Occupational Therapy News OTnews April 2019 | Page 39

Q&A FEATURE
A good example of this in practice is the adoption of electronic patient
records. We need to be thinking about which technologies we are using to
support practice, for example people providing digital pictures of the home
environment, and how these can be stored and shared with all professionals
involved in someone’s health and care through the electronic records.
OTnews: Why is health informatics important to occupational
therapists?
SE: Thinking broadly about data, we need access to a wide range of data from
other services and professionals to be able to deliver safe health and care. This
includes other professionals involved in a person’s health and care, as well as
access to the assessments and interventions that have been carried out.
Access to this data in real time will prevent repetition and improve clinical
safety, with a much stronger focus on collaboration with the person and other
professionals involved.
OTnews: What are some of the challenges with digitalising services?
SE: While access to information is useful, it is important that this information is
structured. It is thought that about 80 per cent of data that flows thorough the
health and care system is unstructured. For occupational therapists, this could
include information that is recorded in free text boxes within electronic records, in
addition to information that has been scanned into records.
It doesn’t mean that this information is useless, it is just important to think
about whether other people can locate your information within records, as well
as whether your data is coded in a way that can be analysed as part of service
evaluations, clinical audit and research.
Another real challenge for some occupational therapists is access to electronic
records and tools that support their work, whether that be about Wifi/mobile
connection, or access to a device.
OTnews: Who are the key people occupational therapists should be
talking to?
SE: Some of the roles you will hear about are digital champions, eAHPs , chief
clinical information officers (CCIO) and chief information officers (CIO).
An eAHP is a local digital champion who is acting as a translator between
local AHP services and information and technology teams. They have a key role
in translating what AHP services do so that information and technology teams
can tailor, for example electronic records, to suit the needs of AHP services.
eAHPs can also help local teams with thinking about digital ways of
transforming services and support training programmes for staff.
Both CCIO’s and CIO’s have a strategic role in overseeing digital
transformation projects within organisations. They work closely with a range of
stakeholders in health and care which include clinical staff, for example digital
champions, information and technology teams and partner organisations.
There are many AHPs in these roles, as well as at a national level, which
demonstrates that health informatics is opening up new career pathways for
occupational therapists
OTnews: How can occupational therapists get involved with digital
transformation projects?
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SE: Within every local team it is important to identify a digital champion. These
champions are often hobbyists with an interest in technology. For me, I was
interested in how to facilitate learning online and have practised using Facebook
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