Elly Yates-Roberts |
Bethesda Health Care’s new mental health clinic in Cockburn, Australia, will become one of the first medical facilities in the country to install Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare as its patient administration system (PAS), with the support of Microsoft partner Velrada.
Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare leverages the capabilities from Microsoft Azure, Dynamics 365, Microsoft Power Platform and Microsoft 365 to provide clinical staff with a full history of the care and support given and proposed for a patient, with a patient’s consent.
“Having the cloud-based system allows an incredible amount of important data to be exchanged from multiple operational and clinical sources, creating more connected consumer experiences, where the consumer is in control of what is shared and who it is shared with,” said Dr Neale Fong, CEO of Bethesda.
The new PAS brings together protected health information from disparate systems to create a single, comprehensive record of the patient, also known as a longitudinal record. This data is then able to support clinical insights, data analytics, machine learning and the potential for training artificial intelligence.
“Velrada is able to take advantage of our industry knowledge and expertise, and work very closely with Microsoft and the Bethesda team to design and implement an exciting solution that will change the way mental health services are delivered where the consumer and health practitioners can work together for better health outcomes,” said Jennifer Evans, director of Velrada.
The purpose-built facility will feature a wellbeing centre, consultation rooms and 45 overnight beds, which will be expanded to 75 beds in 2023. Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare will be able to track a patient’s care plan both as an inpatient and outpatient of the wellness centre, keeping the patient informed.
A key focus and unique aspect of this approach delivered by Velrada, Bethesda and Microsoft is enabling transitions from the community to inpatient and back into community care as smooth as possible for consumers, patients and their loved ones,” said Dr Nic Woods, chief medical officer at Microsoft Australia. “This is a huge step in supporting care across often very complex needs and one that Microsoft is very proud to be taking with Bethesda and Velrada.”