Helping healthcare: How Clinical Desktop can enrich patient care Microsoft UK, 2013
Technology should essentially be about delivering benefits for the whole Trust, from clinical staff using the desktop and experiencing productivity gains, through to IT professionals managing the system with a small set of complementary and familiar tools. Introduction NHS Trusts and clinicians are under unprecedented pressure; the combination of government budget cuts, lack of resources and societal anxiety around patient care means they are having to try and achieve doing more with less, like never before. NHS Trusts now look to technology to achieve tangible cost savings and help provide better patient care by ensuring clinicians spend less time looking at screens and more time at patient bedsides. However, traditionally clinicians have seen technology as an obstacle to their roles and a distraction from the main focus of their jobs: spending time with patients and providing care. As patient and healthcare provision has moved forward, technology must keep pace with the growing demands of clinicians. However, where technology has been implemented, clinicians typically seek out the path of least resistance, cutting corners with log-ins and passwords, in order to maximise the amount of time they spend with patients.
Clinicians need to have technology that gives them the right data on the right patients, regardless of their location, whether in the lab, the ward or the nurses station. Time is a most precious commodity for healthcare professionals and therefore quick, single-sign-on, login times are essential. Clinicians need technology that moves at the same speed as healthcare delivery and waiting to log onto multiple systems to access patient date is a laborious task. Clinicians need to have technology that gives them the right data on the right patients, regardless of their location, whether in the lab, the ward or the nurses station. In any technology scenario, users needs need to be balanced alongside the requirements of the ICT team and any legacy technology. For example, within in NHS Trusts security and information assurance is essential, alongside efficient desktop management and remote access that is centrally and flexibly managed. Technology should essentially be about delivering benefits for the whole trust, from clinical staff using the desktop and experiencing productivity gains, through to IT professionals managing the system with a small set of complementary and familiar tools.
This has a two-fold impact not only do the clinicians only have to log in once with a secure keycard, but it means the number of helpdesk calls to the ICT team to retrieve passwords and user names are also reduced. Saving time with technology Clinicians need to log on to multiple sometimes up to seven or eight different systems simultaneously to access complete patient data. With each one requiring a separate password and taking several minutes to load this can be time-consuming and, in the eyes of the healthcare professional, unnecessary. The Clinical Desktop from Microsoft saves clinicians valuable time by simply and reliably reducing the time it takes to login or find patient records across multiple applications and then keeping a user s session open on any device and in any location as they move around the building. This has a two-fold impact not only do the clinicians only have to log in once with a secure keycard, but it means the number of helpdesk calls to the ICT team to retrieve passwords and user names are also reduced.
DirectAccess gives users quick and easy access to their Clinical Desktop with two factor authentication, empowering clinicians to remain productive irrespective of their location. Medical notes on the go Clinicians are increasingly mobile. Within the hospital they need to cover multiple wards, requiring secure, safe access across a number of different devices. For example, a clinician may move from the lab looking at x-rays, through to the patient and then onto the nurses station to have to input data. With increased pressure on their time, many also require access when at home, on the move and while visiting patients out in the community. Providing clinicians with secure access regardless of their location in the past has been challenging. Any modern solution should enable flexible working at its core, without compromising security, usability, manageability or affordability. Clinical Desktop is available easily and cost effectively to community services and on-call duty or remote workers using the DirectAccess feature in Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows Server 2012. DirectAccess gives users quick and easy access to their Clinical Desktop with two factor authentication, empowering clinicians to remain productive irrespective of their location. Microsoft Windows 8 extends this flexibility further by allowing staff to use a secure USB stick to run Windows To Go on their own devices. Windows to Go is a fully manageable corporate image, installed onto a USB. It means that a clinician can take their personalised desktop image with them. Additionally, applications are streamed, rather than installed, thereby providing the mechanism for applications to follow users and eliminating the need to install every application on each machine. From one place, applications can be streamed to PC/laptop, remote devices and tablets.
Providing clinicians with secure, seamless access across multiple applications on numerous devices around the hospital can help Trusts to maximise the time clinicians have to spend with patients and in doing so improve care. Securing patient data Clinicians often seek the path of least resistance when it comes to technology. In the past this has seen Trust employees cut corners when it comes to the security of data, with multiple clinicians accessing patient data through the same log-in, for example. Not only does this compromise the security of the data, it also makes it difficult for Trusts to track activity back to a single user. Additionally, if one clinician uses multiple applications across different devices, it can be easy to confuse one patient with another. The John Smith whose ailment is diagnosed on one device, may not be the same John Smith prescribed treatment to, on another. To provide clinicians with a complete view of the patient requires access to data that sits across multiple applications. With each application requiring separate sign-in details, accessing this information can be incredibly laborious and time intensive. If a clinician needs to move from office to bedside to administer care, this adds another layer of complexity. Providing clinicians with secure, seamless access across multiple applications on numerous devices around the hospital can help Trusts to maximise the time clinicians have to spend with patients and in doing so improve care.
