The Mid Ulster Clinic prioritises patient safety with paperless communication

The Mid Ulster Clinic is a multidisciplinary private medical service based in Northern Ireland, with general surgery, gynaecology, counselling, ENT, dermatology and more.

Ciara McGrath is the Practice Manager for The Mid Ulster Clinic. They have been using Semble for nine months.

The challenge: Manual communication & printed documents increasing risk of lost patient paperwork

Before implementing Semble, Mid Ulster Clinic faced significant operational challenges due to the lack of automation and integration in their systems. Their workflow relied heavily on printed documentation, including lab results and patient queries, which were manually added to piles for clinicians to review during their next office visit.

This manual process was both time-consuming and risk-prone, increasing the chances of paperwork being misplaced and causing delays in patient care.

“It saves us a lot of time. I could be scanning for up to 90 minutes a day. That’s a lot of admin time we just don’t have. Then notes could be sitting for weeks if we’re too busy. Now, everything is done within the system. On busy days it saves us well over an hour.”

“There were bits of paper that could have gone missing. We needed something safer, something that allowed us to send paperwork digitally to reduce risk and get doctors to respond more efficiently.”

As the clinic expanded, this manual system became unsustainable. The need for a more reliable, secure, and efficient way to manage patient data became a priority to ensure timely responses from clinicians and to improve patient safety.

The solution: Tasks and paperless communications improve patient safety and clinic efficiency

Mid Ulster Clinic transitioned to Semble to address their growing needs and move towards a paperless environment. With Semble, all documents are stored securely within the system, and its integrations ensure that critical patient information, such as lab results, is fed directly back into the system in real time.

This seamless integration allowed the clinic to eliminate the risk of human error and ensure faster, more accurate responses from their medical professionals.

“The fact that there’s an option for patient results to come back directly means we can link to multiple lab providers through Semble. This is really useful because it means I don’t miss anything – if I’m manually looking for results, there’s always the chance for human error, I could potentially miss one.”

Additionally, the clinic’s team utilises Semble’s task management function to monitor and track the completion of tasks assigned to doctors, ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks. The system’s remote accessibility allows staff to monitor tasks from anywhere, streamlining communication and care coordination.

“The clinical staff can check what tasks are outstanding or what’s been added, which really helps us provide patient-centred care. And from my side, it’s better because I can see which tasks have been completed in real time.”

“The patient journey from start to finish can be completed through Semble. And as staff, we can communicate over Semble. And that’s made for a much smoother patient process.”

Improving Patient Safety

For Mid Ulster, patient safety is a critical factor, and this task visibility has proven invaluable in achieving this goal. The ability to track task completion in real time reduces the likelihood of missed steps or repeated actions, providing an additional layer of security for patients.

“We find it’s much safer for the patient - the patient safety aspect is the most important thing. If I’ve tasked a doctor to do something, I can see when it’s been accessed and sent back to me, so I can follow up on it. It means queries aren’t being printed out three or four times and given to the doctor.”

Saving time & efficiency

The transition to Semble not only improved patient safety but also streamlined administrative processes. By moving to a digital system, the clinic significantly reduced the amount of time spent printing, scanning, and manually uploading notes. This saved the administrative team substantial time each day, which they could redirect to more critical tasks.

“We don’t get as many recurring queries about the same thing. We’re not constantly printing out the same queries for the doctor. And we’re a busy clinic; we have different admin on the desk at different times. So if the patient calls a few times, the task is sitting on the portal and we’re all aligned with where it’s at, it’s a more consistent service. You’re going to get the same information no matter how many times you call.”

Before Semble, admin staff could spend up to over one hour each day scanning and uploading documents. Now, with everything handled within the system, this process has been simplified and expedited.

“It saves us a lot of time. I could be scanning for up to 90 minutes a day. That’s a lot of admin time we just don’t have – the phones are busy and patients are coming through the door. Then notes could be sitting for weeks if we’re too busy. Now everything is done within the system. On busy days it saves us well over an hour.”

Enhancing the clinician’s workflow

Semble has also introduced tools that further enhance patient safety and streamline workflows for GPs at Mid Ulster. Features like medication warning labels and integration with SNOMED allow clinicians to quickly select symptoms from a dropdown menu, minimising errors and improving the accuracy of documentation.

“It’s the ease of access for the doctors. They only have to start typing symptoms and then just click the one they need. It’s very user friendly.”

This efficiency in documentation and the ability to access results and information instantly means clinicians are better equipped to provide a more seamless and safer patient experience.

“We want to make sure it’s the best possible service for them. The patient journey from start to finish can be completed through Semble. And as staff, we don’t have to run around the practice trying to make sure everything’s been completed for that patient. We can communicate over Semble. And that’s made for a much smoother patient process.”