Health

How Important Is Your Student Healthcare?

There are quite a few school management information and database systems available which can record students’ health records.

Many of them are, of course, excellent.  But hidden within some of these systems is a potential risk, for they are part of a broader system which holds a wide range of information.

By its nature, such systems need to be accessible to a wide range of staff, and this can of course lead to sensitive information being shared outside of those who, for the purpose of their job, do need to have access to this information.

Given this potential problem, and the complication that health records should be stored until the student reaches the age of 25, we have worked with a number of school health professionals to develop a stand-alone product that is able to import data from a variety of MIS systems.

The result is Patient Tracker.  Because it is independent of any MIS system changes you might make, and as there is no annual licensing charge (only an optional maintenance and support charge), you can continue using the system for as long as required with no budget impact.

Training on Patient Tracker is given by practising school nurses, meaning practical advice related to the school situation is available and implementation becomes very easy.

Patient Tracker produces a selection of reports, including a number of statistical reports which are anonymous and so can be circulated.  In addition, the system includes a module that allows teaching staff to see who is booked into the medical facility and also who has an “off games” slip.

Vaccination records, BMI Calculation, Care Plans, medicine and consumable stock management, appointment management and document links are all included, as is a reminder system for adrenaline and asthma device expiry.

Many schools also store staff and visitor medical records on Patient Tracker, meaning that details of illness or injury to visitors and staff can be stored and reported on (separately if desired).

Key Points

  • Data securely stored on your network – not on the web.
  • Easy to use.
  • Continuity of care.
  • Care plans.
  • Inoculation tracking.
  • Statistical reports (e.g. how many sports injuries).
  • Training and assistance from registered school nurses.
  • Can link to external documents on your network.
  • Established UK wide user base.
  • Locally executed – no dependency on external parties.

Functionality / Features

MANAGE INDIVIDUALS LOGINS
Control which users can access which forms and year groups.  For example, junior school nurses can’t see senior school students unless allowed.  These permissions can be easily altered by the nurse designated as the system manager or “Super User”.

COMPREHENSIVE REPORTING
Patient Tracker offers a variety of reports – summarised, detailed and anonymous for Governors and your SLT. Reports are delivered using the included Crystal Reports module, which in addition to a great presentation format also allows you to export report data to PDF, Word, Excel and various other formats making reports easy to store and email.

SYSTEM SECURITY
Patient Tracker uses Microsoft recommended encryption techniques. In addition, data can only be accessed from machines with the application loaded and configured, and with the user’s login credentials. More importantly, your data is stored within your own network so is not accessible from the internet, and you are not dependent on any third parties to store and deliver your information.

COMMUNICATE EASILY
With built in email support, consultations and incidents can be directly reported to parents, as well as any other required party. The email module also allows you to add a note to the recipients and to attach any other relevant electronic documentation.

ATTENDANCE VIEWER
Included in the standard package is a separate module that will allow selected users on your network to view basic details on who has been booked in to the Medical Centre as well as who has been booked off games by the nurses. This module reflects attendance, discharge, discharge notes and who the student was discharged to.

REDUCE PAPERWORK
Many of Patient Tracker’s users have reported back to us that they have shredded all paper records. With the comprehensive level of data stored, as well as the ability to link to documents on your network, most written requirements fall away.

MEDICINE AND STOCK MANAGEMENT
Patient Tracker includes a simple stock system to manage medicines and materials such as bandages. Stock can be booked in, and reports can be generated for stock take and also to view where stock is being used.

REMINDERS
Inhaler and adrenaline pen expiry dates are recorded and reminder reports run to prompt renewal.

HEIGHT/WEIGHT AND BMI
The height to weight graphs give an excellent indication of the child’s development, and BMI is calculated and shown based on the latest measurements.

What do we need to run Patient Tracker?

A Windows PC is all that’s required, however in larger installations (we have some schools with over a dozen licenses) you would probably store the data on a central (MS-SQL) server.

If you would like to learn more about Patient Tracker we would be delighted to answer your questions – please email sales@patienttracker.co.uk, or call us on 01438 241085/07876 241263.  Or you can visit http://www.patienttracker.co.uk.

Please mention code HAM2016 when responding to this correspondence.

A fully functional demonstration (limited to 45 days) is available if you would like to try Patient Tracker live in your school.

Our nurses tell us that they have had great reviews from Ofsted when their Medical Facility has been visited.

Best wishes,

Dave Fox
Patient Tracker