A patient portal for remote monitoring

0%

Of patients opted to receive digital letters.

£0,000

Savings on postage fees.

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust were one of the first UK trusts to offer patients digital first appointment letter. Initially implemented to overcome issues with paper letters such as late delivery and no tracking of receipt, the patient portal instantly sends communications to smartphones and digital devices.

Continuing to capitalize on their digital adoption, they deployed fully inclusive remote monitoring of patients on waiting lists and with long term conditions.

Challenge

Paper letters not being received with no tracking available.

Solution

A healthcare portal so patients can remote access their planned care.

Results

Improving operational efficiency for staff and increasing patient trust.

Patient portal

Through the patient portal patients can securely access all appointment details including their letter, essential reading and pre-attendance instructions from one central location and confirm, cancel or rebook with 1 tap, even out of hours when traditional methods are not available.

Through the portal, patients can:
  • Convert digital text to 99 languages and read aloud in 42.

  • Receive a postal letter if the digital version is not accessed within 24 hours.

  • Add appointment to digital device calendars as a further reminder prompt.

  • Access real time travel maps and hospital wayfinding info.

  • Register to receive all appointment communications in one personal health hub including test requests & results, outcome letters and vaccination communications.

  • Complete eTriage, pre-attendance questionnaires and surveys when enabled.

The hospital quickly realized the benefits of:
  • Immediate savings of £10,000 a month from postal costs reduction.

  • Elevated the trust from the bottom of digital maturity index, to number 1 position.

  • Dramatically reduced call volumes and inbound calls became more high value conversations.

  • Real time notification of rebooks and cancels improved slot utilization.

  • Process automation has vastly improved operational efficiency, removing bottlenecks in workflows, eliminating wastage and repetitive admin tasks.

  • Assurance of letter delivery with complete audit trail and live response reporting.

Remote monitoring of patient waiting lists

Already live within 25 Trusts across the UK, the award winning approach to validating waiting lists ensures no patient falls through the cracks and those that are not digitally enabled can still be swiftly communicated with about their health status.

The solution empowers:
  • Instant delivering of waiting list communications to patient mobiles, with responses reported back to operational teams in real time.

  • Patients to self-select their preference within a few clicks on response buttons – including need to be treated, condition changed or signposted to waiting well.

  • eTriage to immediately identify patients whose treatment requires risk stratifying and highlights improved conditions where capacity can be reallocated.

  • A automatic switch to a postal letter or phone call if the patient doesn’t open the digital communication or no number is held in PAS.

  • Digital content to convert to 99 languages, be read aloud in 46 and includes a complete suite of accessibility tools to personalise communications to the patient’s needs.

  • Improved data quality by capturing ethnicity, demographics, and missing contact details.

25K

Of patients registered in the patient portal.

Digital first remote monitoring

3 years on, 64% of patients are now opting to receive digital letters over post at the trust and over half a million patients have accessed hospital communications via their portal! 25,520 patients have also decided to go completely paperless and registered to create their own personal health hub.

For future scope in the project is to deliver eForms to longer waiting follow up patients to assess their current health and prioritize who needs to be seen.

This is an exciting opportunity to build on our digital first portfolio and improve communications with our patients. ”
Katharine Fletcher, Head of planned access,
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