It’s that time of year again where we unveil the finalists in the Leading Healthcare Awards 2022. Here, we share with our readers the entries, case studies and submissions.
Ultimately, it’s up to our expert panel of judges from in and around the world of health and care to decide the deserving winner – who will be announced at our Leading Healthcare awards evening at 7pm on April 7 2022.
Read about about the inspiring work and innovations from our entries down below…
Nervecentre Software
The first entry in our Technology Solution of the Year category is from Nervecentre Software for their work on the Nervecentre EPR (Electronic Patient Record) as a Service, using SaaS (Software as a Service) and cloud computing for rapid healthcare transformation.
Their technology solution combines a fully integrated ‘Next Generation EPR’ of ‘best-in-class’ features, usability, interoperability, and mobile technology to enable hospitals to be agile and adapt quickly to support healthcare transformation.
Based on a modern cloud and SaaS architecture, the EPR platform can be continuously updated with zero planned downtime.
Additionally, The Nervecentre environment can be updated without disrupting the operations of the EPR service, in which frontline NHS staff will always have access to the latest features of the technology to deliver successful healthcare transformation.
Completely mobile, SaaS computing can be used at any time and in any place, in which software and its data are stored on secure servers that can be accessed via the internet.
KFM
The next entry in our Technology Solution of the Year category is from KFM for using their Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to solve healthcare problems for King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
KFM employed RPA, a form of business process automation technology based on metaphorical software robots known as bots, in their management of KCHT’s healthcare support services, where the technology automated manual and repetitive tasks associated with the trust’s outdated legacy systems.
The RPA technology was designed to provide a cost-effective and efficient way of streamlining tasks which require considerable human effort, as well as to implement the bots in as many areas as possible in hospital life to improve efficiency and ultimately patient care – against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.
KFM’s implementation of the technology at the trust has also meant that the processing of COVID-19 swab testing results, which previously had to be collected, compiled and manually entered daily onto the hospital’s rostering system, could be automated by the bots.
Peter Hanover, Admin Assistant, Occupational Health & Wellbeing, King’s College Hospital, said: “The RPA programme has made a big difference in freeing me up for other duties in the Occupational Health Department. Previously, I would spend hours every week inputting data. The automated process can do this much faster and can make results live on Healthroster as soon as results are received.”
On the Robotic Automation, David Hoon, Performance & Implementation Manager, added: “The automation allows us to target our reminder emails so that the recipients do not get into the habit of ignoring “blanket” emails that they feel do not apply to them.”
Solve.Care
Our third entry in the Technology Solution of the Year category is from Solve.Care, which created a blockchain healthcare platform for the coordination of care, benefits administration and payments in healthcare.
The Solve.Care Platform builds multiple digital healthcare networks to serve different healthcare needs, in which users of these Care Networks can track and manage everything by using the Care.Wallet app.
Additionally, the company’s clients can use the technology to create customised digital healthcare networks (called Care Networks), for specific groups of people who share a particular disease, insurance policy, employment status, geographic location, or whatever identified criteria.
Rather than a standalone app, Solve.Care has created an ecosystem to address the needs of people using not only the UK healthcare system, but systems in countries across the globe.
Focusing on redefining care coordination, the Solve.Care ecosystem is said to improve access to care; empower consumers with information and control over their data; reduce benefit administration costs; and helps to reduce fraud and waste in healthcare.
The organisation has also launched various use cases for different clients and partners.
Plymouth NHS Trust and British Association for the Study of Headache
Our fourth entry into the Technology Solution of the Year category is from British Association for the Study of Headache (BASH) and the headache team at Plymouth hospitals NHS trust for their contributions to a National Headache Management System for Adults – headache.org.uk.
The partnership saw the development of a national headache management system- known as Headache.org.uk – to provide a more collaborative and standardised approach to care, with involvement and approval from national patient and professional charities.
Within the partnership entry, the organisations highlight that the development of the national headache management system was required to address problems with accessing healthcare professionals, receiving evidence-based treatment, and avoiding medication overuse.
On the website, the entry stated: “The website – headache.org.uk has sections for both patients and clinicians. It provides a structure to the diagnostic and investigative processes that means the clinician can actively utilise it during patient consultations.
“It also provides brief summaries of the principles and treatment options in common primary headache conditions such as tension-type headache, migraine, and medication overuse headache. The website, therefore, provides a “one-stop-shop” of reliable information that can be used to guide patient care.”
