Opus 5K International Pty Ltd

A member of the Opus 5K

Group of Companies

OpTML Opus Patient Travel Management Link

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FACILITATED & SUPPORTED BY

www.opus5k.com.au

OpTML is an online

system developed to

manage the complete

end to end process of

patient travel as

administered

under public

sector

arrangements.

OpTML has set a new benchmark in the level

of efficiency and effectiveness that may be

gained from working smarter. Proven in

large scale production environments in

Queensland Health, OpTML is available to all

health organisations wishing to improve on

their patient travel processes.

An online system to manage the complete end

to end process of patient travel

The Queensland Government Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme (PTSS) provides assistance to patients and escorts to

enable them to access specialist medical services in cases where those services are not provided within their locality.

The process itself includes the completion of some 9 forms and 11 tasks and, when going from Form A to Form E,

requires input from at least 7 different participants throughout the end to end process.

Add to this the fact that all patient travel necessarily involves at least two facilities that are geographically dispersed,

and it becomes clear that an effective, efficient system is required to orchestrate the process tasks.

Opus Travel Management Link (OpTML) is an online system that manages the complete end to end process of

patient travel. With a flexible workflow component and transparent audit trail, the system can be expected to

reduce processing times whilst promoting complete probity of process.

Hospital and travel hub staff can take advantage of the predictive tasks matrix to gain an insight into the expected

number of tasks that are coming their way, as well as managing those that have fallen due.

Management are provided with a good number of key performance indicators (KPIs) through which to manage the

process, with metrics representing patient count, specialities, finance and workflow.

Being web-based and requiring no local installations, the system can be rapidly deployed across a large number of

facilities and users, regardless of location. Further, the system can be extended to bring into the online process flow

patients, General Practitioners and private sector specialists.

“...an effective, efficient system is required to

orchestrate the process tasks”

“...9 forms, 11 tasks, 7 participants,

2 geographically dispersed facilities”

Manual coordination of 7 roles, 9 form

submissions and 11 tasks

All up, at least 7 different roles play a part in the current process, which includes up to 9 forms to be completed,

generating some 11 tasks to be closed out. An attempt at illustrating the current process is provided below, with the

dotted lines tracing the movement of forms between participants. As can be seen, the volumes involved and the

nature of the transactions make the PTSS process a highly complex, necessarily decentralised process.

.

Issues with the current process framework include:

Duplication of data;

o For example, in a full end-to-end process, patient/escort details are completed at least 9 times along

the way.

Time delays between form transfers;

o For example, the time between hospital approval being given and the travel hub receiving notice of

the approval is reliant on the physical movement of forms.

o The turnaround time of an entire process instance is reliant on the physical movement of forms

between geographically dispersed contributors, which inevitably leads to delays.

No centralised reporting mechanism;

o No single system holds end to end PTSS data, meaning no easy access to decision support.

“...the volumes involved and the nature of the transactions makes the

PTSS process a highly complex, necessarily decentralised process”

Flexible, automated Workflow provides

orchestration of tasks between roles

Through the use of an online, web-based system all forms can be completed through a single portal. This removes

the need for any paperwork to be transferred between participants of the PTSS process. A fully flexible, automated

workflow framework provides the orchestration of tasks between these roles, whilst at all times promoting complete

probity of process and recording a full audit trail.

Compare the current process above to the proposed process below.

Benefits of the proposed process include:

Data duplication removed;

o Each form contributor incrementally builds to data held for that particular PTSS process. For example,

patient details are completed once and only once, and are available to all subsequent contributors to

that particular patient transfer.

Workflow streamlined and automated;

o Real-time task orchestration – contributors can track due tasks in real time. For example, the travel hub

will know within seconds once a patient travel request has been authorised by the hospital, and can

therefore act much sooner in making travel arrangements.

Instant, real-time reporting;

o Outcome and process KPIs – as and when tasks are completed, KPIs are updated and presented to

management. This includes a real-time patient tracker.

“...provides orchestration of tasks between these roles, whilst at all times

promoting complete probity of process”

One step closer to an e-enabled health system

for the State

Some of the key features of OpTML are:

technology

The system is developed using industry

recognised technologies (ASP .NET 2.0 running

on SQL Server) capable of supporting a full,

State-wide deployment).

