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December newsletter
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As we begin to wind down for the festive period, we've brought our November and December editions together to create a bumper festive newsletter. This includes the latest on Electronic Prescription Services, a joyful lookback at some of your success stories from 2023 and exciting updates from a number of our partners.
Success of EPS Bulk Signing
In October we announced the arrival of this new functionality in Medicine Management that gives clinicians the option to bulk sign eligible EPS tasks.
We're pleased to share that at the end of December nearly 70% of our practices are now using EPS Bulk Signing and this number is rising every day. We've also witnessed over 1.65 million prescriptions being successfully processed.
We're continually working with practices to help them successfully get on board with this new functionality as well as tracking feedback from users on a regular basis. Don’t forget, there are further EPS Bulk Signing enhancements on our roadmap, including being able to bulk sign patient requested items from the “Request with Queries” folder. We'll keep users informed as these developments progress and become available.
You can find user guides on EMIS Now to help you make the most of the new functionality and understand the eligibility criteria for bulk signing. An EPS Bulk Signing course is also available on EMIS Academy, our interactive digital learning platform.
Electronic Prescription Service launch in Wales
"Collaborative working has been key to the successful launch of the electronic prescription service in Wales", says Digital Health and Care Wales.
The Digital Medicines Transformation Portfolio (DMTP), which is hosted by Digital Health and Care Wales, has worked closely with EMIS and other key partners in the NHS and industry to deliver the electronic prescription service in Wales in just 20 months.
Dr Shaun O'Hanlon, EMIS Group Chief Medical Officer, said: “We're absolutely delighted to have been able to support the Welsh Government’s commitment to digitalise prescriptions with our technology. We’ve worked closely with the teams at Digital Medicines Transformation Portfolio to implement the new electronic prescription service and we’re delighted to hear from practice staff and patients alike that the new service is already starting to save time and provide a better service for patients.
"The project also includes tech to support further development and the introduction of smartcards for Wales too, which represents a big step in the digitisation programme."
You can read the full article on the Digital Health and Care Wales website.
EMIS-X begins national roll-out
53 practices went live with EMIS-X last week, the first to receive the new application following a successful pilot. This takes the number of practices using EMIS-X to 167, with over 8,000 verifies users.
We've received some extremely positive feedback back so far and will be accelerating roll out to all EMIS Web practices in England in the new year.
“The additional views, specifically documents for our admin team and investigations for our clinical team are really amazing,”
Kyle Barrett, Deputy Practice Manager, Rowan Tree Practice, Surrey
“I use EMIS-X daily and with the recent clinical changes have been extremely useful! It is really fast and responsive.”
“Just being able to have meds and results open whilst adding drugs and accessing templates has been game changing."
Dr Matt Best, GP Partner, Yelverton Surgery, Devon
"One of the biggest benefits of EMIS-X is being able to manage documents whilst navigating through the patient record. This new flexibility has really improved efficiency and usability of the system.”
Osman Bhatti – St Andrew’s Health Centre
Customer stories: successes of 2023
2023 has included incredible successes from our customers and to celebrate we've gathered a few of our inspiring customer stories that explore the challenges and innovative solutions that have been used this year.
Federation doubles consultation capacity using PCN Hub
Ensuring that patients are directed to the right team in the right place is critical to providing the right care – but this can only be made possible with joined-up processes, robust data handling and streamlined triage. EMIS Web PCN Hub provides the digital capability to make this a reality, supporting coordinated working across organisations that drives efficiencies and saves your valuable time.
We spoke with Mr Neil Kelly, Chief Digital and Information Officer at South Downs Health and Care, about how PCN Hub has enabled his team to double their consultation capacity.
NHS, Industry and EMIS collaborate in the fight for Hepatitis C elimination
The NHS England Hepatitis C (HCV) elimination programme is working to eliminate Hepatitis C as a major public health issue in England, ahead of the World Health Organisation (WHO) goal of 2030. To achieve this, the Cheshire and Merseyside Operational Delivery Network (ODN), based at The Royal Liverpool University Hospital, has been exploring innovative approaches to finding and treating those with the virus. This includes outreach in addiction services, visiting prisons and hostels, and even taking their services on the road in a clinical van.
