Healthcare providers and medical suppliers in Ireland need systems that work on wards and in the field with poor signal, protect health data and leave a clear record of who did what. ERS IT Solutions has built an offline medication app for nursing homes, an ordering app for a medical device supplier's field team, and moved a home care provider with 100+ healthcare professionals to Microsoft 365 and SharePoint. We have been trading since 1983 from Blanchardstown, Dublin 15.
What does a healthcare provider in Ireland need from a managed IT and cyber security partner?
Four things: systems that keep working when Wi-Fi or signal drops, strict access control and encryption for patient data, a full audit trail, and support that answers quickly because care does not stop. Health data is one of the special categories of personal data in GDPR Article 9(1) (EUR-Lex), so the bar is higher than for most businesses.
What makes healthcare IT different?
- Care runs 365 days a year. Downtime is not an inconvenience, it affects patients.
- Staff are mobile. Nurses, carers and sales reps work in homes, wards and hospitals, often with poor connectivity.
- Changes need approval. Medication and clinical records need sign-off by the right people before a change takes effect.
- Mixed estates. Head office, remote offices and staff on their own devices, all needing the same records.
Offline medication rounds in nursing homes: MAMA for Virginia Medical Supplies
Nursing homes were recording medication on paper and desktop Medication Administration Records (MARs). Ward Wi-Fi was unreliable, and an incomplete or skipped medication run could go unnoticed.
ERS built MAMA, an offline-first Android tablet app that syncs with the Nu-Life Portal:
- Every medication given is recorded with a timestamp.
- Nurses pick a quick reason when a dose is not given, and each run ends with a digital sign-off.
- Changes to a patient's cardex need doctor, nurse and pharmacy approval; "no change becomes active until approved by pharmacy".
- One month of historical and current-cycle MAR data is held on the device, with 128-bit encryption at rest.
The result, in the case study's words: "Nurses now carry out their medication runs with clear access to every patient's cardex and MAR information, even in areas without internet coverage."
Field ordering for a medical device supplier: PEI
PEI, which supplies medical devices and consumables with more than 100 staff across Ireland, had field sales reps sending replenishment orders by mail, phone and text, with no standard process. It had previously failed to find a product that fitted.
ERS built a mobile ordering app for the Surgikit sales team on our Team Konnect rapid development platform, and a working prototype was in users' hands within weeks. It kept customers served through the COVID-19 lockdown. PEI's Operations Manager said: "Our new customers now receive the same service as prior to the COVID-19 period and feedback from all stakeholders, customers, consultants and hospitals has all been very positive." Read the PEI case study.
Microsoft 365 and SharePoint for home care: Communicare
Communicare provides care in private homes, hospitals and residential settings, with offices in Dublin and Mayo and more than 100 healthcare professionals working 365 days a year. It wanted better communication between head office, remote offices and staff, but the partners it spoke to could migrate email and none could explain how SharePoint would meet its needs.
ERS moved Communicare from an on-premise file server to SharePoint Online, with a site for each department, familiar folder-style libraries, sharing by link instead of email attachments, and access from any device. ERS also took over its IT support. In the case study, Communicare said SharePoint "has linked our teams across the country together in a way that was not possible before". Read the Communicare case study, or see cloud migration services.
Occupational health: Let's Talk Shiftwork
ERS also built Let's Talk Shiftwork, iOS and Android apps for shift workers that combine rostering with sleep and wellbeing guidance. A rules engine applies the formulas of an occupational health expert to give bedtime, wake, meal and light prompts, with sleep logging, Stripe subscriptions and an admin portal.
What ERS would do for a healthcare organisation
- Map where data lives and who can reach it, including staff phones and tablets.
- Design for no signal. Any app used on wards or in homes should work offline and sync later, as MAMA does.
- Lock down devices with mobile device management, so a lost tablet can be wiped remotely.
- Secure Microsoft 365 with MFA, conditional access and Microsoft 365 monitoring.
- Test recovery. Agree how long care teams can work without each system, then build backup and disaster recovery to match.