Teams and power apps

Discussions
1

Hi all, I assume everyone else is being courted by MS at the mo. Who out there is experimenting with power apps? @damon I think you are having success with a COVID app? Also those using teams for Telehealth? I know that @alex is going great guns in that space…

2

Kia ora Ruth,
We are using Microsoft Teams for telehealth at Southern DHB. I am part of the telehealth steering group and based on work done in a few services during COVID, we are developing a package for rolling out to all services. We now have the Bookings app up and running and this has made the administrative side a lot more doable, and presents a more professional and user friendly ‘appointment’ for patients that doesn’t entail use of individual clinician’s email addresses etc. Limitations remain that Teams doesn’t tie into DHB patient mangement system (IPM), and we don’t yet have a process for sending out digital outcome measures etc, corresponding securely with patients, or enabling PROMs or correspondence reports to go direct into patient record.
Ngaa mihi

4 Likes
3

We have been looking at PowerApps at Taranaki DHB. We have installed the Crisis app which is PowerApps based. WE are not using this live however. We are currently reviewing the licensing as with all things MS this is complex. Under the Health MS agreement we do get PowerApps free but there are limitations that you need to be aware of. Also once you move past the free bit then the cost is based per app per user so costs could ramp up quite quickly.

1 Like
4

Hey Miranda, any update as to how you are going down there? If you stuff to share the NZTLG would love to distribute any learning (good and bad). Www.telehealth.org.nz

5

Kia ora Ruth,
Good on you for articulating so clearly the gaps in IT infrastructure & people resource in the DHB sector. I think it’s necessary to make the argument that more $$ are needed rather than shifted. Unfortunately, there is just no slack any where in the system… we’ve faced the Toyota Way for so long. Regarding telehealth, SDHB have got to the point where we have a reasonably good wrap around package of training information for any staff/services picking up this opportunity. The Microsoft Teams platform functions reasonably well and the Teams Bookings app has streamlined setting up appointments with patients including ‘pre-appointment’ information and guide to using the link. There’s also been good work making it known among the public that telehealth is an option - some people are very keen to avoid hospitals due to current contagion concerns in addition to those wishing to avoid the stress of parking and travel etc. However, also those who are reluctant and see it as a bit foreign, or who don’t have ‘modern’ enough devices or devices at all. I.e. the equity side not yet solved, although telehealth drive in itself has driven some really great work on equity generally, so I think there is great confidence that what we arrive at will be better than what existed pre-COVID. In terms of IT deficit, administrative staff are really the front line of IT to the public and I think a priority for NZ health workforce is increasing tech literacy of all our admin workers, and number of admin workers - both to support the public in accessing telehealth, and to support clinicians in smooth sailing. Would add a great deal to the efficiency and uptake. Closer links with city councils, marae (maybe Te Puni Kōkiri), and PHOs, with some centralised funding to ensure universal access, will be necessary to realise community-based access to telehealth facilities for any patient/member of public, e.g. in hubs, free data etc. So much potential! But enormous amount of time involved if has to be contemplated at every regional level… Needs a central approach to ‘civic’ infrastructure, as does much of what supports populations’ health. My 2 cents worth.

1 Like
6

Brilliant, thanks!! We are just getting going and I totally hear you. I think there is a need for a good support/call centre for consumers and health care providers. I’m thinking that with you guys and @alex in Whanganui maybe we could even consider combining forces to make an attractive help centre package agreement with a provider… we used spark support for our smarthealth work and it was excellent…

7

Hi Miranda,

I’ve been working on an integration in this area for Canterbury DHB which should have a decent amount of reuse possibilities for Southern and other DHBs. The idea is to use the Microsoft APIs to automatically make the “Booking” in their system based on what was recorded in the Patient Administration System. We’ve got a few little roadblocks in the way but hope to have this up and running for CDHB in the next couple of months. Key would be to have the data coming out of iPM include sufficient info to determine whether to go down the Telehealth route or not (a distinct Appointment Method for example).

When I met with clinicians and administrators to discuss Telehealth I was amazed by how much they’d embraced it during the COVID lockdown even without fancy IT integrations. My aim is to make some of the overhead less without getting in the way with new workflows. What I was most impressed by was that some services had not only moved large portions of their OP visits to be Telehealth but they’d also improved the overall flow of patients through their service as part of the bargain (earlier visits, email rather than postal based appointment letters etc.).

1 Like
8

Hi @Ruth_Large
Thanks for the post about power apps and apologies for the delay in replying (it turns out my new Outlook filters out messages from Discourse away from the main email inbox for me).

I agree power apps look full of promise and would be keen to get them working. However I’ve been made aware of some issues which will slow this down. From discussing with @lance.elder and others here are 4 things to be aware of:

  1. Governance and management of Power Apps
    You need to take care how you manage and deploy them to avoid a mess of apps and data. There is the risk of “shadow IT” phenomenon if they are not goverened properly. For example, Dr B creates some Power App that does something really useful for their service, then moves on and no-one else knows how to fix it or update it if it needs changing in the future. Also, there’s the risk of a stack of data being collected that then can’t easily be used in other things.

  2. Validation and integration with other systems sorted

  • Ideally they should be designed to bring data in from other sources where possible. This would help reduce double data entry - you don’t want to be re-entering data that is already known by another part of the hospital’s system.

  • If entering an NHI into an App, it should link into the PAS or other system to validate the NHI (rather than just being a free-text space)

  • Data should be stored so it can be accessed by other systems, and go through reporting lines (as indicated in point 1 above)

  1. Ensure the most appropriate technology is being used for the problem
    Look at the problem first and see if Power App is the right solution, or if another solution is better, eg adding in new fields to an existing application.

  2. Licencing
    As noted by @steven.parrish above, you can run into unexpected licencing costs. Apparently, just because you have it availble to you, depending how you use it, you may find yourselves liable for extra costs. It’s a bit like downloading an app for your smartphone from the app store and then finding there are “in app purchases” - but I think here it may not be obvious to the user when they are becoming liable for the extra purchase.

So in short, it may seem attractive to get a few quick wins with them but it seems that to make it a proper part of a more integrated system takes a bit more time and care.

2 Likes