Clinical Desktop has integrated technologies that log on and authenticate users seamlessly and efficiently which then follow clinicians as they move around. Simple log on system Clinical Desktop has integrated technologies that log on and authenticate users seamlessly and efficiently which then follow clinicians as they move around. A nurse or clinician simply logs on to Clinical Desktop once, using a smartcard and/or password. When the user s credentials are checked and their role retrieved, they are given access to what they require. The user can then access patient records if they need to be mobile by just logging on to the new device, where their session will be awaiting for them. Also, to help minimise training requirements and ensure suitability for each user, the template personalisation allows for custom look and feel on a per-application basis and also allows users to roll back changes and roam between machines, or Windows 7 and 8. Save costs and help free the ICT team Reduced calls to the helpdesk to retrieve passwords and log in details not only saves time and money, but also frees up the ICT team to focus on technology that can help patients in other areas. Clinical Desktop sits on top of existing technology, avoids a rip and replace scenario and discrete projects can be delivered incrementally over time, with investment pegged to success.
Delivering excellence in patient care will depend on more than simply technology. However, by using flexible, easy to use software, such as Clinical Desktop, that helps to save time and money, healthcare professionals can be released to spend more time at their patient s bedsides. Even small initial projects will yield quick wins. Subsequent goals often include modernised desktop management, flexible working support and migration of applications to Windows 7 and Windows 8 if necessary. Clinical Desktop can help both the ICT team and healthcare professionals drive efficiency, reduce costs and modernise ICT; Clinical Desktop is one step towards a truly dynamic infrastructure, in which investment is flexible and always matched to visible outcomes.
A day in the life of a clinician on Clinical Desktop A day in the life of a clinician on Clinical Desktop 7.30am It takes Nick, a clinician, an hour to drive to the hospital where he works. However, this morning when he turns his car key in the ignition, it won t start. Nick goes back inside, calls a roadside mechanic and plugs his Windows To Go USB device into his personal laptop. While he waits for the mechanic to turn up, he securely accesses the hospital system through DirectAccess and rearranges his appointments for the morning to accommodate the fact that he is running late. He checks the patient notes for his appointments later in the day, to save himself a task when he eventually arrives at the hospital. 8.15am Forty-five minutes later the mechanic has arrived and fixed the problem. Nick gets in his car and begins his journey to work. He takes a conference call on his Windows 8 Phone while driving so is fully up to speed by the time he arrives 10.00am Upon arriving at the hospital, Nick makes his way to his office. He starts his computer and logs into Clinical Desktop. Straight away Nick can see the changes he made to his schedule earlier that morning. Those appointments that he was forced to cancel can be rescheduled for later that day. For his appointments that morning, he pulls the patient notes from various hospital systems. Clinical Desktop provides him with one view of each of his patients so he can easily see the status of their conditions and what care he needs to administer. Once he has checked all of his patients records he leaves his office to visit those in his care.
A day in the life of a clinician on Clinical Desktop 12.00pm On the ward Nick speaks with his patients. He uses a Windows 8 tablet device when making his rounds so he doesn t need to carry notes with him. Using the tablet he opens Clinical Desktop which instantly pulls up the session that he had live on his office computer, allowing him to easily access the patient files he was reviewing earlier. Having spoken with his patients, consulted their notes and reviewed their condition, he can use the tablet device to administer care, instructing different departments through multiple systems as to the correct course of treatment. 3pm Once he has completed his rounds for the morning he returns to his office, picks up his laptop and goes to the staff canteen. While he gets himself a drink, he turns on his computer, logs in to Clinical Desktop and reads over the patient notes for his community visits in the afternoon. He also makes sure that those patients he saw in the morning who require critical care are receiving the treatment he proscribed. 5pm Nick does his community visits for two patients who are receiving treatment at home. Using DirectAccess he can check their records while he is with them securely, and get a clear view of their current condition. He quickly downloads their x-rays that he was looking at earlier and sets in progress the necessary course of action to aid their recovery. Conclusion Delivering excellence in patient care will depend on more than simply technology. However, by using flexible, easy to use software, such as Clinical Desktop, that helps to save time and money, healthcare professionals can be released to spend more time at their patient s bedsides. Secure patient data, not just on one machine, but on multiple devices, regardless of location could see improved prescription rates, and ensure clinicians can access the right information when and where they need to recommend the right treatments. Not only does Windows 8 help address the technology needs and challenges of industry, where organisations have made recent investments in a modern Windows desktop infrastructure, it will fit alongside and complement that investment. 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved