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Rapid Implementation of CheckWare Amidst a Pandemic: A Success Story from Sørlandet Hospital

The Clinic for Mental Health at Sørlandet Hospital embarked on a mission to ensure that CheckWare would work seamlessly for both patients and healthcare providers alike. They formed a highly efficient project team with a few key individuals, enabling a record-breaking implementation process. The acquisition took place in May 2020, the project was established in August, and the system was up and running at the hospital by November of the same year.

The goal was to gradually implement video consultations in the clinic. They had already conducted a pilot project in the fall of 2019 and were ready to accelerate their efforts.

Sørlandet Hospital

Sørlandet Hospital offers specialist health services within somatics, mental health, and addiction. Their four main tasks are patient treatment, educating patients and relatives, research, and education og health personell.

On March 12, 2020, as Norway entered lockdown due to the pandemic, Sørlandet Hospital initiated the planning for the "Remote Monitoring II" project. This project encompassed video consultations, digitalizing measures, and e-learning. The goal was to gradually implement video consultations in the clinic. They had already conducted a pilot project in the fall of 2019 and were ready to accelerate their efforts.

We had a pressing need for digitizing our measures. It's about standardizing and ensuring that we use the same measures throughout the organization. There's an expectation from both our patients and staff that we digitize healthcare. By introducing CheckWare, we could streamline processes much more professionally than the numerous manual methods we used previously," says Gro Merete Grønvold Eilertsen from the Clinic for Mental Health at Sørlandet Hospital.

Eilertsen, who has been working on digitizing health services for several years, was responsible for implementing eMestring, CheckWare, and the use of video conferencing in therapy. The overarching goal for Sørlandet Hospital was to get started swiftly.

"When we saw where this was heading, we swiftly implemented video consultations in the clinic. The pandemic brought about significant changes. I was actually at my cabin during the procurement meeting with CheckWare. The decision to implement was made in the transition between May and June after Health South-East formally made the procurement possible through Hospital Procurement. We initiated the project after the summer break in August and began implementing CheckWare towards the end of the year," Eilertsen explains.

She works as a clinical advisor in the clinic director's office at the Clinic for Mental Health in her daily role.

- When we saw where this was heading, we swiftly implemented video consultations in the clinic. The pandemic brought about significant changes. I was actually at my cabin during the procurement meeting with CheckWare. The decision to implement was made in the transition between May and June after Health South-East formally made the procurement possible through Hospital Procurement. We initiated the project after the summer break in August and began implementing CheckWare towards the end of the year

Gro Merete Eilertsen

Clinical advisor in the clinic director's office at the Clinic for Mental Health

Significant support from CheckWare

Both Eilertsen and Bjørg Lindevik emphasize the significant support they received from CheckWare throughout the process.

"The process we've had with CheckWare is a prime example of how new technology can be implemented rapidly. I've never been involved in the introduction of a new service that happened so quickly," says Bjørg Lindevik.

She has been working in the administrative unit at the Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ABUP) at Sørlandet Hospital since 1999. Since 2020, Lindevik has held a position as a consultant at ABUP, including a role as the clinic's system administrator in the project related to CheckWare implementation at the Clinic for Mental Health (KPH).

"It went so smoothly because, among other things, we had very good communication with CheckWare throughout the process," Gro Merete Grønvold Eilertsen believes. Lindevik adds, "We had a highly productive group that created all the user guides we needed. All training was conducted digitally. The fact that no external parties were involved, I think, is the key to our rapid progress. We avoided all the detours and had some passionate individuals who wanted to get this done quickly."

In addition, the project had strong support and oversight:

"We had solid leadership support to implement and introduce CheckWare. It provided us with the flexibility to roll it out quickly. A steering group was behind us and approved everything we planned in the project, including our choices for how we wanted to operate this," she says.

Clear role allocation is a key

Both Lindevik and Eilertsen highlight the multiple layers of support they received from CheckWare.

"We have had excellent communication, both in terms of support, with our customer contact, and with the developer. We receive quick feedback, engage in open dialogues, and collaborate seamlessly. I appreciate that they don't use overly technical jargon, whether we're collaborating on product development or receiving support feedback from CheckWare. It ensures that even I, having crossed the age of 50 without an IT education, can quickly grasp it. I find that to be very beneficial!" Lindevik concludes.

With a pragmatic approach, they ensure that even healthcare providers who don't use the system receive full support from the administrative teams in KPH. Gro Eilertsen has always been focused on implementing a system that simplifies and lightens the load in the clinical everyday:

"That's what we experience CheckWare does. I have a clinician role while Bjørg looks at other aspects. We want the tool to be intuitive. Does it actually work as intended? Absolutely. In addition, we have made some choices that CheckWare has helped facilitate, making it as easy as possible for clinicians," she explains.

It is an advantage that the measures appear straightforward to patients. Some healthcare providers might impose restrictions because of their diverse patient group, but it turns out that patients are ready for digitalization.
For Lindevik, this means that healthcare providers should not spend too much time on the system itself but focus on treatment and patients:

"It's the administrative staff who have the most extensive access to use CheckWare. This is so that healthcare providers don't have to spend unnecessary time on yet another system. If healthcare providers don't want to use CheckWare themselves, they can still get tasks done. All reports come into DIPS, and they have to manage them there. At the same time, secretaries can handle everything for them in CheckWare. The secretaries have said that it's a very user-friendly system."

"There's nothing that can be done without the possibility of correction, there's no error that can have serious consequences. There are security steps at every level," Lindevik adds.

We have had excellent communication, both in terms of support, with our customer contact, and with the developer. We receive quick feedback, engage in open dialogues, and collaborate seamlessly. I appreciate that they don't use overly technical jargon, whether we're collaborating on product development or receiving support feedback from CheckWare. It ensures that even I, having crossed the age of 50 without an IT education, can quickly grasp it. I find that to be very beneficial!"

Bjørg Lindevik

Consultant in the administrative unit at the Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ABUP) at Sørlandet Hospital

CheckWare forum established

They have established a dedicated CheckWare forum:

The hospital has found that many people want more information about CheckWare. Therefore, they have established a dedicated CheckWare forum that held its first meeting in May. Between 25 and 30 people attended this initial meeting.

"We have planned four meetings per year. It's an open meeting that we conduct digitally, so anyone can drop in. This is generating interest among clinicians, who are beginning to consider how they can actively use the tool in their daily work," says Eilertsen, who speaks of engagement and enthusiasm that are contagious:

"We've had many clinicians and administrative staff who found this enjoyable, recognized the possibilities, and embraced the program when presented with it. It creates so many positive ripple effects when enthusiasm drives something both useful and inspiring. It's all about being on the service side. As soon as there's a hitch, Bjørg is there. This way, we don't experience the typical issues associated with the introduction of new systems—another system that doesn't do what it should! When it doesn't work, Bjørg takes it up with CheckWare, and there's always a very good dialogue in that direction. It gets resolved quickly," says psychologist Gro Merete Grønvold Eilertsen from Sørlandet Hospital.

Gro Merete Eilertsen

Clinical advisor in the clinic director's office at the Clinic for Mental Health

Sørlandet Hospital's use of CheckWare

Respondent tools:

Measures
Plans

Clinician tools:

Respondent management
Clinical reports
Clinician insight
Treatment roles
Raw data exports

System management tools:

System settings
Access control
System log
System reports
Clinician management
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