PROCARE MEDIA RELEASE
7 February 2006
ProCare GPs Offered Latest Software To Improve Patient Care
An innovative software tool, jointly developed by ProCare Health and MedTech Limited, will be rolled out to ProCare’s
Auckland-based medical practices early this year.
Called Patient Dashboard, it is an enhancement to MedTech32, a comprehensive practice management system designed by
MedTech Limited and used by 74 per cent of New Zealand general practitioners (GPs).
ProCare Health CEO Ron Hooton says Patient Dashboard provides GPs and their nurses with an easy-to-use electronic update
of a patient’s health status and is designed to improve management of their patients’ overall health.
“Patient Dashboard gives the clinician a snapshot of a patient on one computer screen. They can see at a glance what
medical measurements, such as blood pressure, they have for the patient, and what ProCare health programmes the patient
might be eligible for,” says Mr Hooton.
ProCare focuses on improving the health of the community by designing health programmes that support GPs and their
practice teams. While some of the programmes manage chronic conditions such as diabetes, others empower people to manage
their own health through programmes to stop smoking or increase fitness.
Mr Hooton says ProCare invests in up-to-date software to support these health programmes. “Patient Dashboard is the most
recent development, and follows on from the MedTech-designed Advanced Forms software tool, which was made available to
clinicians and management organisations last year to help them improve the efficiency of their claims processing,” he
says.
Patient Dashboard has been in pilot phase with 12 general practices since November 2005. The participating GPs have
provided feedback and their suggestions have been incorporated in the final design.
Mr Hooton says more software developments are in the pipeline so GPs affiliated to ProCare will continue to benefit from
high quality, health information technology (IT) systems to serve their patients.
“ProCare is a leader in combining modern medical practice and IT systems to improve patient outcomes,” he says.
MedTech General Manager Dr Lynn Taylor says, “This collaborative approach to software design has resulted in the
development of a highly valued primary care tool which meets the needs of both the clinicians and the management
organisations.”
“It is part of MedTech’s global vision to provide innovative healthcare solutions that enhance workflow management for
providers and facilitate integration across the healthcare sector,” says Dr Taylor
Patient Dashboard – how it works:
Patient Dashboard has been designed to provide triggers for the busy clinician. When the GP or practice nurse displays a
patient’s records on the computer screen, Patient Dashboard will indicate a red light if a clinical assessment, such as,
cardiovascular screening, is due. It will also indicate if important information, like blood pressure reading or NHI
number, is missing.
Patient Dashboard also alerts the clinician to a ProCare health programme the patient might be eligible for, such as
Cardiovascular Disease Management or Smoking Cessation. It can then link through to the appropriate Advanced Form for
the entry into the clinical programme.
The clinician is also reminded when a repeat health measure is due. For example, if a blood pressure recording exists
but is out of date, Patient Dashboard displays a yellow light. If the recording is current, a green light will be
displayed. A single click will take the clinician to a screen to enable the new blood pressure measurement to be
entered. The process is repeated for other health measurements, including weight, smoking status, cervical smear,
diabetes, mammography and cardiovascular disease.
ENDS