission?

          Michelle O'Brien Profile Picture

          Michelle O'Brien, Head of Strategy

          Following the Royal Commission into Quality and Safety in Aged Care, $365.7 million has been allocated to improve the care and quality of the aged care system in the 2021 budget

          While the new funding model clearly caters for employment in residential aged care facilities, what is less clear is how it may fund technology in the aged care sector.

          We asked two GP’s, who have been using the MediRecords Cloud EMR, for feedback on some of the challenges they have faced providing care to residents in an Aged Care setting and what they believe needs to change. Both have highlighted the important roles that cloud technology and interoperability must play, by improving outcomes for patients by breaking down barriers to accessing care and to delivering a single source of truth.

          The Doctors

          Dr Paresh Dawda, Principal of Prestantia Health, is a General Medical Practitioner, academic and researcher with expertise in clinical leadership, quality and patient safety improvement. He is piloting video consultations with four residential aged care facilities to enhance access for unscheduled care needs.

          Dr Gaveen Jayarajan has 13 years working in general practice, including four years working in both public and private hospitals throughout Australia. He has experience in both corporate and clinical governance for patient safety and quality care.

          Improvements to Funding Models

          “The funding model of primary care in Australia is predominantly a fee for service model and requires face-to-face visits from the GP. It does not provide much opportunity for a team-based approach to care,” says Dr Paresh Dawda, “A large amount of activity to effectively deliver care of those in residential aged care facilities can be undertaken in a safe way, remotely; however, current funding does not provide rebates for non face-to-face care delivery. This limits the level of innovation we can undertake.”

          “There are definitely improvements that could be made to funding models to assist general practitioners in providing virtual and in-person care,” says Dr Gaveen Jayarajan. “Telephone, telehealth and mental health item numbers have helped, giving a Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS)-funded option when working remotely, but there is still a lot of non-Medicare rebated work done in aged care that we don’t do as much when working in medical centres.”

          “The use of telehealth for specialist consultations is an opportunity to improve access to specialist for residents of residential aged care facilities,” says Dr Dawda, “The current MBS item numbers for telehealth are too restrictive and not fit for purpose. There is not one right model, so a blended payment model is needed.”

          Aged Care Policies

          Reforms to the policies and processes in the aged care sector have also been called out as an area not funded in the federal budget, but not everyone agrees.

          “The continuity model of care is still the most predominant in aged care, but is increasingly challenging from a financial sustainability and value perspective, “ says Dr Dawda, “Healthcare delivery systems need to be reengineered with care organised around either discrete conditions or in primary care defined population types. This is the model of care that Prestantia Health is evolving.”

          “Altering case conference item number criteria would help significantly and improve family engagement and communication,” says Dr Jayarajan, “An annual lump sum payment to compensate for this work would also help. This would also provide a significant financial impetus for residential aged care facility work. It would have immediate impact, rather than large wide-sweeping changes.”

          Can cloud infrastructure help?

          Cloud infrastructure can deliver better healthcare systems at a lower cost, but funding is again not aligned. This is stopping models of care that lead to better outcomes for patients.

          “We believe that our model of care is having a positive impact and are collating data to evaluate benefits and viability of the model,” says Dr Dawda, “The use of a shared cloud based electronic health record, with reminders and recalls, supports informational continuity of care between team members. Those residential aged care facilities that use electronic records vary in that some can only be accessed on site using a terminal, a personal device if connected to secure Wi-Fi, remotely through complex VPN solutions or using a browser. The latter enables greatest effectiveness and efficiency from a general practitioner perspective as it enables us to copy and paste the clinical record from our clinical system into that of the residential aged care facilities.”

           

          “I believe the future of aged care is in greater technology adoption across all care settings,” says Dr Jayarajan. “Residential aged care facilities need to move to cloud-based administrative, clinical and medication management software. This software is interoperable with cloud-based general practitioner software and data can seamlessly be pulled and pushed between each other. All of this is built to be viewable on any device, particularly smartphones. Smart sensors are built into every residents room to provide early detection of emerging risks.”

