Le futur du développement des applications d'entreprise est sans code_Octopus_Blog.

If you’ve been paying attention to our LinkedIn feed, or have recently visited our website, you may have noticed a new section: Octopus No-Code Platform.

Around three years ago, we realized that the technology required to reinvent our Octopus solution did not exist on the market. It’s why we decided to create our own platform!

As a result, we embarked on an ambitious research and development project to create a platform that would revolutionize the ITSM and ESM world by offering a new version of Octopus with infinite customization possibilities. Our specialists, partners and customers would hence be able to shape and mould the software to meet the specific needs of all users and operational teams (service, department or management) – more perfectly and easily.

– Octopus No Code Platform

The current version of Octopus is based on a “hard-coded” core with customizable options and parameters, and an extensibility system that utilizes plug-ins. This design is used by hundreds of products to provide turnkey functionality while enabling further customization.

Over the years, we’ve developed hundreds of plugins and our customers have created thousands of personalized configurations. Despite this, they continue to ask for more customization, more parameters, more automation, more integrated business intelligence – in short, more control to transform our software into THEIR solution. All solution providers that support business processes recognize and understand this ongoing challenge.

The alternative? A no-code development platform that turns Octopus into a codeless program, which can be reprogrammed by non-programmers, so as to empower everyone with unlimited customization capabilities.

No-code (or low-code) development platforms are currently making headlines. The first “No-code/Low-code” conference was held in Quebecin May 2021, where dozens of speakers, solution providers and attendees shared their initiatives, products, and vision of a no-code/low-code world.

According to Gartner, “by 2025, 70% of new applications developed by organizations will use low-code or no-code technologies, up from less than 25% in 2020.”

In 2022, Octopus will launch the first no-code platform designed in Quebec!

By the end of 2022, we will be releasing our new cloud platform designed to build both enterprise applications and ready-to-use software solutions, like Octopus.

However, in anticipation of what promises to be an important moment in time for us, we’ve decided to share with you – our clients and the community at large – our ongoing progress, insights and experiences as we forge ahead with the development of this no-code platform.

In fact, our Octopus MD healthcare solutions were created using our new platform with several clients successfully running these applications for over two years! Many others would like to understand how, in just 12 weeks, we were able to design and develop solutions such as “Octopus ALC” (alternate level of care) to fit so seamlessly into their internal processes.

In light of these recent successes, the positive feedback, and given the anticipated market opportunities, Octopus has launched a massive recruitment campaign. To develop and bring to market a no-code platform requires a great number of qualified and experienced resources.

Whether you’re one of the talented professionals we seek to recruit, or simply interested in learning more about our project, we invite you to visit our no-code platform page. And if you’re interested, we also encourage you to do your own research by searching the web, paying close attention to the subtle differences between no-code and low-code solutions.

We have a great many things to share on this topic; so be sure to follow us on social media. In the coming months, we will continue to share our ideas and knowledge regarding our revolutionary approach to software development.

Do you have any questions or comments? Don’t hesitate to contact us, we would be delighted to hear from you!

– Octopus No Code Platform

A digital transformation journey for users of Alternate Level of Care (ALC) services at the Integrated health and social services centres of Montérégie-West

The Project

Alternate level of care (ALC) in hospitals is a complex, systemic, recurring, and costly issue that has become a top priority for the Quebec Minister of Health and Social Services and of healthcare institutions.

According to the daily report situation in emergency departments and hospitals (Daily Statement of the Emergency Situation in the Hospital Center (DSESHC)), the definition of a person classified with ALC status is as follows: “An inpatient is considered to be in ALC status if his or her condition still requires care and services, but it is no longer necessary, in terms of specificity or intensity, for them to be provided in the acute care beds of the general and specialized hospital center. The user is considered to require an alternate level of care (or ALC user) from the moment the healthcare team determines that the acute care unit is no longer the most appropriate environment to provide the level of care required by their condition, until their departure.”

