Aneurin Bevan Health Board improves quality of home care, saving over £600,000, with an electronic data entry and BlackBerry solutionThe Gwent Frailty Programme is a healthcare initiative in Wales. Its aim is to improve home care for the frail and elderly, thereby significantly preventing admissions and reducing hospital stays. Aneurin Bevan Health Board (ABHB) works in partnership with five unitary authorities to deliver services to 600,000 people around Gwent. If successful, its intention is to roll the programme out across the whole of Wales.

Wi-Fi, Mobility and BlackBerry services support ABHB’s Clinical Futures programme which requires the provision of a network to enable the seamless transition of care from the core single specialist and critical care centre, local general hospitals and primary and community Health and Social Care services to underpin the transition from hospital focussed to community care. This aims to improve care and support the increase in demand for the same cost.

Key Benefits

• £600,000 savings since deployment

• Improved quality of care and patient experience

• Supporting home and community care to reduce unnecessary and lengthy admissions

• Secure and accurate capture of patient data

• Efficient scheduling of patient visits

• Instant communication between carers

The ChallengeThe objectives of the programme are to improve patient care at home, avoid unnecessary hospital visits and improve efficiency. It is vital that caregivers can capture patient information in the patient’s home, so that it can be shared with other authorised multi-agency professionals. ABHB knew that it wanted to put a solution into the hands of the caregivers, whilst also empowering the patient but there were several challenges.

All data would have to be secure and confidential; the data-capture device discreet and not disturb the interaction between carer and patient; and a copy of the record had to remain in the home enabling the family and voluntary sector equal access. It needed to increase efficiency on several levels, such as eliminating the duplication of data entry, reducing travel time and increasing the amount of time the carer spends with the patient, while at the same time enabling the carer to see more patients daily. Finally it should be easy for health and social care professionals to use and adapt to the new technology.

An additional challenge was to give unscheduled care areas such as A&E (Accident and Emergency) or after-hours GP surgeries access to the latest record of community intervention, which is considered vital to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions.

The final challenge was to ensure that the solution would be fully supported by the National Welsh Informatics Service (NWIS) and that it complied with the technical architecture strategy for Wales, patient safety and information governance standards.

BlackBerry Customer Success Mobile digital data entry

The SolutionBefore implementing the solution, caregivers used paper forms for recording patient information and mobile phones for communicating when out in the community. Therefore, ABHB decided to replicate this familiar set-up on a single mobile platform, choosing a proven digital pen solution supplied by LAN2LAN Limited and DevelopIQ, both members of the BlackBerry® Alliance Program.

By selecting the BlackBerry® solution as the single mobile platform, ABHB immediately solved the security issue. “We have to keep patient identifiable information within the boundaries of the Health Board, and one of the things that BlackBerry brings us is our own BlackBerry Enterprise Server that’s contained within our firewall,” says Jon Holmes, the head of Health Informatics Programme at ABHB. “So all the patient information that’s been sent in and out via BlackBerry has very strong encryption and meets the CESG security standards required.”

When it comes to collecting patient information, during each visit, carers fill out the relevant patient form using their digital pen. The digital pen sends a copy of the form as encrypted data via Bluetooth to the BlackBerry smartphone, which in turn pushes the information to the back-end patient system. This enables the original form to be left with the patient at their home and all the information collected by the pen previously is instantly available to other authorised healthcare staff and in addition accessible through the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ browser. The care teams also use BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) instead of texting to communicate.

The solution has replaced the paper diary with the BlackBerry Calendar, enabling 200 carers to receive detailed referral information and appointments while out in the community.

The BenefitsThe BlackBerry solution has provided a robust safety net to underpin the Frailty care pathway. Now, no referrals are missed, no visits are duplicated, the whereabouts of staff is known at all times and detailed clinical information is passed securely and instantly. This, in turn has led to more efficient working and reduced unnecessary admissions, as well as improving staff safety and the care quality.

Following phase 1 deployment, users reported an average of 10 minutes saved per patient visit. With an average of five visits per shift and a 200-person user group, this equates to projected annual savings in excess of £600,000. Also, because carers no longer need to go to the office to pick up their schedule or file paperwork, ABHB expects to see significant savings on travel expenses.

The solution is popular with the carers. “We have processes in place to update all staff by email on policies, procedures and alerts. In addition, the BlackBerry solution helps carers feel safer. “We went through a phase of giving out netbooks to some of our community staff and many of the nurses felt that they were vulnerable theft. Also, they didn’t like the barrier of having the computer screen between them and the patient.”

Most importantly, the solution improves patient care. ABHB expects that even a small decrease in the number of frail patients admitted to hospital will significantly improve patient outcomes and satisfaction. “I cannot stress highly enough that the biggest benefit is the fact that the BlackBerry solution enables information sharing to prevent unnecessary admissions and keep the patient in their own home as much as possible.”

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DevelopIQ

Founded in 2005, DevelopIQ Limited is an Elite Member of the BlackBerry Alliance Program focused on developing enterprise software applications for BlackBerry smartphones. The award-winning PaperIQ data capture solution developed by the business is acknowledged as a leading digital pen solution for the BlackBerry platform. The business has a strong track record in the NHS as well as other public sector environments. To find out more visit www.developiq.com

LAN2LAN

LAN2LAN is a specialist systems integration, installation and project management organisation focused on driving technologically innovative solutions that deliver intelligent networks for the needs of businesses today and in the future. It offers a high level of experience, expertise and excellence in Infrastructure, Security, Collaboration and Mobility solutions. Based in Woking, LAN2LAN has been delivering clever networks, with no limits, since the foundation of the company in 1994.• N3 Compliant• BlackBerry Alliance Partner since 2004• Award Winning Software Solutions

Industry: Healthcare

Region: UK

Company Size: Large

Solution: BlackBerry® smartphones BlackBerry® Enterprise Server BlackBerry® Playbook™ BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) Digital pen solution from DevelopIQ

“The biggest benefit is the fact that the BlackBerry solution enables information sharing to prevent unnecessary (hospital) admissions and keeps the patient in their own home as much as possible.”Jon Holmes Head of Health Informatics Aneurin Bevan Health Board