Leading community health service codesigns Australian solution to improve staff productivity and enable new technology and AI
InterSystems, a creative data technology provider powering more than one billion healthcare records globally, today announced that Gateway Health, a leading not-for-profit regional community health service, has implemented a new InterSystems TrakCare® community solution for Australia.
The solution – which Gateway Health co-designed over a six-month period as an InterSystems testing partner – has been configured to meet the needs of Australian community health services and to enable the adoption of new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI).
New TrakCare community features – including the Encounter Record, Outpatient Planner, and TrakCare Assistant – streamline common workflows, saving care providers time and improving data quality, leading to flow-on organisational benefits.
Gateway Health provides comprehensive health and wellbeing support across North East Victoria and Southern New South Wales. It offers general practice, district nursing, allied health, mental health, NDIS, addiction, LGBTIQASB+ and aged care services with hubs in Wodonga, Wangaratta and Myrtleford and outreach services for rural communities.
“Previously, staff had to click in and out of multiple folders to see the whole client journey,” said Carolyn Foote, Data and Information Coordinator at Gateway Health. “The new Encounter Record shows everything on one page and is a big productivity improvement. It also improves data quality because it makes sure the right data goes into the right episode for the right client.”
Gateway Health can now capture more information about episodes of care, including previously unreported contact minutes, improving its ability to link its activities to the funding it receives and the outcomes it generates.
“It’s critical that we can demonstrate not only that we’re doing what we’re contracted to do, but also that we’re doing what’s required for the community and that they’re getting better health outcomes,” said Trent Dean, Chief Executive Officer for Gateway Health. “The new TrakCare solution is a step forward in how we support our clinicians and deliver care. With a more intuitive interface, improved workflows, and new tools like the appointment planner, TrakCare sets us up for the next phase of digital transformation.”
The new TrakCare solution will enable a raft of technology improvements at Gateway Health, starting with the rollout of SMS appointment reminders. The organisation is also evaluating TrakCare’s mobile device support and how it can use AI technology.
“Staff have asked if we can make TrakCare accessible on a mobile phone or tablet in their client consultations without having to pull out a laptop. If we do that, it will be less intrusive for clients and a big step up for the staff,” said Carolyn Foote.
Gateway Health could use TrakCare’s built-in support for FHIR® and APIs to integrate new AI technology. It could also upgrade to InterSystems IntelliCare, a next-generation electronic health record system built on TrakCare that offers comprehensive AI capabilities.
In conjunction with the Gateway Health implementation, InterSystems established a working group of Australian community health providers to inform the design process for the new TrakCare solution and to create an affordable upgrade path to a modern, sustainable technology platform.
“The new TrakCare solution was created with Gateway Health and signed off by the Australian community working group,” said Darren Jones, Country Manager, Australia and New Zealand for InterSystems. “It has been well received by our community health customers, and we will be working with Gateway Health to demonstrate its benefits over the coming months.”
