Specialised Care Services - Clinical Management System (SCS-CMS) Specialist Palliative Care Benefits Workshop
Technology and Transformation’s (T&T) Specialised Care Services Clinical Management System (SCS-CMS) Programme welcomed attendees to a National Specialist Palliative Care – Clinical Management System (SPC-CMS) Benefits Workshop on August 1st in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Athlone.
The workshop provided the opportunity for operational, technical, clinical and senior representatives from across the sector to identify and discuss benefits that could be realised with the implementation of the SPC-CMS. With over 150 stakeholders in attendance, T&T facilitated the session with support from InterSystems, the National Forensics Mental Health Services (NFMHS) and National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH).
SCS-CMS sits within Community Health and the programme involves the implementation of a patient Electronic Health Record (EHR) called TrakCare, from the vendor InterSystems. TrakCare's initial introduction to Ireland as an HER went live in NFMHS and NRH in 2023.
The national SPC-CMS Business Case to implement TrakCare in all Specialist Palliative Care (SPC) sites throughout Ireland has been approved. The Phase One sites are Milford Care Centre (MCC) and Our Lady’s Hospice and Care Services (OLH&CS). They are in the discovery phase for the project, which involves working within specific areas and disciplines to document the ‘as is’ and capture these processes, workarounds, challenges and pain points to ensure optimal understanding and cohesion before moving into the next phase.
The Benefits Workshop provided an opportunity for all national stakeholders to collaborate to identify and baseline priority benefits for the project, under the guidance of the T&T, NFMHS, NRH and InterSystems teams, who shared their learnings and experience on the day.
The workshop was opened by Pauline Fitzgerald, SCS-CMS Programme Manager, followed by an insightful overview of the SCS-CMS Programme and the national SPC Business Case vision, led by Gayle Reilly, SCS-CMS Senior Project Manager. Gary Mooney from InterSystems took the group through the benefits of TrakCare.
Jodie McCrann, SCS-CMS Project Manager, discussed why benefits realisation is crucial and provided the group with the practical tools for the interactive workshops.
NFMHS and NRH shared their lived benefits experience with TrakCare with attendees.
The two interactive workshops saw likeminded individuals grouped together by discipline to maximise the opportunity to identify benefits. With guidance from MCC and OLH&CS and benefits expertise from T&T, InterSystems, NFMHS or the NRH, each table identified and baselined their benefits. The first workshop enabled participants to work cohesively to identify potential benefits that will traverse the entire SPC sector.
In the second workshop, delegates actively engaged to prioritise the identified benefits and outlined action plans to baseline these. Feedback from the workshops was captured and will be used to further inform the SPC CMS implementation.
The day closed with a senior management panel discussion exploring themes such as considerations that the wider SPC service might need to factor to ensure benefits are realised and sample priority benefits that could be realised by having the same shared clinical solution across all SPC services in Ireland.
Mary Cooke, Delivery Director for Community Health, said: "It was inspiring to see such a great turnout and enthusiasm from the Specialist Palliative Care community. The Benefits Workshop provided an opportunity for stakeholders to collaborate as we embark on this journey which will enhance the experience of both service users and the staff delivering the services into the future."
The insights and connections made will undoubtedly drive meaningful change as we move forward in the digital transformation journey.
You can read more about SCS-CMS here.
