Medical IT firms have a tough act to follow


1 Jul 2008

Companies entering the ‘Best Use of Information Technology’ category in this year’s Irish Healthcare Awards will have to come up with something special to equal the innovative ‘Rate my Flow’ project, which won the award for Nycomed last year.

The Irish Medical Timestoday called for entries to the awards, which will take place on 16 October 2008. The closing date for entries is 8 August 2008.

The ‘Best Use of Information Technology’ category recognises excellence and innovation in healthcare communications. The judging criteria for this category is the use of healthcare IT in improving efficiencies in the health service and the implementation of technology systems that deliver better patient care.

Rate my Flow is a healthcare solution tailored to deliver numeric feedback and disease education to young asthma patients. Patients were given access to personalised patient webpages on the website ratemyflow.ie, which allowed them to enter and monitor their peak flow.

Nycomed felt it was as important for an asthmatic patient to regularly measure their peak flow as it was for a diabetic to measure their glucose levels. This was done by presenting patients with a patient support booklet from their GP, including an electronic peak-flow monitor and a CD which could be slotted into their personal computers.

The judges were impressed with the fact this particular educational tool assisted young people in monitoring their asthma without parental involvement to ensure compliance was improved on in this difficult-to-manage group.

For more information on the awards, contact Dylan Conway, t: 01 817 6330 or email: Dylan.conway@imt.ie

By Sorcha Corcoran