ALC users are characterized by a prolonged occupation of short-term beds when their medical condition no longer requires it. This inappropriate use of beds creates an accessibility challenge for other users whose health condition requires hospitalization.

Hospital fluidity is therefore based on a complementary and collaborative synergy that must be established between upstream hospital services, the emergency department, care units and services offered after hospitalization. In an organizational context, this fluidity implies services that are found in all clinical directions and in multiple service delivery locations.
The rate of ALC is one of the required indicators required to measure the health of the hospital’s fluidity. A high ALC rate in acute care beds would indicate barriers to fluidity, while a lower rate reflects an optimal, integrated and established management.

Reasons for action

In 2019-2020, faced with an ALC rate approaching 20%, and confronted with numerous organizational obstacles, the Integrated health and social services centres of Montérégie-West decided to undertake a vast process review and initiate digital transformation with the objective of improving the fluidity of user trajectory in ALC status.
Obstacles identified became levers that the organization mobilized their collective efforts.

The main barriers identified were:

  • Multiple tools required to manage ALCs
  • Complex communication
  • Lack of understanding of the ALC function within the organization
  • Access to information is non-comprehensive with the impossibility for real-time data
  • The search for culprits > the search for solutions
  • The 2020 healthcare emergency required a significant increase in hospital capacity

Simple, concrete and effective solutions

Founded on best practices, the solutions selected had to:

  • Establish mechanisms for collaboration and contextualized communication
  • Track and analyze users with an ALC status on a daily basis
  • Respect timeframes for obtaining confirmation of referral to targeted resources
  • Involve all stakeholders required to contribute to the effort
  • Implement tools to ensure continuity of information
  • Develop dashboards and monitor indicators on a daily basis in real-time

The development of a clinical-administrative solution has proven to be a central component of the Integrated health and social services centres of Montérégie-West approach. The IT solution provides caregivers the opportunity to monitor fluctuations in ALC rates in real-time and ensures that users receive optimal care that takes their health needs into account. It supports team mobilization in the implementation of all that is necessary to ensure that the user is in the right place at the right time.

The solution also made it possible to strengthen the collaborative work between stakeholders involved in the trajectory of the ALC user, demonstrating the added value for both users and staff.

Upon completion of this vast project, the following solutions were implemented making it possible to achieve their main objective – to reduce the rate of users in ALC status:

  • Simplification of the referral process for ALC users
  • Implementation of daily meetings to manage ALC users
  • Major digital transformation through the development of a clinical-administrative solution (OCTOPUS- ALC) to support the clinical activities of healthcare workers involved in the daily follow-up of users and clinical-administrative activities of managers
  • Sharing a common vision of the ALC function throughout the organization
  • Follow-up of ALC users in real-time and users at risk of becoming ALCs
  • Support for daily ALC fluidity meetings
  • Contextualized communication between the various stakeholders
  • Monitoring of indicators and statistics in real-time
  • Production of departmental reports using the solution
  • Elimination of parallel data compilation systems (elimination of double and triple data entries)

Highlights

  • Fully developed solution within 2 months (January to February 2021)
  • Nearly 140 users
  • Solution accessible on all platforms
  • Reserved space for documentation within the solution
  • A gain in 48 short-term beds and the time of 4 full-time employees
  • Average NSA rate reduced from 20% to 8%

An Essential Partner

This digital transformation was made possible thanks to the essential contribution of our partner, Octopus.

With the goal of modernizing the health and social services network through innovative pre-configured solutions backed by best practices, Octopus provides real-time information, delivering added value to healthcare professionals and managers.

Having participated in many projects since 2005, Octopus discovered that there was a lack of user-friendly, easy-to-use optimal tools that met the needs of the clinical-administrative function. It’s why they developed Octopus MD with the goal of improving the efficiency of care and the quality of services delivered to users.

Source : Le Point en santé et services sociaux, volume 16, numéro 3, édition hiver 2022