Lancs Care invests in BI on the move

Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust has deployed a business intelligence system to deliver mobile reporting to clinicians.

Mark Singleton, the trust’s BI manager, told EHI that until now community staff have had to use a paper based system of keeping records, before going back to base to enter the information.

“Previously, our reporting suite required a computer to use it and the majority of our workforce is community based,” he said.

He added that the trust had recently got access to its iPM patient administration system from CSC on mobile devices. So it made sense to do the same for business intelligence.

“The clinical system has recently been deployed to use on a tablet device, so we don’t want clinicians to come back to base just to look at the business intelligence. We wanted to get the intelligence onto the same devices.”

Singleton added that one the key functions of the system from Yellowfin is “the social side of it.”

“Users can look at the report and add commentary and knowledge. And it all links in with our Active Directory,” he said.

He added that the web-based system is a very visual tool, with interactive charts and dashboards. This makes it easy for clinicians to access clinical information, activity levels, quality information, outcomes and patient experience on tablets, smartphones and desktops.

Declan Hadley, the trust’s informatics director, told EHI that with a large number of staff being community based, mobile working was crucial.

“As part of our informatics strategy we’ve got 300-400 android tablets deployed so far. In the next six months, we’ll have another 1,500 devices and by the end of the three year programme we’ll have 3,500-4,000 tablet users.”

The trust procured the system in March this year and has already begun the roll out. “We went live over the last few weeks. Rather than having a big bang, we’re having a slow burn,” said Hadley.

The system has also enabled the trust to develop a ‘balanced scorecard’, which pulls together clinical, financial, human resources and quality control information.

This gives the board and managers a fuller picture of performance at the trust. “It’s about getting a good picture of what’s going on,” said Singleton.

The business intelligence system is a part of the trust’s health informatics strategy. Lancashire Care is also looking to replace its PAS later this year. “We haven’t ruled out Lorenzo yet,” said Hadley.