          New Models of Care

          Ideally, the future of the aged care sector will include technology that assists delivery of care, regardless of the setting.

          My vision is for a model of care that includes team based care, is general practitioner led, goals orientated and measured by patient reported measures,” says Dr Dawda, “It uses purposeful interoperable technology, models that value non-face to face activity and is and integrated record with interoperability. Clinical decision support systems that are intelligent, virtual care and a flexible funding model are key.”

          “Remote care through telehealth by general practitioners and specialists becomes more routine and more easily facilitated with technology,” says Dr Jayarajan, “As does the ability for general practitioners to make house calls.”

          What about other GPs?

          As a group, general practitioners are making their views known publically in the hope of influencing reform in the aged care sector. Key recommendations from the ‘Doctors in Aged Care’ Facebook group include:

          1. Formation of local ‘Clinical Governance Committees’ at each residential aged care facility with direct feedback of outcomes and actions to senior management and general practitioner participation
          2. Accreditors to obtain feedback from general practitioners at their visits
          3. Mandatory admission case conference for all new residents followed by an annual case conference thereafter utilising existing Medicare item numbers
          4. General practitioner invitation and involvement in additional case conferences held during the year as clinically indicated, with amendment to Medicare item numbers 735, 739, 743, 747, 750 and 758 to facilitate increased utilisation
          5. All residential aged care providers to move to full electronic health records, with a preference for cloud-based software, for their residents within two years.
          6. Introduction of new Medicare item numbers for general practitioners visiting residential aged care facilities for telehealth consultations directly with facility nurses and family members regarding their patients
          7. Retention in full of the Aged Care Access Incentive
          8. Amending of Medicare descriptors for aged care attendance item numbers – items 90020, 90035, 90043 and 90051 – to allow for the full work required for the consultation.
           
           

          What steps does the budget take?

          The 2021 budget announcement aims to benefit more than 240,000 Australians living in residential aged care through a $365.7m investment. This is split as follows, as found here:

          1. $42.8 million to boost the Aged Care Access Incentive from 1 July 2021 to increase face-to-face servicing by general practitioners (GPs) within residential aged care facilities.
          2. $37.3 million in additional funding for the Greater Choice for At Home Palliative Care initiative to expand to all 31 Primary Health Networks, from the 11 Primary Health Networks previously participating in the pilot.
          3. $178.9 million for Primary Health Networks to utilise their regional expertise and on the ground capabilities to support the health of senior Australians. This will enable:
            • telehealth care for aged care residents
            • enhanced out of hours support for residential aged care
            • dementia pathways to support assessment and referral, and
            • early monitoring and identification of health needs to support people to live at home for longer.
          4. $23.6 million is being provided to build a better data and evidence base to enable the Government to conduct workforce and other planning.
          5. $45.4 million to address widespread issues associated with poor medication management in residential aged care
           

          Whilst there is some mention of digital health services such as telehealth, and potential references to remote patient monitoring, what is missing is the provision for interoperable patient management platforms. As outlined by Dr Dawda and Dr Jayarajan, connecting the aged care facility, primary care and acute setting will be crucial to providing the required care and keeping patients out of hospital.

          If you are interested in finding out more about how MediRecords’ cloud EMR product, ConnectEMR, can support you, get in touch with me via michelle.obrien@medirecords.com.

          Michelle O'Brien Profile Picture

          Michelle O'Brien, Head of Strategy

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            MediRecords Product Update March 2021

            Product Update March 2021

            MediRecords Product Update: March 2021

            Megan Harker

            Megan Harker, Support Team Lead

            Big things have been happening in MediRecords already in 2021.
            New year, new staff and new features!

            Active Ingredient Prescribing

            The mandatory Active Ingredient Prescribing was instated on Feb 1stMediRecords released its’ new functionality in anticipation of this legislation and user may have found a slight change to their workflows.    

