The Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre has launched a new research project to assess how a digital patient management platform could help reduce wait times for specialist appointments.
In collaboration with researchers from Sydney Local Health District and University of Sydney, the DHCRC will evaluate how the platform known as Florence has impacted patient experience since it was rolled out by Sydney LHD last year.
In the second phase of the project, researchers will develop predictive analytic tools to assess trends in wait times in specialist clinics, consultation times and cancellation rates, using real time data captured by the platform.
The team will also explore opportunities for increasing access to the platform, particularly for culturally linguistic and diverse populations and older Australians.
Associate Professor Aaron Jones, District Chief Nursing and Midwifery Information Officer for the Sydney LHD, said increasing access to the platform would be an important component of addressing the rising demand for healthcare services.
The population served by Sydney LHD was expected to grow by 30% over the next three years, he said.
“With Covid-19 we saw digital health interventions being deployed quickly without time for evaluation, and now we expect to see a rapid change again in changes to patient flow,” Professor Jones said in a statement.
“There is an urgent need to develop scalable and sustainable solutions to meet the growing demand for health care services, and we feel that Florence will assist in this.”
Florence was designed to manage appointments and patient engagement using technology developed by the University of Sydney and software company Five Faces.
Aiming to streamline workflows so that healthcare workers can manage patient flows more effectively, it features a portal where patients can book their own appointments as well as self-service kiosks that manage patient check-ins and queues.
Implementing the platform more widely was an important step towards improving patient experiences and outcomes, said Five Faces CEO Nicole Nixon.
“Longer wait times contribute to poorer clinical outcomes, increased patient anxiety, delayed access to treatment, patient dissatisfaction, increased costs, and inequitable access to care,” she said in a statement.
“Florence looks to directly address these challenges by holistically enriching the delivery of healthcare and directly improving patient experiences.”
The research project will begin this month at Sydney Dental Hospital.
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