Paul Johnson
Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Radar Healthcare
Health and social care settings can use integrated technology to reduce their administrative burdens, improve the morale of staff and provide better outcomes for patients.
Paul Johnson, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Radar Healthcare, is a big believer in technology — especially when it can be used to create efficiencies in healthcare settings. However, he stresses the importance of selecting the right technology and employing it correctly.
Why use integrated health technology?
“Technology providers have to ask themselves: ‘What type of problem are we trying to solve?” he explains. “In our case, we’re all about making it easier for people to deliver great care and ensure better outcomes for patients and residents. That’s it. That’s the reason. There’s absolutely no point in using technology just for the sake of it. It must perform a task that makes a real impact and does it in a simple, effective and user-friendly way.”
Bringing systems and data together for increased efficiency
This rationale is what underpins Radar Healthcare’s integrated software, seamlessly combining incident and risk management, compliance, and learning. Developed in 2012, the software is widely used by NHS Trusts, private healthcare organisations, care homes, clinics, pharmacies, dentists, and beyond.
“This is a single system with integrated modules that help underpin the fundamentals for any healthcare organisation,” says Johnson. “Its capabilities include incident management, action and improvement plans, risk management, analytics and reporting, audit management and workforce compliance.”
The platform brings disparate systems, data and people together to drive efficiencies; automate workflows and task management; assist healthcare professionals in decision-making; and aggregate patient data for risk oversight.
There’s absolutely no point in using technology
just for the sake of it. It must perform a task that
makes a real impact and does it in a simple,
effective and user-friendly way.
Data enabling planning solutions and patient safety
Crucially, the system seamlessly integrates with electronic patient records (EPRs) and care planning software. Frontline teams can act on adverse patient events through their EPR/care planning solution, automatically triggering the right workflow in Radar Healthcare. “EPRs are a wealth of information and analysis,” says Johnson.
“The interoperability of our system means that it can pull out any data from a patient’s EPR that is relevant to the particular, adverse event they have experienced. This reduces the time to act after an incident has occurred, reduces errors from recurring events and gives healthcare organisations an accurate view as to whether they are delivering safe outcomes for their patients and service users.”
The technology, gathering diverse information, identifies patterns that may signal broader issues, enabling proactive healthcare measures. “Ultimately, better learning is an essential part of what we are trying to achieve,” says Johnson.
“Using the principles of the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and piloting this innovation in what we believe to be world-first is something we’re incredibly proud of. As we know this will enable the implementation of changes, which have the potential to reduce adverse events and, so, improve patient safety.”
Technology can reduce administration and empower staff
It also improves staff morale. “The most obvious way technology does this is by making healthcare professionals more efficient,” notes Johnson. “When healthcare workers aren’t burdened by administration, they have more time to dedicate to the job they’re passionate about. Also, if innovations help an organisation become outstanding, staff will feel a sense of pride in their association with it. This increased sense of empowerment and engagement contributes to lower employee attrition rates.”
Recently, Radar Healthcare partnered on a technology project with Innovate UK — the UK’s national innovation agency. “We recognise a lack of tech connectivity within senior and elderly care settings,” Johnson says.
Part of this project was how IoT (Internet of Things) could be utilised in a care environment. He adds: “If IoT devices, patient wearables and care management systems can become truly interoperable, then it will give residents and service users greater independence and a better quality of life. For example: using connected patient wearable technology to mitigate falls. Ultimately, it’s about creating technology that can move the needle for healthcare organisations, their staff and the patients they serve.”