            Each prescription is now printed with the Active Ingredient of the medication, as well as the brand name if chosen.  There are exemptions from the requirement, and the full article can be found on our Knowledge Base here.

            Ability to add GAP to Agreements 

            Users can now add GAPs to Agreement invoices to transmit through Eclipse.  
            Health Funds such as Bupa and HBF only accept claims through the Agreement channel, and prior to this update, a gap was unable to be added onto the invoices transmitted through this channel.

             

            Date of Service field is now seen in Unclaimed Amount

            Previously the screen only showed the invoice date for all unbatched invoices in this area, meaning the user needs to click into each invoice to check the date of service.  But no more! We’ve updated the screen to also include the date of service as well as the invoice date for ease of use.  

             

            Theatre List Report 

            Specialists have access to a new report that contains information about their Procedures for a particular date. This can be found in More > Reporting > Patients > Theatre List Report. 

             

            Investigations Defaults 

            Users can now adjust their preferences for which menu defaults in Investigations between All Requests and their Favourites. 
            This can be configured in the user preferences 

            Changes to Resource and Contact Creations 

            We’ve made some changes recently to the way resources and contacts are saved in MediRecords.  

             Previously there were three areas to save your contacts and resources: 

            • Private – only the creator can see  
            • Practice – only those in the Practice can see  
            • Community – All MediRecords users can see 

            We have removed the ability to create Community resources and contacts to reduce the number of items in the grid when searching for these items.  Community contacts and templates will only be supplied by MediRecords 
            If you have a suggestion or requirement for a resource that would be beneficial for other MR users, please contact the Support Team. 

            Changes to Correspondence to the Patient App  

            We’ve recently made some changes to the way correspondence is sent to patients via the app.  The only correspondence sent to the app will be those that are marked as FINAL.  Anything in DRAFT will not be shared.   

            Multiple Patient Billing 

            Did you know MediRecords has the functionality to support multiple patient billing?  A function that would assist our users who service Residential Aged Care Facilities or any other clinics that see multiple patients for Medicare or DVA Bulk Billing.  
            This function can be found in Accounts > Sales, or can be accessed through the patient grid.  

            Contact our Support Team if you would like more information about Multiple Patient Billing.

            Number of Ingredients in Drug Recipes Extended

            For those practices who use Drug Recipes, you may have noticed that the ingredient listing has been extended to 6 ingredients from the previous 4.  This should make life a little easier for all our practices who use this function for comprehensive extemporaneous preparations.   

            This change came about from feedback from a valued customer just like you! 

             

            If you need any help with any of these new features, or any others, then please don’t hesitate to contact our friendly support team via email at support@medirecords.com, on 1300 103 903 or through the chat function on your MediRecords webpage. 

            Megan Harker

            Megan Harker, Support Team Lead

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              Is your clinical software ready for the new Australian Immunisation Register rules?

              Is your clinical software
              ready for the new Australian Immunisation Register rules?

              Parliament recently passed new legislation outlining new rules around vaccination reporting to the Australian Immunisation Register, or AIR.

              As PulseIT reported:

              “All vaccination providers will now be required to report vaccinations to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) following the successful passage of a new law through Parliament last week.

              Reporting to the AIR was previously at the discretion of vaccination providers but the new law means any COVID-19 vaccines, once approved for use and administered in Australia, must be reported to the AIR.

              Seasonal flu vaccinations, which were previously only reported at a rate of about 50 per cent, must be reported to the AIR from March 1, and all other National Immunisation Program (NIP) vaccinations such as the MMR, HPV and pertussis vaccines, must be included from July 1.”

              A link to their full article can be found on the PulseIT website.

              This will leave many organisations planning COVID and other vaccine programs with a dilemma, as many clinical software providers do not support such an integration with the AIR.

              Fortunately for MediRecords users, the platform supports the following features, and is ready for these changes already:

              AIR

              • MediRecords is fully integrated with Medicare and the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).
              • MediRecords supports the management of AIR claims and submissions across multiple practices from our leading AIR claiming dashboard.
              • MediRecords supports automatic overnight batching and submissions of AIR claims
              • Alternatively the system can be configured to support manual processing.
              • MediRecords has been updated to support the new COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
              • MediRecords is operating at scale across multiple locations.

              Vaccination Module

              • The MediRecords vaccination module supports state-based immunization schedules and COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
              • The MediRecords module supports the filtering and segmentation of a cohort of multiple patients with the ability to bulk vaccinate.

               

              For help with using any of these features, or to discuss how MediRecords may support your organization following the AIR reporting changes, contact support@medirecords.com or call 1300 103 903.

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                A thank-you message from our CEO & Founder, Matthew Galetto

                A thank-you message from our CEO & Founder, Matthew Galetto

                Matthew Galetto MediRecords banner

                Matthew Galetto, CEO & Founder

                In what has been an incredibly challenging year for healthcare workers, I would like to say thank you, on behalf of MediRecords, to all our customers who have played such a key role providing health care during these unprecedented times.

                If there has been one positive to come out of such a difficult year it is perhaps the changes to the MBS that have delivered improved access to healthcare to their regular GP for so many people. The pandemic has forced the need for new models of remote and virtual care, highlighting the importance of the next generation of digital health technology. Technology that is based on industry standards and interoperable through cloud technology. Robust technology that is reliable to access, regardless of the healthcare setting, be it acute, secondary, or primary. We have been privileged to work with our all our partners and customers supporting their response to COVID-19 during 2020. 

                 

                The ability to react and pivot has been a common theme this year. This was most evident when MediRecords was selected by Healthdirect to provide the clinical platform underpinning the National Coronavirus Helpline. I’d like to thank and congratulate not just our team, but also our partners at Healthdirect, VoiceFoundry and AWS for their incredible rapid response to public need, that saw us roll out a solution to thousands of users in a matter of days. And in a year where we have all been personally tested more than we could have predicted, we are privileged to have begun supporting The Blackdog Institute, as they lead the way in mental health research and support.  

                 

                Closer to home, I am delighted our team have continued their excellent work supporting the day-to-day operations of our customers and further developing the MediRecords platform in response to customer feedback and industry need. Highlights include the greatly expanded functionality for specialists, integrations with technology partners that improve the utility of our products and aiding our General Practice users to be even more efficient in delivering care from the clinic or via telehealth. 

                 

                The MediRecords team has rapidly expanded this year to meet an increasing need for digital health technology that is reliable, effective and supports existing and new models of care. Across Sydney and Brisbane our team has doubled in size this year, and this growth shows no sign of slowing down as we continue into 2021. An expanded team will allow us to focus even more on our customer needs.

                 

                A cultural and industry wide shift is taking place in digital healthcare with regards to adoption of cloud technology. Whilst the pandemic may have pressed the accelerator, there is already a clear shift towards new models of virtual care that can only be serviced with modern technology, as evidenced by changes in funding models to drive the adoption of virtual health. Healthcare organizations will continue to have to pivot and adapt to new circumstances and require a configurable, adaptable, and scalable technology to enable this.  

                The devastating news regarding recent outbreaks in NSW in what has already been a very difficult year, look set to continue into early 2021. However, with vaccinations scheduled from March next year we can be optimistic about the future. The way Australians have responded by adhering to social distancing requirements is tremendous, as has been our government’s response. I am encouraged that the vaccination rollout will also be well executed and managed during 2021 allowing us to return to a ‘new’ normal.

                On behalf of the MediRecords team I would like to extend our appreciation for the continued support of our customers.

