Nina Eltvik at Helse Bergen HF

Celebrating a successful upgrade of CheckWare in Helse Vest

Helse Vest had an urgent need to upgrade the software in all the health institutions in the region. - I have never been part of a better process in CheckWare than what I have experienced in the past year. There has been really good quality in the upgrade process, says adviser and system manager Nina Eltvik at Helse Bergen.

The upgrade to CheckWare Helium had to be planned and tested in the middle of a pandemic. It required a lot of preparation and careful planning. CheckWare's project manager Odd Ivar Abusland saw it as a really exciting challenge.

The gap from the version they had to the version they were getting was definitely large. Abusland today concludes that the complicated upgrade was a real success.

- This is a very good customer, a customer who has been with us for a long time, where there is full mutual trust and openness in communication. Helse Vest has an enormous level of competence, with knowledge that is difficult to find elsewhere. The level they are at really put us to the test. They go "all in"! They dived deep and asked all the questions that were necessary in the test phase, says Abusland.

Helse Vest IKT

Helse Vest IKT is a limited company that is 100% owned by Helse Vest RHF and supplies all ICT services to the specialist health service in Helse Vest.

Their customers are both the public hospitals in Helse Vest, and several private health service providers in the region.

Helse Vest ICT has approx. 550 employees.

The main office is in Bergen, and they have offices all over Western Norway.

Many pieces in the puzzle

A total of ten different installations were upgraded, where, among other things, new user interfaces for both clinicians and respondents were taken into account.

- I feel that CheckWare has become much more professional. When we started a number of years ago, there were few people available, which made the processes person-dependent. Now I see that there are teams where they support each other. Several problems can be solved simultaneously. The improvement has been gradual, but perhaps especially a lot has happened in the last year, says system manager Nina Eltvik at Helse Bergen.

She is supported by special consultant Erlend Johnsen in Helse Vest IKT, who has been the coordinating link between the health trusts in Helse Vest and CheckWare.

Special consultant Erlend Johnsen, Helse Vest IKT

Specialist consultant, Erlend Johnsen, Helse Vest IKT

- We have been prioritized, there is no doubt about that. When we got the new version installed, and things didn't quite work as promised, we worked together on the unfinished version so that it became finished. We worked like crazy, and CheckWare fixed the errors that were there. Over the course of a weekend quite a lot could be done, he says and believes that the transparency in the process between customer and supplier has been absolutely crucial:

- We are good at detecting errors early and delivering detailed descriptions of what is wrong. We try to deliver in a very good way, with facts and documentation, when everything does not work. And CheckWare does something about this, immediately. In that way, I feel we are one, large team that has worked step by step together, tested thoroughly and solved challenges along the way. I think everyone agrees that this has gone very well, says Johnsen.

- It has almost gone too well. When September is over, almost all the healthcare facilities have been upgraded and we can't find any errors. I think it is the consequence of very good planning and execution, says the specialist consultant in Helse Vest IKT.

- I feel that CheckWare has become much more professional. When we started a number of years ago, there were few people available, which made the processes person-dependent. Now I see that there are teams, where people assist each other. Several issues can be solved simultaneously. The improvement has been gradual, but much has happened perhaps in the last year

Nina Eltvik

System administrator Helse Bergen

Freequent meetings and good communication

A main challenge was to coordinate the user interface at the various healthcare trusts.

- It is complex and there are many challenges when introducing new versions. In the transition to Helium, security and privacy are of course central, and we must carry out risk analyses. Perhaps the biggest was that the companies had their own setups before we upgraded. They therefore had individual needs which we tried to streamline as much as possible. Now we have cleaned up to get the layouts the same everywhere, says Erlend Johnsen.

The frequent meetings and a good tone in the dialogue, despite the challenges, made it much easier to find solutions.

- It has been important to have an arena where everyone meets regularly, then we avoid many different parties having to be informed at all times. At the same time, it has been essential to talk openly with CheckWare weekly about everything possible; what is going on and what needs to be done. We have had the feeling that we are one team and have stood together with the tasks, he says.

Project manager Odd Ivar Abusland explains that such a project, with so many stakeholders, requires CheckWare to be on its toes throughout, with control, overview and good routines.

It has been important to have an arena where everyone meets regularly, then we avoid many different sections having to be informed at all times. At the same time, it has been essential to talk openly with CheckWare weekly about everything possible; what is going on and what needs to be done. We have had the feeling that we are one team and have stood together with the tasks

Erlend Johnsen

Spesialkonsulent Helse Vest IKT

Strong ownership of CheckWare

For Nina Eltvik, having an open relationship of trust with CheckWare becomes almost personal.

- We were first in Helse Bergen with eMeistring, and we have built up a strong ownership of CheckWare over all these years. The personal commitment probably does not just apply to me, it applies to several people here at Helse Bergen. It started with mental health care, and now we see that there is a huge need for CheckWare's tools also in somatics, she says, and estimates that the use of CheckWare in the area of somatics today is at least as great as in mental health care.

- I feel that we at Helse Bergen are still the driver in the use of CheckWare in Helse Vest. We have greater resources with more people involved in the project. Someone has to be the engine, I think that is wise, she says and states that she is delighted that much of the paper-based case management and the many paper forms will soon be history.

Helse Bergen

Helse Bergen HF is the legal name of Haukeland University Hospital.

Around 13,000 employees work here, divided into 229 occupational groups.

In 2021, the hospital had almost one million patient encounters.

Approximately 2,000 students have part of their education at the hospital each year.

Helse Bergen has been a customer of CheckWare since 2015.

Helse Vest's use of CheckWare

Respondent tools:

Measures
Measure reports
Content packages
Plans
Messages

Clinician tools:

Clinical reports
Clinician insight
Treatment roles
Export of raw data
Export templates
Flags
Decisions
Respondent handlig

System administration tools:

System settings
Access control
System log
System reports
Clinician handling
Authentication: Levels 3, 4
Plans
Content management