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Improved Communications, Better Relations

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Rambam’s Division of Information Systems and Communication technologies has collaborated with Netwise, a leading Israeli company in Web system construction, to create a new application that will give doctors full mobility, and will serve to improve the doctor-patient relationship.

By Roberta Neiger, ProText
A new mobile application will enable doctors go beyond the restraints of the current system, and work anywhere, anytime. “While Rambam is at a very advanced level of creating a paperless patient record, we are constantly pursuing technologies that can bring doctors information or allow them to consult from any location,” says Sara Tzafrir, director of the Division of Information Systems and Communication Technologies.

Sara Tzafrir examining the new application
Pioter Fliter-RHCC

Until now, medical personnel use computerized medical records to monitor or comment on a patient’s condition. Staff members access these files through a computer screen affixed to a rolling cart. During patient visits, doctors enter or review data, or give instructions regarding medications, tests or treatments. In the same way, nurses use this method to view and record information.

In contrast, the new application will implement ‘smart’ tools in the forms of phones and tablets, giving doctors full mobility. Additionally, it will offer excellent visualization, presenting data in a clear, compelling fashion.

And while 24/7 connectivity may not sound like every doctor’s dream, the new application offers the physician added value. “The application will serve as a ‘doctor's portal’ for all their communications needs, not only those related to medicine,” says Tzafrir. “It will be their journal, music and reading library, and Internet connection.”

While Tzafrir hopes the application will ultimately replace the cart, she acknowledges that this change can’t be made overnight. As she puts it, “This is the beginning of a process.”

The Division of Information Systems team has just completed the stage of information security, a crucial element when dealing with private medical information. It has also developed Net architecture that allows interaction between the database and web application servers.

Now the team is poised to begin its pilot. Scheduled to run for six weeks, this test will give doctors limited access to information; mainly, it will check the technology’s operation and user comfort.

In the next phase, doctors will be able to see data on a patient’s medicines, lab tests, and operations. Even x-ray images will be accessible to physicians anywhere. By calling up these ‘pictures’ bedside, doctors can enhance patient understanding. In this way, the application helps fulfill its ultimate function: strengthening the doctor-patient bond.

During the project’s final stage, doctors will fully reap the technology’s benefits by using it to manage their work and free time.

According to Tzafrir, deployment of the technology should take roughly three years, depending on budgetary considerations. The first users will be Rambam’s roughly 200 senior physicians. “We hope that eventually, we will be able to make this tool available to all doctors and nurses at the hospital,” she says.

The new application will appear at the Israeli International Conference on Healthcare Information Systems to be held November 2012 in Tel Aviv.

The Division of Information Systems – Capable and Committed
The Division of Information and Communications Technologies is responsible for all of Rambam’s data and voice communications. Working independently, the team develops information and communications tools with great professionalism and efficiency. “Our group of ten accomplishes more than many similar outfits in the world, which have tens and hundreds of workers,” says Sara Tzafrir, division head. “It does the job much more cheaply – by hundreds of percentage points – than outside firms could.”
Tzafrir, who has been employed by Rambam for 30 years, says she has “never had one boring day” at work. “Not many things are interesting as what we do. Many high-tech companies would be happy to have our employees – at much higher salaries – but they remain here because of the interesting work and the sense of giving to society. When you’re working on something connected to medicine, you feel you are truly contributing.”