Customer Success Story
From 25 filing cabinet drawers to peace of mind in the cloud
Dr Bronwyn Gould’s switch to electronic health records
About Bronwyn Gould
Dr Bronwyn Gould AM, aged 72, has over 40 years of medical experience and a distinguished career spanning child protection, resilience research, and community healthcare. She has held state and national roles in child protection bodies and remains a member of the NSW Ombudsman’s Child Death Review Team. However, she considers her greatest impact to be her 44 years serving multiple generations in her inner-city general practice.
In the late 1970s, she established her practice in her Paddington home to balance childcare after her first child’s birth. Beyond medicine, Bronwyn is also a dedicated volunteer carer for sick and injured native wildlife that she nurtures back to health in her home.
The challenge
Five years ago, as she began considering retirement, Bronwyn realised that managing her cumbersome paper-based patient records — which filled 25 filing cabinet drawers — was increasingly challenging, particularly when searching for details from past episodes. She knew that no successor would want to inherit decades’ worth of paper files.
“Nobody wants 25 drawers of filing cabinets that go along with my patients. (Instead) I want to retire with at least seven years of electronic records, so that when I join a practice to pull my parachute and go out slowly, I’ll be able to take my patients with me — and their records — without taking up storage space.”
Bronwyn’s practice needed a future-proof solution that allowed for a smooth transition to digital records, while ensuring patient care remained uninterrupted.
“These challenges significantly impacted our efficiency and patient care. A cumbersome software system can lead to delays in processing patient information and hinder effective communication among our team, ultimately affecting the quality of care we provide.”
Bronwyn said key challenges included:
- Security & privacy: Ensuring patient records were protected in a digital environment.
- Adapting to new technology: As someone who identifies as a “dinosaur” in technology, the 72-year-old anticipated a steep learning curve.
- Patient-centred transition: The switch needed to happen without disrupting care.
Choosing MediRecords
MediRecords stood out for its robust security measures, ease of access, and adaptability. The fact that it was purpose-built for the cloud was a key factor in Bronwyn’s decision.
Bronwyn explored various EMR solutions, including major providers adapting server-based systems for the cloud. However, a significant differentiator for MediRecords was its 100% true cloud-native foundation. Unlike competitors who were retrofitting legacy software, MediRecords was purpose-built for the cloud, ensuring a seamless, scalable, and intuitive user experience.
“I had read about cloud-based (record-keeping) and that seemed to be the obvious future-proofing solution, as well as other benefits.”
“I thought it was always better to have something that was designed to be in the cloud rather than something that was designed to be in a server that they’ve adapted, because every time you do an adaptation, you make room for error – and miscalculation sits there, and I don’t want to be wearing that.”
Key factors that influenced her decision include:
True cloud-native design
Unlike competitors, MediRecords was built specifically for the Cloud, ensuring a seamless, scalable, and intuitive experience.
Enhanced security & automatic backups
Eliminating the risk of data loss and reducing IT maintenance.
Anywhere, anytime access
Secure access to patient records from any device, without the need for VPNs or complex workarounds.
Superb customer support
Ensuring she always had the support and guidance she needed throughout every step of
the transition.
Security and peace of mind
Bronwyn’s primary concern when transitioning to an EMR system was the security of her data.
“One of my biggest worries was losing the perceived security, privacy, and safety I had with my filing cabinets full of paper records,” she shared.
She also questioned, “How many layers of backups would I need to ensure I didn’t lose all my information if there was a hardware failure? And how do I manage the cybersecurity of those records?”
MediRecords addressed these concerns with a solution, offering:
- Automatic backups, effectively eliminating fears of data loss due to hardware failure.
- Built-in cybersecurity measures, removing the need for expensive external IT consultants.
- No local servers to maintain, meaning no risk of hardware failures, and zero downtime during most updates.
- Secure remote access, allowing seamless patient care from anywhere, even during emergencies.
MediRecords’ comprehensive security features, seamless access, and ease of use were key selling points. Bronwyn highlighted how smoothly her team transitioned to an EMR, saying, “My secretary had never even used a computer before, but she adapted seamlessly to MediRecords within the first few months.” Bronwyn also appreciated not having to manage security and backups herself, adding, “That’s not my job. That was going to give me extra work and extra nightmares.
MediRecords has improved work-life balance for Bronwyn.
The ease of having all patient data available at the click of a mouse means “I am not sitting at the kitchen table writing up a mountain of files and referrals late into the night”.
This helps enable her to volunteer as a carer for sick native mammals and birds, including magpies and possums, which sometimes require four-hourly feeds; MediRecords fosters Bronwyn’s work-life balance.
Being 100% cloud-based has also enabled Bronwyn to work from anywhere, including her weekender, which is accessible only by boat. This was especially helpful during the Covid period, when “there were so many unavoidable weekend consults in order to deliver good care,” Bronwyn said. “It was a doddle to do my Covid round via telehealth with MediRecords on the screen!!.”
“I was in the car on the way to a visit with my husband when a patient rings from Tasmania, about to get on a boat and be out of range for 10 days. She had forgotten to take some of her essential medication with her… no drama. In the time that it took my better half to get a parking space, it was sorted via MediRecords on my phone and the script sent to her phone in Tasmania.”
Dr Bronwyn Gould, Founder and General Practitioner
Bronwyn's advice to others
“There was no need to be afraid of switching across — and support was there whenever you wanted it. With a screen and internet access, you can visit MediRecords, consult or check records anywhere at all.”
For solo practitioners and small clinics considering a move from paper to digital, Bronwyn’s experience highlights the power of a purpose-built 100% true cloud solution like MediRecords.
Read more about Bronwyn here.
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