An online system means no local software

installs are necessary. All that is required to

access the system is a computer with internet

access (allows for easy off-site access).

A central, State-wide database means that data

is entered once and immediately available to all

authorised users of the system, no matter where

they are located.

workflow

Role-based access, with support for patients, specialists, travel managers, hospitals and finance staff.

A fully flexible workflow core, allowing the system to run in parallel with manual processes. This allows completion of only as

many tasks as are required on a case by case basis.

Real-time task trigger and upcoming workload forecasts through the expected-number-of-tasks algorithm.

Support for an easy cash-payment scheme to

patients.

Automatic generation of travel itineraries,

hospital non-approvals and finance general

purpose vouchers.

“Real-time task trigger and

upcoming workload forecasts

through the expected-number-

of-tasks algorithm”

“Make the concepts available to all health jurisdictions,

both nationally and internationally”

reporting

Real-time patient and escort tracker, down to district

level.

Real-time district level KPIs, both inbound and outbound,

including specialities sought, financials and patient/escort

counts.

Process metrics – enabling identification of bottlenecks in

the end-to-end process.

Real-time specialist opportunity monitor, continuously

checking the costs of moving patients out of a district and

comparing them against the costs of recruiting a specialist

for that district.

potential

Support for external access by General

Practitioners, negating the need for forms

to be physically handed in to hospitals and

therefore significantly reducing approvals

processing times.

Support for external access by patients to

lodge both the initial application and

subsequent claims for financial

reimbursement.

Make the concepts available to all health

jurisdictions, both nationally and

internationally.

“Process metrics – enabling

identification of bottlenecks in the

end-to-end process“

A look at OpTML

The system uses the dates and times of both specialist

appointments and recommendations for return, to track

the location in real-time by of patients and escorts being

moved under the patient travel scheme.

This allows management at any time to readily obtain a

position audit of the location of patients and escorts

across the jurisdiction.

As an example, the screenshot on the left shows the

South East Queensland region.

Clicking on the + sign against any of the districts brings

up a district-level KPI screen, as shown below.

Key performance indicators are calculated on a per district basis, and

include metrics based on patient numbers, specialities, finance and

workflow.

Each KPI is calculated and represented as both inbound and outbound.

For example, patient count is shown as both the number of patients

that travelled into a district, and the number of patients that travelled

out of a district, whilst patient movement KPIs will show the average

duration of a visit both into and out of a district.

Outbound metrics can be useful for many reasons, particularly when

looking at the specialities sought by patients that are travelling out of a

district, as this can promote a focus on the cause of medical conditions

in addition to its treatment.

Process metrics can identify bottlenecks in the organisation, and can

form the basis of establishing benchmarks for service delivery

Real-time tracking of patients and escorts

Key Performance Indicators

Potential to instantly connect all participants

and streamline the end to end process

A look at OpTML as used by Queensland Health...

About Opus 5K

Opus 5K, incorporated in 2007, is a provider of

software-based solutions with a unique,

competitive edge.

Relationships forged early on with both the

Queensland Government and the Australian

Institute for Commercialisation have propelled

Opus 5K into a position of strength, in which it

is now pursuing an aggressive strategy of

building its portfolio of web-based solutions.

The commercialisation agreements in place with the Queensland Government provide Opus 5K with a

competitive edge; in particular:

• The ability to tap into Queensland Government intellectual property that has been built up over

several years by experts in their fields;

• Access to continual improvement opportunities;

• Leveraging both ongoing analysis and research conducted by the Queensland Government and

feedback from the large number of existing users;

• Access to test, refine and stabilise its solutions in large-scale production environments;

• Access to the networks established by the Queensland Government in relation to its ongoing

projects.

To see the complete range of solutions offered by Opus 5K, please visit our website at

www.opus5k.com.au.

Contact

Opus 5K is based in the sunny city of Brisbane, Australia and can be contacted on the following:

General info@opus5k.com.au

Director

Hassan Kani hassan.kani@opus5k.com.au

Telephone +61 (0) 438 462 440

Website www.opus5k.com.au

www.opus5k.com.au