CIO Interview: The right tools for the job

VIEW - Tracy Voice, chief digital officer 3DHB

As a chief digital officer (CDO) working across Wairarapa, Hutt Valley, and Capital & Coast DHBs, I want to empower our workforces to do what they do best – deliver high-quality efficient care.

More than just storing and sharing crucial patient data, technology has the potential to transform healthcare –making it easier for our people to do their jobs and benefitting the communities we serve.

Healthcare is changing, with more care delivered in the community – including the home – as well as hospitals. With an increasingly tech-literate population, we need to offer patients health options in our communities and user-friendly access to the information they need.

At the same time, DHBs are increasingly collaborative and joined-up and information must flow smoothly between them. This requires a digital network that connects not only the 3DHBs, but the entire health ecosystem – including primary healthcare such as the GPs, and NGOs we partner with to deliver care.

To help get the best value from emerging technologies, I am focused on first raising our infrastructure and core platforms to a more sustainable level. Two improvement programmes working in tandem are realising this over the next 18 months.

Going on a journey

Our ‘clinical workspace’ programme looks at how our clinical workforce do their jobs and access information. By bringing their tools up to date, introducing new technologies and discarding outdated ones, we will ensure they have the data they need at their fingertips and the tools they need in their kit. Tools such as voice recognition software will play an increasing role here, allowing clinicians to capture all the data they need without having to type it out. 

At the same time, our ‘digital workplace’ programme aims to empower our whole workforce – both clinical and non-clinical – to connect, communicate and collaborate wherever they are. The data captured at the beginning makes the difference – for example community nurses will have access to the same tools as hospital-based staff to securely capture, store, and share healthcare data. To do this they need devices capable of doing the job on the go.

The scope of the changes needed are large, and organisations can only sustain so much change. To be able to adopt a different way of working, we must take our people on a journey. We must illustrate the benefits of technology – how it can reduce the burden of administrative work, freeing staff up to deliver care. Working alongside people who will be impacted is crucial, as is prototyping and working in an iterative way – improving our tools again and again.

People on the ground often have the answers to shared problems, so we must support them with the right tools. Clinicians know how best data flows, and partnering with them is what creates success. A clinical advisory group assists with the digital workspace project, and we’ve crafted a case together. While we are going through business case approval at the moment, new developments are already coming on-stream such as e-referrals.

Ensuring equity

COVID-19 has demonstrated that need is the greatest driver. Last year the whole organisation suddenly needed to find ways to work remotely, and many of those lessons have stuck with us. Telehealth virtual appointments are a great example of this problem-solving.

We need to remember, however, that many such solutions are just another tool in the kit to offer patients convenience. We also need to be mindful that there’s a ‘digital divide’ – with not everyone having access to technologies, we must find ways to offer options to patients in an accessible way that promotes equitable outcomes.

We have an important part to play in making healthcare access and outcomes more equitable – especially for Māori, Pacific peoples, and people with disabilities. Bringing in representatives from these communities to co-design services with us is an important piece of the puzzle.

Ultimately we need to choose wisely, co-design, and engage our colleagues to ensure we are coming up with technological solutions that benefit our people. If we get that right, an improved patient experience will be the inevitable result.

Tracy Voice is the CDO of 3DHB