By focussing on what was available to them, Mater Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) co-designed an innovative solution for capturing, accessing and sharing information rapidly and securely.
MGP midwives are a community based workforce requiring access to tools and electronic systems to support their work; without these tools there are information privacy or data security concerns. We identified this vulnerability and recommended the need for a secure, accessible system. Benchmarking with other maternity services offering 24/7 on call midwifery models of care revealed similar challenges nationwide. With a temporary Information Technology (IT) freeze and zero funding, we took the initiative and co-designed the MGP Caseload Tracker Application (app).
Involving over 30 midwives, four midwifery leaders, and the IT team, we used the Microsoft Power Platform to create a user-friendly tool that replaced outdated methods like diaries and spreadsheets. This app provides secure access, real-time editing, and activity reporting of caseload information, all at the midwives' fingertips.
The digital solution relied on a SharePoint list to store mother and baby dyad details securely in a locked channel of a Private Microsoft Teams. A Power app was developed for midwives to access and update the information. Another list was created for activity logging and billing management. Power Automate was used to make necessary changes in either list, such as updating the baby's age or logging service occasions. A Teams chat group and regular face to face discussions during education sessions/team meetings were used to gain rapid user feedback to inform the next iterations of the system. Two MGP teams volunteered to be the initial pilot groups, with roll out to all nine teams, two months later.
During a 6-month period, the caseload tracker app was utilized by 1028 mother-baby dyads, demonstrating its widespread acceptance. All 51 midwives actively participated in the program, resulting in 100% user engagement. The app successfully recorded 5400 instances of service and captured 1200 birthsuite hours and indications. The previous manual process of logging service occasions in a spreadsheet was replaced by a simple click of a button per event, significantly reducing data entry errors. Additionally, the app replaced an additional spreadsheet used for logging birthsuite hours, with 1206 events now being logged through the app.
Within two months, all 45 midwives had adopted the app. This digital solution drastically improved caseload management efficiency, providing crucial handover information and enabling personalized advice for any woman under MGP care, even at 2am.
Remarkably, this project was developed at zero cost by a midwife for midwives, with invaluable support from the IT team via a citizen developer approach. We demonstrated that midwives can be actively involved in creating innovative software solutions, incorporate end-user perspectives, and overcome funding roadblocks.
This project showcases the potential of digital technology and the power of co-design. By collaborating, we created a custom, cost-effective solution that meets the specific needs of our midwifery practice, ensuring data security and efficiency.
