Healthcare Automation Transformation (CHAT23)
Introduction
As part of Public Service Transformation Week, eHealth hosted a 1-day hackathon event title Challenge: Healthcare Automation Transformation (CHAT23) at Dr. Steevens Hospital on October 26, 2023.
The event, a collaborative effort by the Digital Workflow Automation team in Corporate Delivery, the Chief Clinical Information Officer, and the National Clinical Information Officer for Nursing and Midwifery, aimed to tackle challenging work practices through digitization and automation.
In September of 2023, Health and Social Care Professionals from across the organisation were invited to submit proposals describing challenging and/or inefficient work practices or processes which could be resolved through the introduction of digitisation and automation technologies, releasing healthcare workers time for more productive or patient-focused activities.
We received an overwhelming response, with over 70 challenges. The selection panel faced the tough task of choosing six challenges to address at the event.
The final six challenges included:
- Increasing Efficiency in Processing Dietetic Transfers from Acute Services (Cork South Primary Care).
- Verification Process for Confirmation of Annual Renewal of Nursing & Midwifery License (NMBI).
- Identification of Pharmacy Prescriptions of Females of Child-Bearing Potential on Valproate Treatment (National Valproate Response Team).
- Digitize Paper-Based Activities (Public Health Nursing).
- Automated Nebulizer Device Approval and Delivery System (Kerry Community Services).
- Infusion Appointment DNA Rate (Endoscopy Unit Connolly Hospital).
At the event, each challenger team worked directly and intensively with a dedicated technical team to explore how to redesign part or all of their work process using digitised workflow and automation technologies. Our technical teams were supported on the day by product specialists from our software partners Microsoft and UiPath, who were able to step into the various conversations that were happening and identify how emerging AI capabilities in their respective product sets could address elements of the challenges.
In some cases, prototypes were rapidly built which presented our challengers with a clearer view of how their redesigned process might work. At the end of the day, each challenger presented their future state technology enabled design and were able to identify key benefits including improved patient care and safety, efficiencies, reduced risk, quality improvements, cost reduction, increased capacity and better integration.
The hard work starts here!
These proposed solutions are now in our activity pipeline, and we have already started work with the respective challengers with the ultimate aim of bring their proposals to fruition.
Thank You!
We are grateful for the support and effort of the many colleagues who helped to put the event together but we wish to particularly acknowledge and thank the eHealth Communications Team who helped us to design and promote the event, and the Executive Support team in Dr. Steevens Hospital who prepared the room and the AV technology.
For more information, you can view the Digital Workflow Automation webpage.