Inadvertently agile

No IT, no agile working - that much is clear. That's because the necessary structures cannot be established in practice without suitable software. The HIS plays a key role in connection with this, because it maps administrative processes alongside, say, treatment pathways. But the HIS alone cannot address the requirements for agile working, because it does not take one decisive element into account: consolidated display of all medical data. This is where JiveX Healthcare Content Management (HCM) comes into play - even though many users may not even be aware of this.

To understand what role consolidated medical data storage and HCM play for agile working, it is worth taking an in-depth look at the features and aims of agility.

Teamwork

Agile working is characterized by bringing together small, cross-departmental teams. In medicine, the principle of collaborating in this way is not so new, as the inter-disciplinary approach is becoming increasingly important, as the focus has shifted onto the patient and away from the pattern of illness. However, teamwork of this kind only works if all the relevant information is accessible for every team member.

So the information needs to come out of department-centered sub-systems and into a consolidated data structure.  And that is precisely what JiveX HCM does. It provides the necessary tools for bundling, displaying and archiving data from various specialist disciplines and formats within a single system.

Administration and display is performed on a patient- or/and case-centered basis, ensuring that people are looking beyond the pattern of illness. Intelligent authorization concepts ensure that the strict requirements for data protection are respected even across departments. Moreover, displaying all medical data via a standardized viewer makes it possible to enjoy bundled access to information relevant for treatment, regardless of location. This also relieves the team members from the necessity to be in the same place at the same time to be similarly up-to-speed with the data and how things stand.

That's because JiveX HCM ensures that the data is always up-to-date and complies with the technical and legal requirements. Workflow Management handles data synchronization, providing signatures and time-stamps and logging changes to the data - all automatically.

By using the IHE-XDS profile, the data consolidated in JiveX HCM can also be used within groups or for portal solutions. The system makes the corresponding components available.

Focusing on quality of outcome and efficiency improvements

Quality of outcome, in a medical context, relates first and foremost to the quality of patient care - in other words, to the medical result. But it also relates to the means and avenues by which this is achieved. One example The primary aim of an appendix operation is a complication-free intervention, and rapid and full patient recovery. But it is also part of the quality of outcome that no unnecessary duplicate investigations are conducted in achieving that aim, no information relevant to treatment is lost in transit, and no valuable time lost in searching for treatment data from different systems in various locations.

Here, too, JiveX makes an important contribution. That's because consolidated data storage guarantees that all medical information is available across specialist disciplines (possible also across facilities and/or across sectors) If an abdominal ultrasound scan has already been performed in the emergency ambulance, the medic performing the operation will see the images and evaluations - and dispense with a further examination, so long as there is no reason for conducting a second scan. The doctor can also be sure that he can find all the necessary information about this patient in JiveX HCM, in other words he can also look back at images, evaluations and scores from earlier stays in hospital. And: he can view the images and documents in one and the same multi-format viewer - if necessary, even in a parallel screen display. The probability of mistakes in treatment due to gaps in information is lowered massively as a result - quite apart from the time that is saved via direct, one-off access.

Boosting profits

One aim of agile working is to save on resources, and thereby boost profits. With HCM, this aim can be achieved on the one hand via time-savings from consolidated data access and avoiding duplicate examinations. On the other and, JiveX HCM also supports the processes for the MDK (Medizinische Dienste der Krankenkassen - medical services support offered by the health insurers). This is because all the medical information that might be required for an audit by the medical audit team is available from one system, practically at the press of a button. Lost revenue due to poor documentation of medical services can be considerably reduced.

Flexibility

A core element of agile working is the possibility of responding flexibly to changing framing conditions. That might be minor changes, such as procurement of new medical engineering equipment. But it might also be far-reaching structural changes, such as merging several hospitals within a group/chain, or establishing competence networks. In both cases, it is vital that the existing software offers the necessary freedom to map the changes with no loss of information. The keyword here is -  interoperability. Proprietary software will make even commissioning a new document scanner, for example, significantly more complicated To say nothing of bringing together different IT architectures if wanting to create a network!

JiveX HCM stands out, like all JiveX products, because it is based on established and recognized standards, such as DICOM, HL7 or IHE profiles. This guarantees the necessary flexibility to be able to switch processes quickly and without obstacles on the IT side. Moreover, the system is constructed using modules, and can readily be expanded as requirements or growth dictate. For instance, with regard to data recording and processing for new specialist departments, or with a view to IHE-XDS tools for facility-wide data exchange. The first steps towards HCM can be the Medical Archive and/or the Multiformat Viewer, that are used hospital-wide. As processes and structures within an organization become more complex, these can be built on using Workflow Management - in a precise match to the facility's current situation.