Digital Health and Care Wales has shared progress of two system upgrades, on its Flu and Covid-19 vaccinations system, and its colposcopy administration system to improve the quality of information being recorded.
The Welsh Immunisation System has been updated to offer capability from ordering and stock management through to recording at point of care and system-wide surveillance, with further plans to rollout booking and communication features to RSV vaccinations in the coming months. It has also been made increasingly interoperable, brought in line with HL7 and FHIR data standards, now with the ability to produce APIs and feed data to the National Data Resource and Clinical Data Repository.
The WIS system will be made available for “every vaccinator”, complete with features and automations offering recommendations on other vaccines that may be due and cross-referencing with current stock, clinic scheduling, invitations and reminders, and near real-time reporting on appointments, stock, and denominators. “The upgraded WIS integrates real-time demographic data with primary care data on risk conditions to create a secure, national view of eligibility across Wales,” DHCW shares.
Updates have also been made to colposcopy admin systems to improve the quality of information being recorded, now allowing for images to be saved automatically to EPRs, and incorporating everything into the Welsh Clinical Portal. The new system has been introduced across all colposcopy clinics in Wales, granting multidisciplinary teams the ability to review all relevant information to support their decision making.
Esther Clements, lead nurse colposcopist at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, shared that the system has sped up the auditing process, adding: “Previously, I had to open up several systems, but now I only need to open the Welsh Clinical Portal to complete audits. We’ve also noticed our trainees are finding it really useful, as the new form requires a lot more detailed clinical information, and is creating a standardised approach, as it promotes systematic assessment and accurate recording of findings aligned to national standards.”
More from DHCW
DHCW opened a market engagement exercise around the product availability for an integrated care record to be used across NHS Wales in May. DHCW aim to learn more information about the digital solutions that can help “to ensure that patients and citizens benefit from access to health and care information, regardless of where it is created or stored”, while also having the added value of providing data protection and information-sharing policies across health and care.
In a separate opportunity, DHCW sought to gather more information from potential suppliers on a digital triage primary care solution. According to the general medical services team at DHCW, the solution should support patient triage, appointment management, patient communication and business intelligence, in order to meet the needs of a general practice. They are currently undertaking an information gathering exercise to find out which solutions are available and inform their decision-making process for potential procurement in the future.
A market discovery exercise carried out by DHCW also looked to explore the ambient voice technology solutions currently available and capable of meeting the needs of general practice and primary care throughout the region. The general medical services team within DHCW have outlined one key objective, aiming to gather market intelligence that will better inform their approach and “empower GP practices to use ambient scribe tools to drive general practice efficiencies and enhance patient care”.
