Article | Supporting MDTs to do what they do best

Delivering unified, holistic care from across services and specialisms, the work multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) complete is essential to many patients with complex needs. We’re here to make it easier for these teams to do what they do best with technology that ties everyone closer together.

It’s pretty much universally accepted that the more connected patient care is, the better outcomes are likely to be. It’s why so much has been made in NHS strategy of the importance of dissolving traditional care boundaries, with both the Five Year Forward View and the NHS Long Term Plan stressing the need for teams across care settings to work more closely together. 

While there’s renewed importance on integrating care across the NHS, there’s an area of care that’s long been focussed on collaborative working: multidisciplinary teams (MDTs). Made up healthcare professionals from across care settings and specialisms, MDTs bring clinicians together so that they can use their knowledge and skills to collectively plan and deliver a coordinated package of care. Often used to support those with complex needs within their own homes, it means that patients receive really targeted, expert support throughout their care journey.  

But while MDTs are a great example of the way that different resources are already being linked together, their work can be challenging. With such complex care to deliver, teams need the right systems and processes in place – and they need these to be as integrated as the service they’re providing.  

We’re here to help ensure that this is always the case. By providing organisations with access to shared care records, cross-organisational tasks and plenty more, our technology supports existing MDTs and brand-new service redesigns to fully meet the NHS’s aims of providing personalised, integrated and coordinated care. 

How clinicians think MDTs can be transformed with healthtech

Technology can make MDTs’ work easier to complete and their care more effective.

Ian Bailey, Clinical Director at Optum (formerly EMIS)

MDTs have to be powered with a full holistic view of a patient’s medical record.

Haidar Samiei, Clinical Director at Optum

To truly pinpoint how technology can best help MDTs, we spoke to those who’ve got first-hand experience of working within them. Two of our clinical experts, Ian Bailey and Haidar Samiei, detail their thoughts on how technology can modernise MDTs and drastically simplify the way in which they work. Gain their insight and read their articles by clicking the links above.

Providing plenty of ways to connect care with EMIS Web

Our clinical IT system is here to make it easier for clinicians from across multiple disciplines and service provider boundaries to work together around the needs of their patients. Useful for MDTs of all sizes, it supports smaller teams focussed on more straightforward requirements, as well as larger teams caring for more complex needs – like long-term conditions.

Want to know how? Then read below to understand exactly how EMIS Web can support you:

Data sharing

By giving all clinicians access to the same shared electronic patient record, EMIS Web helps teams to:

make more informed decisions: everyone has a full picture of a patient’s entire care
reduce repetition of tasks and questions: see current and previous care provision
save time: there’s no longer any need to chase clinicians for more information
get the most from each other: with everyone able to instantly get up to speed, clinicians are left to have targeted, specialist conversations.

Cross-organisational tasks and electronic messaging

With electronic tasks and messages, MDTs can do more than just reduce paper processes:

ensure patients get treatment quicker: they’ll move through pathways and services faster
reduce travel: community teams don’t need to visits sites or practices to view paper tasks
take action sooner: teams get information about patients in their care more quickly.

Referrals

Significantly simplified referral processes in EMIS Web means that organisations can:

improve accuracy: electronic forms ensure receiving organisations get all the right details
speed up referrals: eradicate lengthy paper processes
reduce admin: include less information in referrals with receiving organisations able to see patient records.

Putting it all into practice – see what others have achieved

If you want to see the transformational effect that technology can have first-hand, look no further than Liverpool Diabetes Partnership (LDP).

Their innovative new service redesign relied on EMIS Web to help underpin their aim of delivering holistic care across care settings. They’ve cut referral rates, improved waiting times and have gained a whole lot more. 

50% reduction in hospital referrals