The George Centre in Gledswood Hills southwest of Sydney is a specialist private day and short stay surgical and maternity hospital providing services for adults and children. Since opening in mid-2023, the hospital’s patient-first, community-focused approach has quickly won favour with both clinicians and patients.

All the different teams in the hospital are focused on making sure the experience from beginning to end is as seamless and trouble-free as possible, and that they leave feeling that they’ve been cared for – that they’re not just a condition,”

says Sophie, The George Centre’s administration and patient accounts supervisor, who is responsible for the smooth running of administrative processes from patient pre-admission through to discharge, as well as patient records.

The George Centre offers an extensive range of private health services previously unavailable in the region, including two specialist endoscopy suites with a direct access endoscopy service; five operating theatres; and a 26-bed private maternity unit with four birthing suites and a level 2 special care nursery.

Along with providing outstanding care for patients, the hospital has a focus on efficient and productive back-end services.  Reducing duplication of effort and streamlining workflows are key factors in effectively balancing care and cost.

The pre-admission process is an important part of the way patients engage with the hospital. The George Centre captures and manages all the critical information relating to patient demographics and contact details, health insurance status, admitting doctor and the reasons they come into hospital.

The problem: Paper-based admissions were eating into valuable time.

Part of ACURIO Health, The George Centre has a vision to be recognised for delivering trusted, quality healthcare services. As such, they are always looking for innovative ways to transform lives through their facilities, care and systems.

Initially, they used a paper-based pre-admission system, with patient data all being keyed in manually from handwritten forms. However, this system proved difficult for some patients, says Sophie. “Not all of them have the ability to print, scan and type on a writable PDF.”

It also created unnecessary work for their admin team, Sophie explains. “Handwritten things are often hard to read. Mandatory fields wouldn’t be completed, so we’d have to go back and forth with the patient. There was double entry of data and then extended durations to be able to get a patient pre-admitted, let alone admitted.”

The solution: Digital forms to streamline the pre-admission process

With the paper-based system, admin staff were spending several hours each day processing admissions.

The George Centre was already using MasterCare’s Patient Administration System when they were introduced to HotHealth—a platform that streamlines healthcare delivery with digital forms configured specifically for The George Centre.

“Since implementing HotHealth, the time admin staff spend on admissions has been cut in half.” Sophie says.

Benefits they have experienced include:

• reduced time spent on data entry
• faster receipt of admission forms following surgical consultations
• timely booking of patients onto theatre lists
• clearer information with no need to decipher patients’ handwriting
• case sensitive fields so data cannot be missed or left out
• patient convenience with an embedded BMI calculator.

“Pre-admission screening can be done by viewing patient admission forms online, saving time and flagging/capturing important patient alerts early on,” Sophie adds.

The time saved has given staff a chance to get ahead with bookings and pre-admissions, she says, “which obviously reduces the amount of stress and pressure on us to get things done.”

It has also freed up time for Sophie, who carries numerous responsibilities and is involved in multiple projects within the hospital. “It has enabled me to focus on accounts, debtors and investigating new business opportunities rather than just doing data entry for patients,” she says.

The future: A partnership built for growth

Since commencing, The George Centre has extended their services to the community including the addition of orthopaedics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, and the establishment of a southern highlands outpost. Their services will soon include a close-monitored unit allowing for higher acuity patient care.

Through their partnership with HotHealth, they can scale the business with solutions designed to grow alongside them.

They are currently exploring a compliant digital discharge summary solution with Global Health product MasterCare+, as well as an outpatient management system.

“They’re two things we’re pretty keen on getting started with,” Sophie says.

They are also planning to use the HotHealth portal for patient eligibility checks and collection of excess payments.

“That is something we’re looking forward to as well,” Sophie says.

Elaria Paul, Innovation Lead – Consumer Portfolio for Global Health, says the improvements The George Centre have achieved reflect their commitment to delivering world-class care within a local community.

“It’s been wonderful watching The George Centre grow and thrive using our solution,” she says. “We look forward to a long and positive collaboration, supporting The George Centre to continue making a difference through leading maternity and surgical services.”

If you would like to find out more about HotHealth request a demo for a complimentary walk-through of our solution and chat with one of our product experts.