O R G A N I S AT I O N M E M B E R P R O F I L E
I NDUSTRY I NNOVATORS REBECCA MCBETH INTERVIEWS KATE QUIRKE
What is your mission/what are your values at Alcidion? Our mission is to assist clinicians — doctors, nurses and allied health professionals — to improve people’s lives through the use of technology. Our values are very strong and present within the company. We are focused on; being brave, amazing our customers, working as a team and fundamentally being innovative and creative in what we do. When creating software or technology for the health sector you have to ensure that it is evidence based, but that doesn’t stop you from being brave and pushing the healthcare industry to look at different ways of doing things and that’s where we are really strong. How do Alcidion’s solutions solve problems for your customers? Our customers are looking beyond their Electronic Medical Record (EMR) to increase their clinical engagement, as the EMR has digitised their data, but hasn’t improved their day to day workflow or supported decision making. They are looking at how to use their investment to support patient care and delivery of healthcare in a funding constrained world. By harnessing the investment made in the last 5-10 years to convert from paper to digital, we can help health professionals in their decision making so they can provide better care to patients.
Has Covid-19 impacted on the way you operate as a company and the relationship you have with your customers? The impact has been significant and has forever changed the way we work. My entire staff has worked from home for a year, and we’ve moved to flexible working, so they no longer need to be in the office, but come in two days a week for collaboration. I used to spend every week on a plane, but we are implementing whole systems now without ever going on- site. Previously I would have said that was impossible, but we have done it repeatedly in the UK where they have been much harder hit by the pandemic than Australia and New Zealand. That’s exciting because we can build on that to ensure Alcidion continues to be an employer of choice for people in healthcare IT and is in the best possible position to make an impact in this sector.
We have a ‘design first’ focus, so we know that what we put in the hands of our clinicians will improve their day to day workflow and ultimately help them do their job more effectively. You recently announced an exciting new project with the Te Manawa Taki DHB region, tell us more about that? This is very exciting because it’s a real partnership with that region to roll- out the Better Electronic Medication Management solution using our Patientrack solution as the portal. The DHBs wanted a system that will assist clinicians to support and guide their medication processes and ultimately improve patient outcomes. This solution has been proven in the UK market and New Zealand operates in a very similar way, so this is a real opportunity for New Zealand sites to have access to an easy-to-use and deeply functional medications management solution that is open, as it’s based on open EHR. What key trends in data and digital health are you are seeing internationally? Key trends are around the delivery of virtual care and a strong drive towards standards and interoperability to share information and join up care in the health, aged care, social care and disability sectors. The third trend is around mobility and solutions that are designed with clinical workflow in mind and demand for that is going to continue to increase.
Kate Quirke CEO Alcidion Group
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