LPRES – Enhancing care through electronic documents - Healthcare Gateway

LPRES – Enhancing care through electronic documents

The Lancashire Person Record Exchange Service (LPRES) are using the Medical Interoperability Gateway (MIG) to send clinical documents to over 300 GP practices.

LPRES is a comprehensive Shared Care Record, which integrates health and social care organisations across Cumbria and Lancashire.

Background

LPRES wanted to make it easier for Trusts to share crucial information such as test results and discharge summaries with GPs. They felt that sharing documents electronically would increase data security and improve communication across the region.

Document Services was identified as the perfect solution and they went live with the service in November 2017.  This service allows health and care organisations to send and receive any type of electronic correspondence. The documents are seamlessly delivered into the GP workflow and the sender receives an immediate acknowledgement when the item has been delivered, actioned or rejected by a practice

How have they benefited from Document Services?

Practices across Cumbria and Lancashire now receive discharge summaries within six hours, which has reduced clinical risk and improved continuity of care. They have also benefited from instant notifications, which has helped practices to meet their target to contact and review discharged patients within 48 hours.

Feedback from clinicians

Practices across East Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen Clinical Commissioning Groups, have benefited from the introduction of Document Services.

“After the recent launch for the documents dropping through workflow I can confirm we have been receiving 100% when checked against the duplicate hard copy. Early days but I believe we are enjoying the benefit of receiving clinic letters sooner, and without the waiting time of awaiting daily post-delivery, opening, stamping and scanning. I do believe this will be of huge benefit for each GP surgery to absorb into the workload in a more cost effective way and saving some trees in the process.”

“The new electronic clinic letters have been very beneficial to our practice in many ways. This includes, timely delivery of letters, no batch arrival of letters requiring clinician approval (arrive each day rather than 1-2 weeks), no paper letters left on desks waiting to be signed, all tasks are sent for actions from letters now with audit trail and there has been a reduction in admin time.  We can also read code appropriate information and make medication changes in a time efficient manner.”

What’s next?

“The LPRES team has a very productive relationship with Healthcare Gateway. They understand where we are trying to get to, ensuring the right information, in the right location at the right time.”

The LPRES platform is at the heart of the Lancashire and South Cumbria STP’s digital strategy. Over the next three years they will provide patients with instant access to their health care record, support image sharing and include diagnostic results reporting.

The MIG will be central to this project and LPRES plan to deploy the Detailed Care Record service later this year. This will be used alongside Document Services to provide healthcare professionals with 24/7 access the patient’s GP record.

Find out more

To arrange an online demonstration or to find out how the MIG is being used in your area, please get in touch here.