We have been hammering the keyboards and furiously typing over the last month or two to get the DrDoctor system ITK accredited by CfH and we're delighted to say that as of last week we are!
So what is it then? ITK is a set of standards to allow different healthcare systems to transfer data quickly and securely as events happen.
OK great, so how does that help you? Well, now as soon as someone in the hospital updates their appointment booking system we will know about it. So if they've decided to reschedule you we can send a warning as soon as this happens and you won't have to wait for them to print out a letter and post it to you (although you can still get those as well).
The ability to receive messages as soon as events happen, based on HL7, is a big boost to us. Now, without any admin overhead, we can automatically send updates or ask for feedback when you have been discharged. For the hospital, this takes the hassle out of hitting targets like the Friends and Family Test.
We don't want the world to waste time and effort repeating the same work so to do this we teamed up with our friends at Tactix4 and Black Pear to make this code open source. If you are a healthcare provider and would like to get ADT messages out of your PAS system using ITK then drop us a line and we'll be happy to help get you set up.
In short - quicker, faster and more efficient communication for all. Just what we stand for.