MPS MediSphere

The Australian Aged Care industry has faced many challenges in recent decades, including an ageing population, increased demand for support services, sub-standard care, and an under-resourced workforce. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety identified many opportunities for reform and a high priority item for aged care facilities will be the introduction of EMM systems that include electronic medication charts, a prescribing system for GPs and a medication administration system for nurses. Blitzm was engaged to develop a modern, user-friendly EMM system, which enforces compliance with clinical best practices and incorporates stringent traceability, user management and system security.

Blitzm collaborated with MPS to identify many innovation opportunities, such as; an industry-first solution to improve the management of medication patches; sophisticated syringe driver management; and an industry-first integration with PainChek® (a regulatory cleared medical device for effective pain management and treatment). MediSphere enables nurses to do their medication administration and other nursing tasks more efficiently and effectively. The application is so intuitive, that facilities have reported new users can train themselves. This is a huge benefit in an industry with a large number of temporary and casual workers. MediSphere is compliant with Aged Care Standards and the Privacy Act.

MediSphere will significantly impact residents in aged care facilities by reducing the risk of medication management related incidents, especially in relation to blood sugar and patch management, which are responsible for 87% of medication incidents in aged care. Safety is improved by enforcing protocols for insulin administration (such as the measurement and graphing of Blood Glucose Levels), and patient dignity and safety are maintained with an avatar that aids nurses when applying patches (preventing incidents like overdoses, which can occur if a patch is placed incorrectly). A 24-hour administration display makes it very clear if medication has been missed.

MediSphere is a Cloud-based system, delivered via a persistent web application with offline functionality. Offline capability ensures the application works effectively in facilities that often experience areas with poor or no connectivity. An industry-first clock face design displays 24 hours of medication management, placing the resident at the centre of their own care. Syringe driver management enforces strict protocols when administering continuously prescribed medication (i.e. a drip), such as two nurses being present (one to administer, one to check) and that detailed medication data is recorded. User actions are recorded in real-time, maintaining traceability and ensuring the effective management of medication rounds. MediSphere is integrated with the MPS central patient and drug management system that facilitates interconnecting doctors, pharmacies and healthcare facilities. PowerBi is integrated to provide dynamic reporting and data visualisation for facility management (reporting, audit logs, analytics and benchmarking). A user access management system supports flexible authorisation rules including customisable permissions, groups, or roles, as well as flexible authorisation scopes. This has a large impact on the complex task of managing employees with a range of permissions (i.e. only some nurses are able to administer medicine, with controlled medication requiring senior nurses and/or double signing).