“Consistent messaging by healthcare professionals will improve patient adherence to medication by providing confidence that their treatment is backed up by an evidence base. To further supplement the messaging from clinicians, the website includes a section for people suffering with headache conditions with access to information leaflets and videos on diagnostic strategies, educational/self-help options and medical treatments.”
My Possible Self
Our next entry into the Technology Solution of the Year category is from My Possible Self for their mental health app with clinically certified content from world leaders in mental health, Priory Healthcare.
The app aims to improve mental health and wellbeing of users around the world using interactive tools, helpful tips, visual mental exercises, and engaging activities based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), to help users tackle depression, manage anxiety, reduce stress, and improve sleep.
The app has more than 200,000 registered users and is attracting new registrations at a rate of up to 850 per day via the Apple App Store, Google Play, and web browser.
Through the leadership of founder Joanne Wilkinson and daughters Hana and Fleur, the My Possible Self app has provided users with growing support for mental health and wellbeing around the clock, whenever and wherever they are in the world.
The platform offers a free business-to-consumer model to support individuals with mental health and wellbeing, as well as a business-to-business model to support company employees and members of healthcare and insurance programmes.
The My Possible Self app contains a core Guided Series, which includes:
– Overcoming anxiety
– Tackling depression
– Managing stress
– Sleeping well
– Eating healthily and staying hydrated
– Keeping active
– Drinking safely
– Gambling safely.
The entry statement commented: “Demand for personalised mental health support is growing – and My Possible Self is extremely well-placed to meet the need. The family-owned company has developed the most innovative tools available to help manage and improve wellbeing when people need a helping hand at home and at work.
“With many of us facing prolonged uncertainty about our health, loved ones and work and social isolation, it is no wonder we are seeing a rise in stress and anxiety. My Possible Self is passionate about helping as many people as possible, wherever they are in the world.”
Doctify
The next entry in our Technology Solution of the Year category is from Doctify for their review collection platform, which enables healthcare providers to collect and publish their patient feedback online to promote trust and transparency.
The review collection platform, co-founded by two NHS surgeons in 2015, is based on a Software as a Solution (SaaS) model and allows doctors, dentists, hospitals and care homes to collect greater volumes of verified, meaningful feedback than ever before.
Fundamentally, the platform makes it quicker, simpler, and more secure for patients to leave feedback, where clients have more opportunities to understand, learn from and improve their patients’ experiences.
The entry commented: “Before Doctify, many providers struggled to establish a robust way of sourcing regular and genuine reviews, making it harder for patients to find the right consultant who meets their requirements. Many collected feedback on an ad-hoc basis and often through paper forms. With patients needing to reply through the post, this created delays.
“The lapse in time, combined with the inefficient process, often led to low engagement and low response quality. Providers didn’t fully understand the patient experience or how to improve it. And, with a lack of reliable healthcare reviews online, patients were finding it difficult to choose a provider they could trust.
“Doctify recognised that these issues could be solved using technology. By developing an automated feedback collection solution, we make it easier for healthcare providers to collect significantly greater volumes of contextualised patient feedback. Patients and providers can see a more accurate representation of the care being delivered than has ever been previously possible.”
Florence
Our final entry in our Technology Solution of the Year category is from Florence for their interconnected tech solution, which helps social care workers and organisations manage their shifts, training and work schedules, quickly and easily.
Florence’s three tech products include Florence Flex, a staff marketplace app; Florence Rota, a rota software; and Florence Academy, a learning management system. The technologies work together to provide social care providers with a system to procure, manage and train staff, affordably and to the highest standard.
On the Florence Rota software, the entry said: “62% of care home managers say their rota takes up the majority of their time per week, mainly due to staff shortage and sickness due to the impact of Covid. Rota was built to address this burden, giving care managers the power to plan their rotas in minutes, not hours, and put their time back into focussing on care.
“Florence Rota removes these problems by helping managers build rotas smoothly, in minutes. Staff are automatically texted daily shift invites, which they accept by tapping a link. The online rota is updated automatically in real time, with no chasing or constant rounds of manual editing needed from managers.”
Michelle, a care home manager at Dene Grange care home, Northumberland, said of Florence Rota: “If it’s an emergency, normally I’d have to ring 50 people, so it makes a big difference – we’re [now] getting 75% shift of gaps covered.”