                Finally, a special call out to front line health workers who are keeping us all safe and well. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

                Matthew Galetto MediRecords banner

                Matthew Galetto, CEO & Founder

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                  MediRecords Product Update November 2020

                  Product Update Spring 2020

                  MediRecords Product Update: November 2020

                  Product Update Spring 2020
                  Megan Harker

                  Megan Harker, Customer Support Coordinator

                  An Overview of the Spring 2020 Updates from MediRecords

                  You may have noticed in the last few months that MediRecords have been pumping out new features and updates fairly regularly. Here’s a quick overview of just some of the new functionality, in case you missed anything:

                   

                  Appointment Updates

                   

                  Tiles Re-Coloured and Appointment Information

                  We have introduced vibrant new colours in the appointment book to differentiate between appointment status. These can be seen if you ‘Appointment Colour Palette’ is set to ‘Status’.

                  The ‘Appointment Type’ is also displayed as text next to the patient name for extra visibility.

                  We have also introduced ‘Hover State’. This means you can now see the status of an appointment quickly and easily by hovering the mouse over the appointment.

                  Easier Access to Patient Records

                  You can now open a patient record from multiple areas of the appointments calendar, just by clicking their name. This feature can be found when hovering over an appointment, when viewing a provider’s calendar by month, and in the Agenda view.

                  More Appointment Types

                  We have also increased the number of different appointment types you can use. Filtering by ‘Inactive’ will reveal the editable tiles, with up to 60 different types of appointments.

                  You can find out more about editing Appointment Types here.

                  Improved Provider Filter

                  The Provider Filter has been adapted to reduce loading times. You can now easily search and select the providers that you want to see the calendars for by using the search box.

                  For more information on the Provider Filter and how to set your calendar defaults, see here.

                  Patient Appointment Search

                  Alongside the Provider Filter, we have implemented improvements to how you search for a patient’s appointments to include an ‘All Providers’ option, if the provider has not already been selected.

                  This ensures you don’t miss any appointment information.

                  Billing Updates

                  In-Patient Billing

                  Our in-patient billing functionality has had a huge overhaul and is continuing to be improved.

                  Health Fund schedules, including AHSA, being updated have been enhanced and derived items are now automatically calculated. We have also removed the automatically populated $400 gap that was being applied to every item, and keep an eye out for the ability to add a Gap payment to an Agreement early 2021. You can now also bill ‘In-Patient Invoices’ directly from the Calendar and Waiting Room.

                  Additionally, when invoicing from the Appointment screen, the invoice will populate with the service date automatically defaulting to the date of the appointment.

                  Improved Invoicing

                  Invoices have been improved to now include number item lines, and an item counter.

                  You can also choose ‘Immediate’ in your payment terms.

                  If you need any help with any of these new features, or any others, then please don’t hesitate to contact our friendly support team via email at support@medirecords.com, on 1300 103 903 or through the chat function on your MediRecords webpage.

                  Megan Harker

                  Megan Harker, Customer Support Coordinator

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                    Benefits of the Cloud for Healthcare: AI & the Internet of Things

                    Internet of Things

                    Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) technology to support clinical decisions

                    Internet of Things
                    Michelle O'Brien Profile Picture

                    Michelle O'Brien, Head of Strategy

                    In my next article, which again looks to demystify some of the tech babble around the benefits of cloud for healthcare, I am exploring what we mean by AI, IoT and how these can be used to support clinical decisions.

                    First of all, some clarity on what these terms actually mean: 

                    Artificial intelligence: 

                    Artificial Intelligence, or AI, refers to computer programs that can think, work and make decisions similarly to humans. The uses are broad, but are already well known to us today.  

                    Saying ‘Hey Siri’ or ‘Hey Google’ to your phone brings an AI assistant to life. Plenty of services use AI in a more subtle way, such as Netflix recommending your next show to binge-watch, or Amazon suggesting which item people like you also bought. 

                    In healthcare, AI is often used for voice recognition, with doctors using software such as Dragon to convert their speech into text without typing. Clinical decision support tools such as UpToDate by Wolters Kluwer are also a form of AI, interpreting health data to provide clinicians with information to support their clinical decisions.  

