News

Netcare’s innovative use of digital technology through the development and implementation of a primary healthcare electronic medical records system in Netcare Medicross facilities has earned the title of overall winner in the private sector category of the BCX Digital Innovation Awards. 

The winners of the prestigious awards were announced at an event held in Johannesburg earlier this month, celebrating the crème de la crème of successful South African digital breakthroughs. The BCX Digital Innovation Awards shine a spotlight on excellence in the ground-breaking use of technology in the corporate, small, and medium enterprises [SME] and public sector categories.

 

Netcare Digital, a company jointly owned by Netcare and A2D24, was named the overall winner in the corporate category and rated the highest across all evaluation criteria for developing the Heal Electronic Medical Record platform.  “This award acknowledges the hard work our teams with A2D24 have put into developing our electronic medical records system for Netcare Medicross and reflects the clear and substantial benefits of this pioneering technology stack for primary healthcare,” says Travis Dewing, chief information officer of Netcare. Heal enables clinicians practising at Netcare Medicross primary healthcare facilities to digitally capture accurate and comprehensive clinical notes in a small fraction of the time it takes to complete the necessary paperwork manually. With one click technology, doctors and dentists can easily capture digital notes that are securely stored electronically, and prescriptions and dosages are automatically checked for medication safety and patient-specific factors such as interactions and allergies as an added layer of protection. “We are committed to using technology to help improve healthcare in South Africa, and feel privileged to have had the opportunity to work with Netcare to develop Heal,” says Muhammad Simjee, chief executive officer of A2D24. With user-led design, Heal integrates elements of artificial intelligence (AI), serverless architecture, machine learning, natural language processing, and react user interface, and was developed for scalability, flexibility, increasing automating workflow and efficiency that gets progressively smarter and more effective over time.

 

“Every day, Heal is significantly enhancing the quality of care provided to our patients while alleviating time consuming administrative burdens for our doctors, dentists and allied practitioners,” says Dr Billyy van der Merwe, managing director of the Primary Care Division.

“So far, Heal has been used to complete some two million medical consultations this year and has been successfully implemented in over 100 primary healthcare facilities, setting a new standard in practice management efficiency and an added layer of care and protection for the patients we serve.
 
“This BCX Digital Innovation Award further strengthens our conviction that digital efficiency is the future of health and care. In the primary healthcare context, this allows us to serve patients better and makes private healthcare more convenient, effective and affordable,” Dr Van der Merwe concludes. 

Ends

Notes to editor 
Looking for a medical appointment? Netcare appointmed™ will make appointments for YOU with specialists practising at Netcare hospitals, GPs and dentists at Netcare Medicross medical and dental centres, and specialists at Netcare Akeso mental health facilities. Simply request an appointment online at www.netcare.co.za/Request-a-medical-appointment or phone Netcare appointmed™  on 0860 555 565, Mondays to Fridays between 08:00 and 17:00.
 
To find out more about the services offered through Netcare hospitals and other of the Group’s facilities, please visit www.netcare.co.za or contact the Netcare customer service centre either by email at [email protected] or phone 0860 NETCARE (0860 638 2273). Note that the centre operates Mondays to Fridays from 08:00 to 16:00.
 
For media enquiries, contact MNA at the contact details listed below.
 
Issued by:   MNA on behalf of Netcare Digital and Netcare Medicross
For media enquiries contact:    Martina Nicholson, Meggan Saville, or Estene Lotriet-Vorster
Telephone:   011) 469 3016
Email:    [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]