Manchester pharmacy on track to increase appointment revenue by nearly 300% with the help of Patient Access for Professionals
Zeshan's implementation of PA Pro into his business, combined with the invaluable support from the PA Pro team, has turned his pharmacy into a thriving and innovative healthcare hub. By halfway through 2023, Zeshan had nearly delivered double the appointment revenue he’d seen in the whole of 2022.
Sidcup Medical Centre: How Docobo's EMIS interface enhances patient care with remote patient monitoring
Sidcup Medical Centre (SMC) plays a key part in the monitoring programme for eight care homes across the Bexley in Kent.
By using Docobo’s DOC@HOME remote monitoring technology, care home residents’ health and wellbeing can be actively managed, whilst swiftly alerting duty doctors at SMC to a patient’s deterioration or change in condition.
Practices work smarter, not harder across Wales
Leanne Owen, Deputy Practice Manager at Canolfan Iechyd Llangollen Health Centre, Wales, discusses EMIS functionality and how our flexible tech supports faster treatment decisions.
“My motto is to always do smarter, not harder working. EMIS Web supports that mentality.”
Building resilience and improving patient access
The revised GP Contract has brought about a focus on empowering patients and implementing modern general practice access, with practices now required to provide an assessment of need and appropriate care at point of contact. Dr Westgate has recently seen meaningful change at Carlisle Healthcare since harmonising online and telephone access within the practice.
Unlocking research opportunities with Recruit
Hearing about Recruit from an EMIS newsletter, Practice Manager Steffi Fisher jumped at an opportunity to use our free integrated tool to support clinical trial recruitment in a quick and simple way, where searches are automated within EMIS Web at the touch of a button.
Meet the Surrey practice empowering patients to take part in clinical research
We spoke with Lesley Cushen, Operations Manager at The Grove, about her team's experience using Recruit, which allows practices to easily identify and connect with patients who may be eligible to take part in clinical trials. The Grove first started using the platform last year after their initial activation within EMIS Web, a process Lesley describes as ‘literally a two-minute job’.
Wales practice reaps the benefits of cluster work with EMIS Web
Deborah Kalaji, Practice Manager at Canolfan Iechyd Amlwch, Wales, part of the Anglesey cluster, is a staunch EMIS Web fan “It’s invaluable to share reports and templates with colleagues at other EMIS Web practices, rather than reinventing the wheel as new projects and reporting requirements are implemented.
Data insights help PCN to shape services
Implementing APEX has allowed the team at Folkestone, Hythe & Rural PCN to visualise their data in real-time to make informed decisions on capacity planning and the structuring of their PCN additional roles workforce.
“It has allowed us to really see all the necessary data in real-time and run targeted search and reports across our PCN practices”, commented PCN Clinical Director Dr Aravinth Balachandran.
We love hearing from our customers and sharing their successes with our network. If you've had a successful 2023, share your stories on the EMIS social media pages or contact info@emishealth.com and you'll have the chance to be featured across our digital platforms.
Are you passionate about clinical research?
We're seeking a mixture of patients and clinicians to help us to shape our strategy and inform decisions when it comes to data and research.
By joining our Data and Research Advisory Board, you'll help us to ensure the voices of NHS clinicians and patients are heard when we're developing our data and research strategy, verify quality assurance structures are in place, and help us to communicate all of this to clinicians, patients and the public.
For more information, including how to apply, visit our website.
EMIS roadshows, continuing the journey into 2024
We're taking to the road again in 2024 with a series of informative and engaging events for our primary care customers that build on the success of our 2023 EMIS-X Innovation Through Evolution roadshow.
Our account directors will be hosting a range of special events across the country. Each event will include updates on EMIS Web and how we’re developing and enhancing it alongside the evolution and growth of EMIS-X. There’ll also be many opportunities to network with other organisations, share ideas and best practice, as well as taking part in interactive sessions around improved data handling, CPD, NHS frameworks and how to become a perfect PCN.
The tour schedule looks like this:
- February - Maidstone
- March - Manchester
- April - Birmingham
- May - Gatwick
- June - Telford
- July - Preston
- September - Sunderland
- October - St Albans
- November - Harrow
We’ll be opening up to receive bookings in January and communications will be sent to you directly with further details, so watch this space.
