HealthiERSim - Health Integrated Electronic Records Simulation

Background

The use of technology, such as electronic health records (eHR) in healthcare is increasing demonstrating strong links to enhanced patient centred care with improved patient safety. There is a critical need for education providers to ensure that health professional students have access to authentic software that can assist them to prepare for the challenges of the workforce. There is a notable scarcity of affordable, simulated eHR platforms accessible to undergraduate health students for developing their digital health capacity.

Existing simulated eHR offerings predominantly mimic traditional paper-based health records and lack the interdisciplinary nuances of contemporary healthcare education with limited capacity to strengthen critical thinking. To align with the recommendations from the National Digital Health Strategy for Healthcare, targeted education that incorporates realistic health technology should be integrated across all health profession programs.

Our solution

HealthiERSim, is a customisable eHR system tailored for undergraduate healthcare students. It offers authentic eHR learning experiences integrated into the curriculum, fostering the development of digital health skills, critical reasoning abilities, patient-centered care and communication.

HealthiERSim empowers healthcare programs to offer students realistic eHR experiences, preparing them for collaborative, technology-enabled clinical practice.

Intellectual property

Program source code, manuals and methodology

AU TM application 2433634; HealthiERSim AU TM application 2433635;

Benefits

  1. Easy to use and learn: Tailored to support student learning, our platform has an intuitive and easy to navigate interface, making it accessible for users with extensive class sizes and varying levels of technological expertise.
  2. Flexible: Designed to seamlessly integrate with existing simulation learning environments and adapt to specific curriculum requirements. The eHR system offers flexibility, allowing customisation to suit individual curriculum needs rather than being confined to a static structure.
  3. Digital Health alignment: Our platform was developed through active engagement with healthcare professionals, students, and educational stakeholders to understand their needs, challenges, and expectations, in line with Australia's National Digital Health Strategy. This strategy prioritises equipping the future healthcare workforce with digital proficiency and integrating digital health education.
  4. Easily scalable: An initial minimum viable product (MVP) version has been successfully deployed and tested with over 2000 real users across five regional campuses of Charles Sturt University. Valuable feedback from academic staff and healthcare student users has guided the prioritisation of additional features for future development.

Co-founder researchers