Success of TPP and EMIS Health Interoperability Pilot
In November 2018, Herts Valley CCG and Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust carried out a successful pilot of patient information sharing between the SystmOne and EMIS Web systems, allowing users to view the complete community and GP records across the area.
The project provided nine EMIS Web GP sites with the ability to view and share patient data with 50 SystmOne community services, who in turn, could also view and share with those GP sites. This allowed clinicians to bring up a patient’s care record embedded within their current clinical system. The pilot was signed off in December 2018 and Herts Valley CCG are keen to roll the interoperability project out to the wider CCG area.
Breaking down healthcare barriers
This interoperability project is helping to break down the barriers between two separate systems, allowing clinicians to work together with a seamless compatibility. This drastically improves continuity of care and clinicians are able to deliver treatment based on more informed clinical decisions. Patrick Thorpe, head of clinical systems at Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust was impressed by the level of detail that was available by sharing information between the two systems during the pilot project. He said, “It’s not just a snapshot, it’s a comprehensive and detailed view of a patient record, and that can only be good for patients.”
“Direct interoperability between EMIS and TPP means that staff can get a comprehensive view of a patient’s record at the point of care with no delay” Patrick Thorpe, Head of clinical systems, Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust
Creating safer joined-up care
Allowing GP and community clinicians, nurses and admin staff to access, relevant patient information has been a great success in Hertfordshire. Dr Mike Walton, a GP in Herts Valley CCG, found that within just the first day of the project, he was able to use the new interoperability between his own GP record (EMIS Web) and the SystmOne record used by the community trust, in order to help several patients whilst out on call.
With access to a view of a patient’s community SystmOne medical history in EMIS Web, Mike was able to:
• Assist a new patient whose full record hadn’t properly transferred over to the GP practice but could access information from a recent check-up from community health visitors
• Adjust medication for a baby by accessing their most recent weight measurements from their last community health visit
• View and adjust the insulin dosage for an elderly patient in the local care home by accessing their most recent dosage information from the community diabetes service
“This kind of information sharing can make an enormous amount of difference to care and clinical safety” Dr Mike Walton, GP, Herts Valley CCG
A full picture for more informed care
Because our interoperability gives the community teams in Herts Valley CCG access to detailed and updated information in real time, clinical safety has improved in both their primary and community services. Community clinicians are also able to fully understand the narrative of clinical activity in general practice, which helps them to deliver more accurate and informed patient care. “It is the sort of joined-up care we have been aching to see for a long time” says Dr Walton.
Helping to plan future services and programmes
This direct interoperability between EMIS Health and TPP isn’t just helping clinicians and nurses – it also helps admin staff to plan the running of programmes. Mike found that it helped admin teams within his practice record information such as school vaccinations, quicker and more accurately. Being able to view the SystmOne record of vaccinations administered by the school nurses means that information was properly coded back into EMIS Web so that they could plan properly with no overlaps.
Connected, high-quality care
There is such a huge appetite for interoperability and a real need for it. For high-quality care to be delivered across care settings, interoperability between multiple systems is key.
“By ensuring that our systems interoperate, we are supporting the Department of Health’s recently announced future technology vision, and leading the way towards connected and high-quality care across all sectors” – Dr John Parry, Clinical Director TPP
TPP is a leading provider of healthcare IT. TPP’s solutions include integrated interoperable Electronic Health Records (EHRs), patient apps and research.
TPP’s philosophy is to join up healthcare across communities based on a single patient record, improving access to clinical data and to empower patients.
SystmOne provides a rich and detailed EHR that can be shared in real time with a range of healthcare organisations. Specialised modules are available across 24 health and care settings connecting primary, acute, mental health and social care. SystmOne serves over 47 million patients and is used by more than 200,000 healthcare professionals in over 7,000 organisations.