Somerset Community Health use Formic for clinical audits, patient evaluations, patient–directed audits and record keeping audits. The key benefits of which are:
- Improved efficiency in data collection
- A solution that is used by Clinical Audit, PPI, Public Health Directorate, and can be deployed to other departments in the future
- Wireless Tablet PC/mobile handset technology that enables patient feedback out in the community
The results of which mean: a standardisation of data capture across Somerset Community Health, the speeding up of the clinical audit and patient evaluation cycle, questionnaires that meet set standards, improving response rates from 10% to 85%, and a cost-effective and secure method of data collection.
The need for efficient data collection
The accurate, efficient and cost-effective capture of information, its management, analysis and sharing is critical to a health service’s ability to monitor and improve patient car and subsequently patient satisfaction. A solution that can automatically scan, read and extract information from any paper form and, with a click of a button, send it electronically to a project database or other clinical system will make huge efficiency gains for the data capture team and NHS targets. A solution that captures and provides data feedback remotely from a PDA, tablet PC, or other hand held device can bring even more benefit.
Mark Stacey, Somerset Community Health Risk Manager, is involved with incident management and patient safety projects and understands the need for higher efficiency in data capture.
“The wireless tablet PCs have been a success in the community hospitals; we can send questionnaires and audits to these mobile devices, allowing staff to quickly and easily colect data for a variety of projects including patient feedback upon discharge. The nurses like them because they look and operate like a normal computer and are happy to show patients how to use the pen-like stylus and eraser. There is even a built-in camera and scanner for positive patient identificatin that could be utilised in the future.”
