MidCentral targets bed management and patient flow challenges with Alcidion’s Miya Precision

About Te Whatu Ora MidCentral

Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora | Te Pae Hauora o Ruahine o Tararua | MidCentral (MidCentral) is located in the southern region of New Zealand’s North Island and serves approximately 190,000 people. Around 19% of the residents are aged 65 years or older and Māori make up over 22% of MidCentral’s population.

MidCentral covers several districts in the Manawatū region of New Zealand, including:

• Tararua & Horowhenua district
• Manawatū district
• Palmerston North city
• The Otaki ward of the Kapiti coast district

Data in disparate systems disrupts patient flow and compromises safety

At MidCentral, the team depended on nine different clinical information systems which could not provide a comprehensive, real-time view of patient data. This posed a challenge for clinicians in delivering efficient and precise care, thereby compromising patient safety.

The organisation recognised the importance of consolidating the information across these systems to improve both patient safety and the clinician experience. In 2018, MidCentral selected Alcidion’s FHIR-based Miya Precision platform to build an interoperable digital ecosystem capable of delivering real-time visualisation and insights to the care team.

Miya Precision provides clinicians with actionable insights for a safer and smarter deliver of care

MidCentral was the first healthcare organisation in the world to roll-out the Miya Precision platform, which provides health systems with a platform approach to accessing critical data assets without disrupting existing healthcare systems and operations.

The platform ensures real-time connectivity between FHIR and non-FHIR resources, which enables Miya to integrate with MidCentral’s nine clinical information systems, including WebPas, CareStream Radiology, Clinical Portal and Pathology.

Within this platform, three key modules—Miya Flow, Access, and Command—were deployed. Miya Flow and Access provides real-time patient flow information and bed management updates accessible via iPads at the bedside, workstations, and electronic patient journey boards installed in each ward. This has allowed clinicians to view a patient’s admission history, demographics, test results and more at the precise moment of care. Miya Command gives Managing Nurses a high-level overview of hospital bed occupancy in real-time, with the ability to drill down into individual departments and wards for more detailed insight.

“The information is displayed in an easy-to-read way and the system provides both charge nurses and leadership with the ability to see real-time updates on patient flow, which improves planning and ultimately ensures every patient is provided with the best care possible.”

–Rachael Timutimu, Operations Lead, Emergency Department and IOC, IOC Nurse Manager, Te Pae Hauora o Ruahine o Tararua | MidCentral

MidCentral has achieved significant time savings that keep the patient journey as smooth as possible

Since the implementation of Miya Precision, MidCentral staff have seen a noticeable improvement in bed allocation, smoother patient flow, and a more efficient allocation of hospital resources. Now that clinicians can view patient information, once scattered across various systems, in real-time and in a single view, they are better equipped to make the right care decisions, quickly, to improve patient outcomes. Staff can also quickly allocate the best beds for each individual patient, minimising wait times and keeping the patient journey as smooth as possible.

As noted in the MidCentral 2018/19 Annual Report, the implementation of the Miya Precision platform is a major step made towards enhancing patient flow:

“Bed management and patient flow is much more efficient following the implementation of the new digital Miya Precision platform. It gives real-time updates, showing a patient’s progress from the time they arrive to the time they’re discharged, as well as an overview of hospital occupancy.

Staff are able to securely view a current patient’s history, including admissions, demographics and results, and quickly view immediate bed availability in suitable wards, minimising waiting times and making a patient’s journey through the hospital as smooth as possible.

Decisions about patient care can be actioned immediately with the most up-to-date information available, meaning their care is better managed by reducing clinical risks, reducing wait times and keeping patients better informed about their progress and care.”

Midcentral moves to the cloud to unlock new benefits

In 2023, Palmerston North Hospital and Horowhenua Health Centre migrated from local, on-premises hosting of Miya Precision to the Alcidion Cloud-managed service, a first for Alcidion’s New Zealand customer base. This move to the cloud provides the district with greater flexibility to scale and adapt to meet evolving industry demands.

This migration was coupled with an upgrade of the Miya Precision platform, paving the way for future improvements with increased automation and smarter technology. As a result, MidCentral can realise even greater benefits, including enhanced operational efficiency, reduced administrative burdens, and ultimately, better patient outcomes. This upgrade and migration have already made it easier to implement and access the latest features, providing a modern user interface that assists clinical teams in data input while offering improved visibility of patient information. As part of an optimisation project post-upgrade, Alcidion worked with MidCentral to implement a number of additional features and configurations, to ensure maximum value from the Miya platform continues to be realised by MidCentral.

 “We first adopted Miya Precision in 2018. This upgrade has provided us an opportunity to refresh and redefine our platform utilisation. With the increased visibility and ease of access to the data, we are able to make improvements in all aspects of the patient journey.  We are excited about our ongoing partnership with Alcidion and the positive impact this solution, along with future enhancements, will have on improving the patient experience.”

– Sarah Donnelly, System Flow Clinical Coordinator – Te Whatu Ora Te Pae Hauora o Ruahine o Tararua|MidCentral