Data sharing between GP clinical system suppliers launched on general release
Data sharing between TPP and EMIS Health is now available on general release. This allows clinicians across the health service who use the leading clinical systems to view vital patient information across different systems and care settings, including data from both GP and community records.
The interoperability project will be open to all GP system suppliers to use and pilot schemes have been successfully completed by TPP and EMIS Health.
The project is viewed as an important step forward in Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s drive to introduce open standards for data-sharing throughout the NHS, making GP records available to both GP and other services.
Staff will be able to view information such as allergies, medication, problems and consultations, recorded by staff such as district nurses, physiotherapists and end-of-life specialists as well as GPs. The aim is to enable clinicians to make safer, speedier decisions about care without needing to phone colleagues to check information or wait for a fax.
Martin Warden, Programme Director for Digital Transformation in General Practice at NHS Digital said: “We welcome this interim initiative, which will support GPs and community staff to see a fuller picture of their patients’ care until the GP IT Futures Framework is launched at the end of this year. The new Framework standards will ensure that all primary care systems on the framework, regardless of supplier, are built using shared, open standards, meaning that they are all able to communicate across organisational boundaries.”
The project enables GPs to have a comprehensive view of patients’ records.
Uses include:
• assisting a new patient whose full record hasn’t yet transferred over to the GP practice. The GP could access information from a recent check-up by health visitors
• adjusting medication for a patient based on new information from their last district nurse visit
• viewing and adjusting medication for an elderly patient in the local care home by accessing their most recent dosage information from the community diabetes service.
How to get involved
Speak to your local account manager to get the process started. We’ll ask you to fill out a configuration request and we’ll get the ball rolling on setting this up in your area. If you use SystmOne as your main GP clinical system, please contact enquiries@tpp-uk.com.
If you use EMIS Web as your main GP clinical system please contact your local account manager or email us on talkto@emishealth.com.