Olivedale clinic streamlines patient handling

A software and hardware upgrade has enabled Randburg`s Olivedale Clinic to streamline patient handling, bolstering processing speed and increasing staff access to the system.

The clinic has run the Clinic Manager hospital administration package, supplied by Cape Town-based Pick value-added reseller Just Xperts, since its inception five years ago. The Olivedale is one of the country`s largest independent clinics.

Clinic Manager handles all administration associated with running a private hospital, as well as patient records, from the time that the patient enters the hospital until he or she is discharged. This includes admissions, bed bookings, billing, accounts and theatre charges.

An upgrade became necessary to provide additional disk space and to step up processing speed. The clinic admits several hundred patients each month, and the system handles about 40 000 transactions a month.

Danie van Tonder, IT manager at Guvon Investments and responsible for IT at the Olivedale, says: "The key benefit of the server upgrade is increased processing speed. In addition, the implementation of the D³ Pick database and a newer version of Unix has enhanced system functionality.

"Users can take advantage of improved links between the different components of the system. Simplified access to the database enables clinic staff to copy figures into spreadsheets, increasing the quality of management information available."

According to Van Tonder, Guvon opted for the Pick-based Clinic Manager primarily because of the user-friendly nature of the system. "Users can adapt the system to their requirements without any programming experience," he says.

"Even users with minimal IT experience can draw information from the Pick database to compile their own reports. In addition to very easy access to the database, extra fields can be added to programmes without requiring any additional programming."

Just Xperts director Stan Miller says that high transaction volumes and increasing user numbers meant that the system was "dragging its heels". A file server and Unix upgrade has delivered the processing speeds the clinic requires. The Pick database in operation is D3. Thirty-eight users are connected to the system via a combination of PCs and dumb terminals.

Just Xperts was recently acquired by Integrated Health Technologies and merged into Techknowledge Healthcare. The group specialises in the medical field, focusing on private hospitals, doctors and pharmacies.

Guvon Investments was a significant shareholder in the Olivedale Clinic. Clinic Manager is also in use in various other clinics in the Guvon stable including Lamprecht and Cango.