The growing popularity of role-based messaging in Victoria
Catholic Mercy Health is testing a role-based messaging platform at two of its hospitals in Victoria.
In a statement, the healthcare provider said it will roll out Baret, a mobile application on Microsoft Teams developed by FiveP. The messaging solution makes this possible closed, structured communication between hospital staff.
WHY IT MATTERS
Dr. Oliver Daly, director of medical services at one of Mercy Health’s hospitals, Werribee Mercy Hospital, said they chose Baret because of its role-based messaging functionality where “tasks are associated with the role, not the person.”
Its “simplicity” was another deciding factor, he said. “Health professionals don’t want communication tools to get in the way of doing their job. If you give them too much choice, it gets in the way.”
“By using Teams, Baret lets you find someone to call based on their role, right from the app. It means you don’t have to have someone’s phone number.” This is possible because the app consolidates information about individual employees and their roles into one comprehensive database.
Dr. Daly noted how Baret also “minimizes the number of choices for clinical communication task types within the app.”
Other features that appealed to Mercy Health included the clinical photography feature, the ability to integrate with scheduling systems, including live scheduling systems, and identity management.
The healthcare organization is now looking forward to it Integrate Baret into its clinical workflows.
THE BIG TREND
Mercy Health was also attracted to Baret because it was a solution initially developed for Austin Health, another hospital in Victoria. During the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare provider needed a solution to streamline communication between staff performing the same clinical role within a day. The app is now used by approximately 6,000 users and 165 clinical teams in 24/7 healthcare settings at Austin Health.
Another major healthcare service in Victoria, Monash Health has adopted Baret across its five hospitals.
Baret is now FiveP’s standalone company after recently divesting its Microsoft Business Applications business to financial consultancy Findex. The sale comes as the company looks to enter the Asia-Pacific and United States markets this year.
ON THE RECORD
“Hospitals are the most complex organizations in the world. There are so many different teams doing so many different things in a wide variety of environments. Team members must convey critical information to each other. That’s where role-based communication comes in. Duties are associated with the role, not the person,” says Dr. Daly.
“It’s almost about simplifying and thought-out processes. At Baret everything just works and you don’t have to think about it. That’s where we want to go with our clinical communication.”