We had some really positive feedback from out last series of events and look forward to welcoming you in 2024.
“Excellent overall, really lovely to meet EMIS staff, the future is looking good!”
Partner updates
Dragon Medical One launches new customised commands for EMIS Web
As well as navigating, coding, and completing consultation notes, you're now able to build customised commands in Dragon Medical One. These commands execute processes in EMIS Web for you. Here’s a couple of examples:
- File normal bloods – Dragon Medical One actions the results without touching the keyboard.
- Patient referral – Dragon Medical One opens a task, selects referral type, addresses to recipient and types a message. You then dictate the body of the referral.
Find out more about Dragon Medical One.
Success story: Havering Health transforms care delivery with Hero Health
Hero Health have developed a case study with Havering Health, a GP Federation in Essex covering 30 sites. Using Hero, the Havering Federation team invited patients from across their catchment to Spirometry clinics at four hubsites.
The Havering team consolidated a list of all eligible patients from across their 30 sites and uploaded this to Hero. Patient contact details were retrieved from PDS, and then booking links were sent to patients offering them a choice of location for the service. A 40% booking rate was achieved, and scale benefits were unlocked.
Find out more about Hero Health.
Have you enabled Surgery Connect Phonebar?
The Surgery Connect Phonebar integrates directly with EMIS so you can make and receive internal and external calls and video calls, send ad hoc and template SMS, and request photos directly through the active patient.
For clinicians, using the Phonebar on your desktop means that you can call or text patients with a single click, saving valuable time in manual dialling and reducing errors.
For reception teams, the Phonebar enables users to call one another, call groups, and call externally from their onscreen directory. The screens also show which users are available and/or busy, making staff collaboration much simpler.
Watch the two minute demonstration.
Voice Connect, General Practice Awards finalists 2023, celebrate 17 years partnering EMIS
Patient Partner, takes centre stage in revolutionising telephone-based patient access, alleviating burdens on reception teams nationwide.
Sarah Sanders, Managing Director, shared insights into the latest features developed this year.
"Our goal is to close the divide between online and telephone services, guaranteeing that patients can effortlessly gain access to the same level of care from their GP, over the phone 24/7. Recent advancements include repeat prescription requests, pharmacy referrals, and administrative queries. Together with EMIS, we are dedicated to enhancing patient access for all.”
Find out more about Patient Partner
Prepare your practice for 2024 with our sought-after services eMR+ and eMR+ Lite
We know that primary care is often chaotic and extremely fast-paced, so Medidata's specially designed suite of services can help you regain precious time and resources to focus on delivering key patient care.
You can outsource your entire medical reporting process to Medidata's team of expert clinicians and administrators, including managing all invoicing and instructing third parties.
Think Healthcare launch ‘Virtual Care Navigator’ & free training offer to support NHS England cloud telephony framework
To support practices with the patient access and digital exclusion agenda Think Healthcare are launching ‘Virtual Care Navigator’ as part of the Think Healthcare cloud telephony platform.
Providing all the common options of online consult platforms, but over the phone: Check/cancel/book appointments, order prescriptions, request fit notes, and all available 24/7 in multiple languages, integrated directly into EMIS.
To support practices with the NHS England Better Purchasing Framework migrations Think Healthcare are also offering free training for all new phone systems to help practices make the most of moving to an advanced cloud telephony platform.
To find out more email sales@think-healthcare.co.uk
Do you know how many patients on your caseload have wounds that are deteriorating?
Approximately 50% of a community/primary care nurse time is spent on wound care and yet without innovation there is little to support caseload oversight of wounds. Digitising wound care measurements and assessments gives robust oversight, saves clinical time and delivers better patient outcomes.
To get oversight of deteriorating wounds North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust and Sirona care & health CIC have rolled out Minuteful for Wound at scale. Minuteful for Wound is a digital wound management solution that uses AI technology to calculate wound measurements and standardise wound assessments aligned to best practice.
Just some of the benefits these organisations have seen are 50% faster caseload reviews, a 33% reduction in inappropriate dressing use, a 50% reduction in documentation time and a 64% reduction in incidents related to wound care; leading to treatment optimisation, faster healing and better outcomes for patients.