IT STARTED WITH A DESIRE TO MOVE BEYOND PAGERS
In 2017 CCHDB approached Mobile Mentor to assist them with moving beyond their legacy pager system. CCDHB wanted to use smartphones to access a clinical paging system that leverages modern communication and cloud technology. With Mobile Mentor’s help, CCDHB selected Blackberry’s AtHoc, a critical event management system and deployed it onto a dedicated fleet of iPhones.
IT’S NOW A FULLY FUNCTIONAL PAGING SYSTEM
In November 2020, HVDHB and WRDHB approached Mobile Mentor to assist with enabling them to join the CCDHB trusted AtHoc solution. To eliminate impacting those reliant on the solution at CCDHB, three new device profiles and a separate AtHoc instance were built in isolation for the two DHBs.
With the deployment of over 150 Samsung and 50 iPhone devices, the AtHoc enterprise solution is now fully operational for both shared and individual use cases at both the HVDHB and WRDHB. Clinicians are notified through the AtHoc solution rather than an antiquated paging system, and we are seeing pagers and non-smartphones retired.
Even more, the three health providers CCDHB, HVDHB and WRDHB are looking to merge their operations to create greater economies of scale. Clinicians get the same reliable, smartphone-based communications while the DHBs enjoy more efficient operations and save precious IT resources for more innovative projects.
But these smartphones are not just being used to replace pagers! By using smartphones, DHB employees have secure access to Microsoft Outlook, Teams, Kaizala, and more, as well as DHB-approved clinical apps.
Separately, the shared devices are handed between employees at the end of shifts. By replacing pagers, the clinicians no longer need to go looking for a desk phone to return a page as they are holding a phone in hand. Also, since the phones are handed off between shifts the on-call resource is holding the phone and can be contacted directly. In the past staff would be paged and return a call to an internal desk phone and someone would have to guard the phone and wait for the call.
This frees the AtHoc solution for pure emergency life-and-death situations. It means calls are not being made to staff who are off duty.
All this is made possible through modern device management.
Underneath the hood, the system is supported and managed through a technology called mobile device management (MDM). This technology allows the DHBs to manage all devices remotely. IT staff do not have to physically touch the smartphones to ‘prepare them’ with apps, security policies, and configurations. Any device in a user’s hand can be setup over the air through Wi-Fi or cellular connections leveraging the MDM – everything downloads behind the scenes once a user logs in.
REMOTE DEVICE MANAGEMENT IS HERE TO STAY
In recent years, modern device management has matured for Windows and Mac devices as well. The same remote management capabilities that have existed in iOS and Android for years are now available in Windows 10 and macOS devices. This means healthcare providers can use remote management for their entire fleet of devices, not just smartphones.
If you are interested in learning more about modern remote device management and how it can lower costs, increase security, and improve your employee experience, contact us today!
ABOUT DISTRICT HEALTH BOARDS
There are currently 20 DHBs in New Zealand. District health boards (DHBs) are responsible for providing or funding the provision of health services in their district. The New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000 created DHBs.
It sets out their objectives, which include:
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improving, promoting and protecting the health of people and communities
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promoting the integration of health services, especially primary and secondary care services
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seeking the optimum arrangement for the most effective and efficient delivery of health services in order to meet local, regional, and national needs
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promoting effective care or support of those in need of personal health services or disability support.
