There are still many mental health care organisations in the Netherlands that send and receive lab orders on paper. Besides the fact that this is of course no longer really up to date, it also entails various risks and challenges. A paper process is not only slow, but is also easy to disrupt: a paper form can be lost, it is not clear who has had access to it (or even who modified the form) and it is also not sustainable. In addition, with a digital process, the feedback of results can be better linked to the request.
Enough reasons to digitalise the process - but how do you tackle this? We share the different phases of such a project with you, so that you are well prepared.
Good preparation is half the battle
Good preparation by your mental health care organisation will ensure that the project runs as smoothly as possible.
We recommend taking the following steps early in the process:
MAPPING INTERNAL PROCESSES
Engage with both your IT people and the people on the shop floor to document the current process. Think about questions such as:- Who creates lab orders for you? Does the practitioner do this themselves or is this delegated? And is this the same for all lab orders? For example, urine samples are sometimes requested via a different process.
- Are samples taken internally at your organisation or externally? Can material also be taken from the patient's home? Do the labs operate by appointment or is there free access?
- Which laboratories do you work with? Are there agreements about which kinds of tests can be ordered from which lab?
- Do you use protocols (also known as: medication monitoring) for recurring lab orders? If so, who is responsible for checking the content of these protocols?
- Have agreements been made about order sets (a selection of determinations for specific scenarios)? If so, record these.
- How is the patient currently informed about his or her lab order?
- Who needs access to lab orders and results? Is this only the practitioners themselves or do other team members require access as well?
COORDINATION WITH THE LABORATORIES
Also contact the laboratories in a timely manner to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that your wishes can be accommodated in the process.
YOUR PROJECT GROUP
Set up a project group with the necessary disciplines. Often a project group for digitalising the lab order process consists of at least an information manager and a functional admin. Also make sure that you involve the shop floor in time! They know the flow of their work processes best and know what challenges and exceptions they have to deal with.
Also consider which people within your organisation are suitable as internal ambassadors for the project. These are people (often from the shop floor) who you involve in the project at an early stage and who can bring the worlds of care and IT together based on their interest. Ideal people for this are colleagues who are good at seeing the big picture and can convey their enthusiasm for the project to others.
CHANGE management
Of course, every change costs energy. People are used to a certain way of working and will also perform many actions on autopilot. Make sure you make a plan for change management. The internal ambassadors can play an important role in this. Make sure that the benefits for both your colleagues and the patients are clear and communicate this several times and via various channels - both in the run-up to the go-live and afterwards.
MAKING CHOICES
Then it is time to make choices based on the information collected: what kind of solution do you need, what requirements should this solution meet? Based on these requirements you can make a good choice for a supplier / software.
Please note that our solution, Lab24, is very flexible. The module has various optional configuration options. We would like to talk to you in this phase to see which components and methods fit your organisation.
ActION! two kick-offs
When your organisation has chosen to implement Lab24, you will then be assigned a CODE24 consultant. This consultant will guide you through the digitalisation process and prepare the module setup for you.
Time for action! The consultant plans a kick-off with your project group. In addition to getting to know each other, this is the time to discuss the project thoroughly. How often will you meet? What does the timeline look like? In addition, information is already being collected for the setup: which login method does your team want to use to log in? How do the information flows between the systems run?
A second kick-off is planned between the consultant, the laboratories and (part of) the project group of your organisation. During this kick-off, information is gathered that is necessary for the further setup. Think of setting up a secure connection for the communication flows between the lab and your mental health organisation, discussing which exchange standards are used (often this is HL7 or Edifact) and which mappings need to be made. Additionally, each lab has its own codes for the samples and tests that they can process - these need to be mapped.
If the lab already has experience with digital lab orders, it is often a matter of getting the above information and configuring everything for collaboration with your mental health organisation. If they do not have this experience, it becomes more complex - the processes will also need to be configured from scratch on the lab side.
ARCHITECTURE
After signing the contract, we will ensure that a SaaS environment is set up for you, with an mConsole installation on it in which Lab24 can run.
After the initial kick-offs, your CODE24 consultant can start working on the setup in this environment. All discussed work processes are set up in Lab24. If all information is known and everything has been thought out and coordinated in time, the setup can be ready within a month. Please note: this is relatively rare! Even during the kick-offs, issues and processes often come to light that need to be investigated before our consultant can continue.
TeSTING, TESTING, TESTING…
Of course, all processes are continuously tested by the consultant during the setup. However, there is also a specific test phase after the setup phase, in which your organisation itself will go through the whole thing properly. Any findings are immediately picked up with our consultant, so that we can plan the go-live with a good feeling.
E-learning
We recommend that your admins complete our Lab24 e-learning courses as early as possible (this also helps during the project), but the final deadline for this is before the go-live. It is important that your own admins are comfortable with the product before go-live.
Big bang oR PHASED?
There are two ‘flavours’ for the go-live: a big bang go-live or a phased one. With a big bang go-live the entire organisation goes live at once, with a phased go-live this is done per clinic or a pilot is done first.
Often this is decided during the course of the project rather than in advance: sometimes unforeseen technical challenges arise, for example in the area of change management / adoption of the new process, which makes a phased rollout feel safer.
Both options have their merits - what works best depends on your organisation and the timing.
Live!
Hooray, Lab24 is live and your lab order process has been successfully digitalised! We evaluate the project and celebrate this great step in future-proofing the processes within your organisation.
Even after going live, CODE24 will remain your partner for this process - you will still have regular contact with your account manager at our company and/or your consultant, for example to address additional requests or configuration changes, or to discuss the further development of the product.
WANT TO WORK WITH US?
Is your organisation ready to digitalise your lab order process and would you like to start the project discussed in this article together with us? Then we would like to hear from you!