                    Machine Learning: 

                    Machine learning refers to the process AI software goes through to improve automatically through experience, much like we humans learn from our daily experiences.  

                    Internet of Things:  

                    The internet of things, or IoT for short, refers to physical objects like patient devices that are fitted with sensors or use Bluetooth technology to collect and send data over the internet.

                    Some examples you may find at home are an Amazon Alexa speaker that can turn off your lights, a smart scale that sends your weight to your phone, or a Fitbit that sends your steps for the day to an app. 

                    Devices like Fitbits and Apple watches are now overlapping into healthcare as they provide health data such as activity levels and heart rates. But more medical focussed devices such as the TGA approved pulse oximeters, blood pressure cuffs and blood glucose monitors are widely available to use at home as well. 

                    Remote Monitoring: 

                    In a healthcare context, remote monitoring means gathering patient data outside of the traditional bricks anmortar setting, such as the GP clinic or outpatient department. 

                    This ties in with the IoT, in that IoT devices can record patient data at home and send this to a patient’s medical record via their phone. But it also includes software on smartphones that do not require physical devices, for example a simple mood diary for mental health patients like Innowell. 

                     

                    What does this have to do with the Cloud? 

                    These exciting uses of AI and the Internet of Things are all reliant on being able to send the data they collect to the clinicians providing care. This is only possible in real time thanks to Cloud EMRs, such as MediRecords, that pull the data together in one place. 

                    I explored this ‘interoperability’ of services in my previous explainer article here. 

                    What are some examples in Australian Healthcare? 

                    There are already a range of products and services available in Australia that exist to help clinicians provide better patient care. 

                    iHealth

                    iHealth have developed a range of IoT devices designed to help patients monitor themselves at home, including: 

                    • Wireless Pulse Oximeters,
                    • Thermometers,
                    • Wireless Blood Pressure Monitors, 
                    • Scales; and 
                    • Wireless Blood Glucose Monitors

                    These devices share the health data they collect with the patient’s smartphone via Bluetooth, which is then shared with the patient’s cloud based medical record such as MediRecords. 

                     iHealth products are approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).  

                    ResApp

                    ResApp is a remote monitoring smartphone app that can diagnose and manage respiratory conditions such as pneumonia, asthma and sleep apnoea. All of this is possible through ResApp’s AI, which they say can diagnose conditions just through listening to a patient cough using their phones microphone.  

                    PainChek

                    And PainChek have developed remote monitoring software that uses a smartphones camera to detect if a non-verbal patient is in pain. This works by using AI to read the patients’ facial expression and will allow clinicians to ease the suffering endured by patients unable to communicate. 

                    These are just three of many great examples from within Australia, demonstrating that Australia is at the forefront of innovation in AI technology. 

                     

                    How can AI and the IoT Improve Healthcare in Practice? 

                    This is best explained in a theoretical example, in this case a patient who suffers from a chronic respiratory illness. 

                    From the examples above this patient could monitor themselves periodically using an iHealth Wireless Pulse Oximeter (IoT), to ensure they were still receiving enough oxygen in their blood.  

                    This data is sent from the Oximeter to their phone via Bluetooth, which then sends the data to their electronic health record, for example MediRecords, in the cloud. A dashboard capability could be used within MediRecords to alert clinicians of patients who may need support.  

                    A product like ResApp could be used to provide the clinicians with additional clinical decision support in the absence of a face to face appointment which is not always possible. 

                    Where a clinician is concerned about a patient, they can set up an appropriate intervention 

                    AI used this way supports infection control management in treating respiratory illnesses. This is just one theoretical use case. The range and capabilities of medical AI and IoT devices means similar methods of remote monitoring and treatment are available for a range of conditions. 

                    Michelle O’Brien, who is based in our Sydney office, is Head of Strategy here at MediRecords.

                    Michelle O'Brien Profile Picture

                    Michelle O'Brien, Head of Strategy

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