In our latest #OurEntrepreneurs profile we meet cohort 7 Clinical Entrepreneur Michael Quinn, Consultant.
Tell us a bit about yourself
I am a Consultant in Nephrology and Acute Medicine, with experience as a Healthcare Informatician and previous Chief Clinical Information Officer.
I am an NHS Digital Academy Graduate and have previously worked within the NHS buying and implementing technology, which led me to explore building software that I wanted to use, which resulted in me raising pre-seed funding from a VC and ultimately resulted in Round Safely being created.
Name: Michael Quinn, Cohort 7.
Occupation: Consultant.
Location: Belfast Trust- Northern Ireland.
Why did you apply to the programme and what are you looking forward to?
I found the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme via Health Innovation Research Alliance Northern Ireland (HIRANI).
I hope to gain exposure to colleagues in a similar position and gain an understanding of the NHS innovation cycle and therefore improve my ability to deliver for it. I also hope for access to expertise and advice regarding future direction and contacts within the NHS who may be interested in our work.
Tell us about your innovation
Round Safely is a SaaS product that records and shares recordings of clinical consultations with patients and families. We record voice and videos of interactions, transcribe, and annotate details to help with recall, post visit understanding and provide media for medical notes and records. We also deliver summary media recordings to families post ward rounds and clinic visits – updating families and reducing duplicate communications across wards.
Round Safely aims to reduce administration costs, improves medical supporting notes, frees up time to care and improves communications with families. In a standard 30 bedded ward, Round Safely releases up 2 hrs of nursing time in an 8-hour shift when used as a patient communication platform by reducing duplicated family communication. 30% of all NHS complaints relate to communication and our software increases transparency, engendering trust and provides an accurate record of what was discussed and decided. We believe Round Safely will reduce complaints, provide evidence of family communication, and streamline medico-legal investigations and settlements.*
What motivates you?
I am motivated by providing better, more transparent care and involving patients in those discussions. I passionately believe we can deliver better care and empower patients by using technology to provide them with a better understanding of the care they receive.
What are your ambitions for the next year?
Moving forward, I aim to deliver some successful pilots and prepare for next round of fundraising.
Why do you think innovation is important in healthcare?
Currently Electronic Health Systems and most clinical systems provide an abstraction of care that is delivered, and I believe this is unsatisfactory for carers and patients. As voice and video becomes more accessible, we have the methods to add more detailed layers of information, giving patients better knowledge and at the same time, makes better notes that describe what we did and why. The NHS negligence bill increases by 4 billion every year and I believe we need to make technology that supports clinicians in the delivery of care and patients in the receipt of care – Round Safely is designed to do both.
How can we find out more?
Please visit www.roundsafely.com for more information.
*References
TRANSFORMING HEALTHCARE THROUGH INNOVATION
