Gloucestershire Hospitals NHSFT has gone live with a clinical desktop using the combination of Citrix and IGEL, with an Imprivata layer to provide single sign on (SSO) and multi-factor authentication (MFA). The combined solution, called ‘Follow Me Desktop’, has been rolled out across both the Trust’s hospitals and its maternity unit, covering 45 inpatient wards and 22 operating theatres. The success of the project, which provides ‘tap and go’ access for clinicians as they participate in clinical workflows, has resulted in the solution being extended so that the desktop has been updated to include further clinical applications including electronic prescriptions and medicines administration (EPMA). The solution also reduces the need for expensive PCs, Windows user licences and the imperative to apply system and security updates device by device.
Dr. Thomas Mitchell, Emergency Department Consultant, ED IT and EPR Lead, Clinical Medical Information Officer, Gloucester Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said, “Small wins matter. From our SEDIT report we know that if we can reduce our IT burden by 1 minute per patient across our Emergency Departments, we will release 310 x 8hr shifts per year.”
The new solution from Citrix, IGEL and Imprivata gives clinicians the benefits of fast access to patient information, even while moving between departments or hospitals, as well as providing strong security and enabling the IT department to manage user licences more cost effectively.
At the start of a shift the clinician’s initial logon requires a proximity card and PIN combination. This creates a virtual desktop session where any subsequent access to this session, within 2 hours of the initial logon, requires just a badge tap on any similarly configured device across both hospitals. Previously, in the emergency department, staff needed to log on to multiple devices to access information and enter updates before returning to focus on patient care. This resulted in repeated automatic timeouts from clinical systems and the need to log in on a continual basis.
The simplification and speed of access to the systems used in clinical workflows resulted in a highly positive response from clinicians who have seen a greatly improved user experience. This has also enhanced the acceptance and adoption of the new Sunrise EPR.
The flexibility of the Citrix/IGEL/Imprivata elements means that varied configurations have been adopted to address differing needs through the organisation such as in specialised environments.
Third party devices used in more demanding areas, such as the Cybernet medical PCs in the operating theatres, and Dell Toughbooks used in pharmacy rooms (typically cramped conditions with spills likely), are running the IGEL OS, with Windows removed for more robust security. With Imprivata embedded into IGEL OS these devices work in the same way as the regular IGEL hardware, giving clinicians the same user experience of fast access to clinical systems and data.
The adoption of the solution has meant that IT management and administration burdens have been greatly reduced. The number of support calls is significantly lower, facilitated by the common look and feel across systems and Imprivata’s self-service password reset capability. Software installs and updates are now all completed centrally and remotely pushed out to the 1,400 IGEL devices throughout the organisation.
Matt Thompson, Digital Solutions Lead at Gloucester Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said, “The combination of IGEL/Imprivata/Citrix creates an environment that significantly simplifies systems management. Centralised management and reporting requires fewer human resources. A single person can deploy updates to all devices centrally and respond to reports and statistics without relying on third-party applications or word-of-mouth feedback from end users.”
