YOUR MIDWIFERY BUSINESS
Why technology is the midwife’s friend WAYNE ROBERTSON EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MMPO
The emergence of Covid-19 has led to massive changes in the way people work and for health professionals the way in which care is provided. In particular, two common themes have emerged: An increase in the use of digital applications, tools, and skills, and an increase in the number of people working from home. DIGITAL APPLICATIONS, TOOLS AND SKILLS From the outset of the pandemic response the use of digital applications such as Zoom and Microsoft 365 quickly grew together with an unprecedented increase in the use of devices and the internet. Even more apparent was the urgent development and growth in digital skills for meetings, presentations, consulting and just managing multiple digital applications simultaneously. Personal and face to face interaction was restricted and people were confined to their home environments, reducing travel time. When looking at technology and its use we should always be considering the balance between the expected benefits and the tradeoffs... will it help me to be more effective or maybe improve quality or efficiency? The inherent ability of technology to help share information with anyone, anywhere in real time is invaluable. Sometimes efficiency gains are made when the process, output or the outcome is standard, exact and can be automated like basic administration and business tasks. Electronic Section 88 claiming and business accounting and record keeping (Xero) have been made easier by digital technology and
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solutions as have scheduling, electronic referrals and prescriptions, digital maps, and digital connections (video conferencing and messaging).
of time) and challenges (decreased human interaction, challenges with body language and emotional intelligence insights) and how these can be balanced for the future.
Using digital solutions (Tiaki and Xero, see below) in these situations makes complete sense and especially in situations such as the Covid-19 response where there are restrictions on physical contact and changes to usual working conditions.
Speech to text applications are interesting and also becoming more prevalent although these do come with a warning label including the risk of imprecise and false understandings, questions about data security for health records and privacy requirements. Further work is required here on how to best utilise this type of technology.
For community midwives, how you think about and use digital technology is not always as clear cut. The ability to observe, record easily and in a timely way is important but also critical is how you document your soft midwifery skills and insights to contextualise visits (both physical and virtual) and discussions (using many different modes, mediums and devices). This information supports the overall factual record of the pregnancy, your relationship with the woman, and meets your professional requirements. The MMPO is 100% confident that the MIS is as closely aligned to these professional documentation requirements as possible. Virtual consultations (invaluable in situations where physical restrictions are imposed) require further reflection and consideration around the benefits (easier real time connections, less travel and better use
Legislation around health data and information directs the community midwife to meet various security and privacy (including informed consent) requirements. It also requires that the health data and information must be properly stored, protected and able to be retrieved for a 10-year period. At the MMPO we already offer comprehensive digital responses to support community midwives and are committed to continuing to design, develop and build better answers to these challenges. TIAKI Tiaki, released late last year, has built in functionality for scheduling, electronic referrals and prescribing, virtual meetings (practice) and consults and the ability to
