The Irish health service stands to reap huge benefits from its continued adoption of digital technologies and it has the opportunity to learn lessons from counterparts in other countries.
That’s according to David Clancy, director and country general manager of Oracle Health. He is enthused by the ambition and scope of digital transformation outlined within the Department of Health’s and HSE’s Digital for Care 2030 strategy, saying it reflects what Oracle has seen succeed in other countries.
The goals of the Digital for Care strategy are ambitious, and rightly so, Clancy says. “Rapidly advancing the use of proven technology across the Irish health service is vital to ensuring patients receive the best care possible. To maximise the benefits of a technology deployment like this, it can’t be done in small pockets – it has to be done across all six regions. It’s a lot to get done in a short period of time, but the benefits cannot be overstated.”
The good news, he says, is that many of the aims of the Irish health service will be made possible by the implementation of Ireland’s long awaited electronic health record (EHR) system. Clancy notes that while the HSE’s objective does bring some challenges, “it will deliver major benefits”.
Clancy highlights that having a clear, pragmatic and cost-conscious plan will be necessary for a smooth implementation and subsequent user adoption. “End users need to be comfortable with the technology or the level of adoption could be an issue. Delivering systems they are familiar with will be more efficient and ease the implementation process.”
Oracle’s systems are already in use in roughly 10 per cent of the Irish health system, with more than 11,000 end users working with Oracle technology on a daily basis in both hospital and community settings.
“The HSE has already made substantial progress in this area and has a significant amount of adoption. It’s a good foundation for them to build on as part of this strategy for rolling out.”
‘With Oracle, the HSE doesn’t need to start from scratch, it can build off what is already there’
Interoperability is also a key component in the delivery of a countrywide EHR. There is a perceived challenge that the systems in place today lack interoperability. However, Clancy says Oracle has not found that to be the case and it is uniquely positioned as the only EHR vendor with the capabilities to provide ubiquitous interoperability.
“Oracle is integrated across over 30 local and national systems in at least seven different hospital settings within Ireland. With Oracle, the HSE doesn’t need to start from scratch, it can build off what is already there. We’ve already developed the integrations with those systems so HSE can keep what’s working and what’s paid for.”
Clancy also points out that there are already key examples of where the EHR has been integrated and expanded in Ireland. For example, St James’s Hospital has expanded the use of its Oracle Health EHR into the newly-opened HSE Surgical Hub at Mount Carmel Community Hospital. Implementations planned by the HSE will mean that approximately two out of three pregnancies will be supported by the countrywide maternal and newborn EHR. Meanwhile, VHI Health and Wellbeing are expanding the use of their Oracle Health EHR from their national network of 360 Health Centres to their innovative Hospital-at-Home service, allowing for even greater levels of care outside the acute setting.
In Ireland, the Oracle Health EHR is currently delivering benefits at sites in each of the HSE’s six health regions. But Clancy explains that Oracle’s accelerated development of the next generation EHR will further improve the end user experience. It is designed to embed AI across the entire clinical workflow. The intuitive design leverages integrated conversational search, voice-driven navigation and multi modal search as a natural extension of clinician workflows. Clancy says this will be a game changer and “client feedback on the enhancements to date have been incredible”.
