Until Jordan Duffy’s firm built a data system, patient records were still filled in manually, leading to a 30% error rate

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

One of the first things Jordan Duffy learned when the 20-something tech entrepreneur started working on a project with the Royal Flying Doctor Service Queensland was that medical staff were often too busy caring for patients to worry about paperwork.

The famous aeromedical organisation, which turns 90 this year, had contacted Duffy last year to talk about augmented reality eyewear. Seven months later, the boutique tech firm he co-founded helped launch a system that has revolutionised the RFDS by allowing doctors to access patient files and record medical data digitally, even when working in far-flung locations with no phone signal.



Until recently, doctors were using carbon paper to make copies as they filled in patients’ details manually. Because most of the service’s work is done in remote parts of Australia, digital systems to access medical records had not been reliable.



Duffy and his team designed a system that loads patient data – encrypted to comply with privacy regulations and to prevent personal data from being hacked – from a database to tablet devices used by doctors and nurses on location.

The system also allows the medical professionals and support staff to monitor a patient’s progress in real-time, and for that information to be passed to paramedics or hospital staff once the patient reaches their destination.

“Because there are nuances with the regulation, it often puts off people from going in and innovating in this area,” Duffy said.

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Trent Dean, the head of clinical governance at RFDS Queensland, said hand-written paperwork had resulted in a 30% error rate “because we were deciphering handwriting, [and because of] human error and misinterpretation”.

“The information needed to be copied for ambulance staff and it was easy for information to be misunderstood or misinterpreted or key fields missed,” Dean said.

“It also meant that administration staff would have to spend 30 to 40 hours a week completing data entry at each base: Mount Isa, Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton, Brisbane, Bundaberg and Charleville.

“That data would then come back to our head office and someone would spend around five hours cleaning the data and sending back to bases for verification. And we still had to address the 30% error rate.”



Duffy, a self-confessed “tech geek”, said there were challenges working with a 90-year-old mainstay of rural and regional Australia that was reluctant to change a successful culture.

“When you go in all guns blazing and say, ‘we’re going to overhaul with tech’, then you’ll lose the game. You can’t just go ahead and change that culture,” he said.

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“For such an iconic organisation ... we had to very carefully construct the project to make sure we kept that patient experience.

“People do get defensive about brand. When people trust that you’re going to do the right thing with their image, you get good outcomes.”

Duffy and his business parter, Alex Buckham, launched a string of projects after finishing high school in Brisbane and established their firm, Buckham & Duffy, six years ago. They now employ 16 staff and are among a growing number of tech outfits based in the river city.

Like many parts of the country, Queensland has made its own pitch for the innovation market, including this month chartering a plane from Silicon Valley in California to Brisbane for the Myriad innovation festival.

On Tuesday the state government announced it would fund a multimillion-dollar upgrade of its Fortitude Valley startup hub to accommodate a surge in demand from new ventures.