FEATURE : ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE the investigation and the patient ’ s preferences . It also takes into account what investigations can be done at which imaging centre , the patient ’ s age and the time the appointment requires – among other ‘ intelligent ’ rules built into the system . The system sends automatic reports to the scheduling team with those people who failed to book their appointment using the automated system . These patients will receive an appointment through a non-automated route , so patients who do not have access to the Internet will not be disadvantaged .
Dr Marius Grima , Consultant Paediatric Radiologist and Clinical Information Officer for UHNM , said : “ We hope to be able to expand this new way of working for the whole of the imaging department , including CT , MRI and ultrasound appointments . This will enable our scheduling teams to use their time more effectively , helping patients with complex needs . This really has been a massive team effort made up of clinicians , frontline staff , our IT team and our external partners . It is an example of what can be achieved when the agenda is patient-focused and when there is real skills-mix engagement . We hope to see a reduction in missed appointments by giving patients the choice to schedule their visit to our hospital at a time that is convenient for them at the onset of the booking process . More than 1,500 patients have booked an appointment using this process in the first few days of its launch .
“ Our imaging department is extremely busy . Every week before the pandemic , we scanned around 4,600 patients in X-ray , 1,800 in ultrasound , 1,500 in CT , 675 in MR and 550 in other imaging specialities . During the pandemic , we unfortunately had to reduce some of our services . Technologies like the RPA will help us become more efficient and ramp-up the number of patients we can scan , since the manual booking process is very time-consuming .”
TECHNOLOGIES LIKE THE
RPA WILL HELP US BECOME MORE EFFICIENT AND RAMP-UP THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS WE CAN SCAN , SINCE THE MANUAL BOOKING PROCESS IS VERY
TIME-CONSUMING .
operational service . It is the Trust ’ s most ambitious development yet with the robots and highlights the opportunities that can be achieved to deliver real benefits for patients and efficiencies for clinical services .” Andrew Fraser , Business Intelligence Manager at UHNM , said : “ This is our fifth automation and certainly the one which presented the most challenges . Working through these challenges with Digital Workforce and UHNM ’ s imaging and IM & T teams across the Trust has resulted in an automation we ’ re all proud of .”
Gavin Eardley , UHNM Modality Team Leader of Community X-Ray , said : “ This robotic process allows our patients the freedom to book their examination at a time convenient to them . This is positive for both the patient and the imaging department as it will help reduce patient waiting time and missed appointments . As a service lead , it enables me to manage our patient throughput , therefore ensuring patient safety and social distancing are maintained . This means the patient receives a better , faster , smoother service from referral to examination .” p
The process is part of a broader automation programme delivered by PSTG , a leading RPA provider with a powerful footprint within healthcare globally , in partnership with Digital Workforce . The partnership has become a technology solutions provider specialising in Digital Transformation within the NHS .
Juha Järvi , Head of Healthcare at Digital Workforce , said : “ The automation launched by UNHM is by far the most advanced and reimagines the way of working , combining digital and human work seamlessly , rather than just automating the old and existing way of working . I ’ m really looking forward to working with the Trust in the future .”
Heidi Poole , Deputy Director of IM & T at UHNM , said : “ This is a great initiative led by clinicians and the
www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO EUROPE 57