London's leading provider

Hurley Group Telehealth Strategy announced 19th July 2011

One of our core values is innovation. Over the coming months we intend to offer our patients the ability to consult with us online, order prescription medicines online and access a bank of health information videos. They will be able to do this via a secure online portal and ultimately access high quality healthcare from home, work or even on the move.

We currently have over 65,000 registered patients across London and we will pilot these services from mid 2011, with the ambition of rolling them out to all of our patients by early 2012.

We already offer a variety of IT solutions to our patients, but are mindful that we could do more. Currently all of our patients can benefit from:

• Individual websites at each practice, providing useful information about opening times, services and staff
• The ability to register as a new patient online
• Book appointments online
• Order repeat prescriptions online
• An Intranet is being developed for all staff
• Health feeds via Twitter and Facebook

We have rapidly grown as an organisation and are now the largest primary care provider in London. We manage over 500,000 consultations per year. And whilst we offer care at a range of locations, 7 days a week 8am-8pm in some places, we still only offer two basic ways to consult with a healthcare professional – either face-to-face or via the telephone.

We would like to expand the ways that our patients can access our services. With the advent of broadband, much more is now possible via the internet. The Government has committed to rolling out a superfast broadband network before 2015, expanding the digital community.

We will start by offering these services to our registered patients – initially those that are ‘web-connected’. Whilst mindful that this excludes certain members of our patient population, we would look to offer those that do not have access to the internet routes to get online (via free internet resources at libraries, community centres, etc or even in our waiting rooms). We will also explore working with partner organisations that allow us to deliver this ambitious strategy.

We will roll out the following 4 telehealth projects over the coming months:

1. Webcam consultations

Patients will be able to consult with a clinician via remote webcam. They will have booked appointments like any other registered patient. These can be booked via telephone or online (EMIS Access). Both patient and doctor/nurse ‘dial in’ at the appointed time and consult. Both the GP and patient can not only see one another, they can also view a live copy of the patient’s medical record being added to during the consultation. Any resulting prescriptions can be collected from reception or a local pharmacy.

We have piloted test consultations at 2 of our practices already.

2. Online prescriptions

Patients will have access to web-based service that allows them to ‘consult’ 24 hours a day for certain conditions that lead to the issue of a prescription.

They will follow templates for certain symptoms/conditions that take them through a series of YES/NO answers and result in either advice or signposting. If required, they will be issued with a prescription for medication, which they can collect from either their local surgery or a Pharmacy local to the surgery.

Example conditions include: simple UTI, hay fever, and contraceptive pill.

3. Health information videos

Patients will be able to access a bank of health information videos via their practice websites.

They will have access 24 hours a day to a range of short films (‘Medical Minutes’) that might offer simple health advice or detailed information about a drug and potential side effects. We would anticipate films being available covering:

• Simple, preventative health advice (healthy eating, stop smoking, etc)
• Treatment of certain conditions (common cold, fever in children, etc)
• Advice about specific interventions (how to use an inhaler, back pain exercises, etc)
• Common medications (benefits, potential side effects, etc)

4. Patient access to electronic health records

Patients will be able to access their medical records via a highly secure website. This system is tried and tested and currently used by approximately 100 GP practices in England.

Patients can access their full electronic health record via EMIS Access – the same system that they currently use to book online appointments and order repeat prescriptions at some of our sites.

Summary

The advent of widespread internet access and smart phones will change both the way we deliver and the way patients access healthcare.

We are keen to work with our teams to develop these new ways of working. These 4 projects will ensure that we remain innovative and will enhance our offering to patients.

Dr Murray Ellender | 19th July 2011

This week we are launching a blog on the Hurley Group website.

This will be a space where we will keep you posted on the latest news and events across the Group.

Apologies for the mugshot – only there because it will be me doing the posting. I have been with the Hurley Group since 2006. I see patients at Riverside Medical Centre, but spend much of my time travelling between the practices in my role as Operational Lead.

My other area of interest is IT and in the next few days I will post an update on some of the exciting innovations we are planning to offer our patients.

You can also follow us on Facebook (Hurley Facebook page) and on Twitter (@Hurley_Group).

Watch this space!

Best wishes,

Murray

Dr Murray Ellender | 8th July 2011