storing patient records Archives - Page 2 of 2

Chinese Whispers

A GP who is at the forefront of patient engagement and empowerment has revealed that 99% of his communications with physiotherapists are still carried out on paper. According to the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Dr Amir Hannan said ‘I don’t think we use email as productively as we might or technology in general.’

With letters being used as the prime communication method, it can sometimes be weeks before the results of patient treatments are conveyed to the general practitioner, resulting in delays in considering appropriate follow up treatment. This affects the perception and actuality of patient care and can in some cases lead to a worsening of the patient’s condition.

In fact, Dr Amir highlighted the way in which delays in receipt of letters can result in the patient having to brief the doctor on the methods and results of treatments. Whilst this does play into the hands of those who advocate patients taking responsibility for their care, it also means that treatments and findings can be filtered with a ‘Chinese whisper’ effect resulting in distortions.

Dr Hannan’s comments were echoed by NHS England’s director of systems, strategy and technology, Beverley Bryant, who confessed herself to be amazed “how much paper flies around our hospitals”. As we have previously reported, one solution to this paper mountain is to adopt smarter practices which benefit from the use of current technology. The health care authorities are working towards this end but there are options available now for those who need to find a way to communicate more effectively.

One of the main barriers to swift communication is the simple lack of time available to those who want to maximise patient treatment time. Every time papers are filed, every time the phone is answered, every time an invoice is sent out is time which takes health practitioners away from their core task. Simply by using the services of a virtual assistant to take control of telephone answering, diary management, electronic records and invoicing enables practitioners to free up valuable time.

Working smarter, not harder may be a mantra which is parroted around the business-speak airwaves on a regular basis but it does carry an element of truth. Health practitioners took up the call to treat and improve the lives of others. By concentrating on that calling and leaving the day to day admin to others, everyone benefits.

Designing care pathways around patients’ needs

A report by The King’s Fund has recommended that local organisations be given the freedom to prioritise quality patient care under the supervision of NHS boards. Entitled “Patient-centred leadership” the report acts as a follow-up to the Francis inquiry.

One of the central themes of the report relates to the need to move away from externally imposed targets and towards a culture which puts patient-care at the centre of the NHS. Commenting on the report the NHS Confederation chief operating officer Matt Tee said: “It is very worrying that such a significant proportion of respondents to the King’s Fund survey think the NHS does not sufficiently prioritise quality of care.”

The president of the Royal College of Physicians, Sir Richard Thompson, backed the report but highlighted the way in which technology can play its part in aiding, or hampering, a physician’s attempt to provide quality care. A report on the national health executive website quotes Sir Richard as saying that “Clinicians desperately want to provide high quality care, but problems with systems and resources can often make it difficult for doctors and nurses to treat their patients well.”

Certainly the old days of scribbling a note on a piece of paper and putting it in a patient’s file are gone. But whether the introduction of technology has improved and streamlined care processes is a matter of debate by many health practitioners. As with any new technology, some systems prove a boon in terms of time saving whilst others are so complex that the practitioner sometimes feels they are spending every moment in satisfying the ever gaping maw of IT and processes.

But there are some technologies which can make a real difference to maximising patient care times. For example, systems which record and store patient files electronically can generate huge time savings. Gone are the hours of filing and the wasted time whilst you search for a note which has been misplaced. Instead, a touch of a button and the entire patient file is there before you, with notes, MRI images and other documents available to view instantly. Not only does an automated patient record help to manage multi-practitioner cases, it can prove to be a boon in smaller practices such as those provided by osteopaths or physiotherapists.

Undoubtedly our health practitioners have the will to provide top quality patient care at all times. With automated patient records freeing up valuable time, perhaps technology can lead the way in this transformation.

Physiotherapy, an essential part of dementia care

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have published a new quality standard which aims to support people to live well with dementia. The aim behind the standard (QS30) is that “a person-centred and integrated approach to providing care and services is fundamental to delivering high-quality care for people with dementia.”

In addition to acknowledging the importance of carers in the treatment of those with dementia the standard also looks at every aspect of a dementia sufferer’s care including leisure, health and relationships. The standard also highlights the need for individual choice and control to be at the forefront of any programme especially when planning and evaluating services.

One element of the standard also looks at the importance of those with dementia and their carers being able to access “services that help maintain their physical and mental health and wellbeing.” Whilst some of these services naturally include access to general practices and nurses, the list also includes care services such as hearing therapists, chiropodists and physiotherapists.

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) contributed to the development of the dementia standard with particular advice being sought from the network of physiotherapists who work with older people (Agile)*. In commenting on the standard Agile chair, Janet Thomas, said “The dementia guidance we saw certainly had a different feel to other NICE guidance, with the emphasis shifted to the day-to-day living aspect of dementia care, and this is very important.”

With a growing body of evidence supporting the theory that “a healthy mind in a healthy body” is not just a saying but a vital component of wellbeing in later life, there is certainly something to be said for helping dementia sufferers to stay as active as possible. Hopefully this means that those involved in physiotherapy and other related services will see a greater call on their time as they work with carers and those with dementia to help to provide an integrated holistic management programme.

Taking steps to reduce administration time, such as by managing diaries and storing patient records electronically, will help to maximise treatment time and hopefully enable physiotherapists to take their place at the forefront of this new approach to care.

* http://agile.csp.org.uk/

Going paperless

The Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has set out plans for a paperless NHS by 2018. In a speech to the Policy Exchange the Health Secretary said that a series of milestones would mark key stages towards the eventual goal. These include hospitals being able to accept electronic records by 2014 with 2015 seeing electronic referrals in place.

In advance of the announcement a report by PwC suggested that over £4 billion could be saved within the NHS by better use of information and technology. This includes automatic referrals, e-prescriptions and the smart use of technology increasing the time clinicians spend with patients thus leading to a reduction in waiting times.

This latest drive towards a paperless NHS has been broadly welcomed with the only scepticism coming from those who suffered from the failure of the previous attempt by Labour to bring in a centralised NHS system. This latest initiative avoids the “monolithic system” pitfalls by enabling health providers such as GP Practices and hospitals to commission their own systems which will merely be required to share records with other systems. This means that health providers can develop, store and manage records in a way which suits them, subject to central sharing protocols.

There is no doubt that digitising records can save time and money. For example, the John Taylor Hospice near Birmingham has more than doubled the time clinicians can spend with patients simply by using laptops. But the drive towards a paperless NHS can also benefit others within the health care sector. Software such as that offered by the Clinic Appointments patient records service is already helping health practitioners to digitise their patient records. This means that records can be accessed 24/7, there is no time wasted in finding or sorting records and with clinical notes, x-rays and invoices all centrally handled the health practitioner can spend more time on treating patients.

Combined with the telephone answering and diary management service this means that while an osteopath or physiotherapist is treating one patient the Clinic Appointments team can take calls, book appointments and the health practitioner can then call up the next patient’s details at a touch of a button. With faster administration time and no more worries about losing patient records in fire or floods clinicians can concentrate on what they do best, treating their patients.

Time to stop sitting around

A study from Leicester and Loughborough Universities has shown that sitting still for long periods of time can increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease and death. Whilst the trigger limit varies from person to person, those who sit for the longest are at greatest risk, with the strongest association being between sitting still and diabetes.

Dr Emma Wilmot who led the study said that “people convince themselves they are living a healthy lifestyle, doing their 30 minutes of exercise a day. But they need to think about the other 23.5 hours.” Suggestions to redress the balance include conducting standing meetings, walking at lunch time and typing whilst standing up.

There will be those working in some health fields who will greet the study with a wry smile. Health practitioners working in occupations such as physiotherapy or who offer beauty treatments can find themselves standing for long periods and so would welcome the chance to sit down at the end of a busy day. However, for them, the benefits of moving around during the day can be outweighed by the stress of having to catch up at the end of a day; with paperwork and telephone calls taking up time which would be better spent on leisure.

Those who are caught in this trap may well find that using the services of a virtual assistant can enable them to relax at the end of the day, rather than spend several hours on paperwork. Sometimes thought of as simply providing a telephone answering service, virtual assistants in fact do so much more. For example, taking advantage of diary management and patient records services means that patient notes will be organised and available at the touch of a button, appointment reminders and invoices sent out and the diary kept up to date.

This means that rather than turning round at the end of a day to remind clients of upcoming appointments , search out patient records for the next day and send out invoices, all the health practitioner needs to do is glance at their diary and then go home to a well earned rest. Add in the fact that whilst the health practitioner is working the virtual assistant is answering calls and filling up their diary and the overall effect is to reduce no shows and banish non-earning blank times during the day.

So whether the health practitioner is on their feet all day or not, using a virtual assistant service at least means the end of sitting around waiting for patients to show, and paperwork free evenings.

Prioritising Patient Records

On 21 May the Department of Health published its information strategy setting out a ten year plan for improving information management across health and social care. Key targets include providing people with access to their own records online by 2015, promoting online appointment booking and the ability to share test results on line.

The information strategy, subtitled “The power of information” has a two fold aim. Firstly it seeks to improve the patient-professional partnership by providing patients with access to their records and thereby improve informed choice decisions. Secondly the strategy recognises that a system which efficiently collates patient records will save time and money as well as improving care.

The proposals have received broadly positive responses. Although the BMA has raised a concern over security of records, particularly across shared systems, it has also gone on record to say that it supports “the sharing of relevant information between healthcare professionals.” The Chief Executive of the NHS commissioning board, Sir David Nicholson, commented that the adoption of an information strategy is the first step “in a genuine cultural shift in the NHS that will enable the service to work at its most efficient and give patients real power and choice.”

Certainly the more work which can be done on computerising patient records the better. Health professionals work in a time pressured environment and time spent looking for records is time which is not spent on patient treatment. This is one of the reasons why Clinic Appointments instituted its Patient Records service. This enables health care professionals to upload and view clinical notes, x-ray and scan records as well as client invoices. The software is simple to use and the secure records can be accessed at any time 24/7.

Keeping patient records in one place means the end of searching for missing records; it means that patient histories can be viewed at a glance and eventually it will mean that information can be shared with others under the information strategy. Linking the patient records service with diary management and virtual receptionist services frees up clinicians to do what they do best. So, no more filing, no more searching and no more phone answering, just client treatments.

The Department of Health and the NHS Commissioning Board have until April 2013 to finalise the information standards and route map. In the meantime the Clinic Appointments Patient Records Service is there for health professionals who are looking to cut down on administration time now.

0800 0789333 info@clinicappointments.com

Book your free demo today! Call us on 0800 0789333 or book online

Tag: storing patient records