Software application that could transform healthcare

15/11/2009

An innovative software application will play a pivotal role in the success of polysystems in east London, say health chiefs.

Health Analytics, a Cambridge-based software company, has helped develop an existing application to provide up-to-date data for Redbridge on every facet of work carried out in the borough's 51 surgeries.

The application will allow health professionals to monitor and evaluate data and performance at a previously unreachable level of detail, including:

• Understanding current healthcare needs
• Predicting future health trends
• Identifying opportunities for improving patient care
• Providing "real time" data on referral rates
• Identify patients at high risk of emergency admission
• Details on secondary and community care contacts to GPs.
• Provide cost data to GPs

Health Analytics' ability to track and even pre-empt emerging health trends as well as providing early intervention measures for patients at risk of hospital admission has huge potential.

The application will be central to the borough's five GP-led polysystems, which will be responsible for delivering healthcare within their respective communities.

Clinicians' intimate understanding of their communities will help them design and deliver healthcare measures that not only address current need, but anticipate future trends such as the rise in diabetes and obesity.

The polysystems will increasingly take over the role of commissioning local services eventually commanding an annual budget of up to £400m.

Their first challenge is looking at ways of reducing the number of first outpatient referrals made by GPs.

There has been a 36 per cent increase in referrals in the past three years, with huge variations in referral rates between different practices.

One practice made 400 per cent more cardiology referrals than a neighbouring practice, incurring an additional £130,000 in annual costs.The referral management scheme aims to reduce first referrals for outpatient appointments by 30 per cent by April 2010, making a £3m saving.

Several specialist areas have already been highlighted where referrals are noticeably high, including ophthalmology, dermatology, trauma and orthopaedics.

Health Analytics will provide up-to-date information about the number of first time referrals being made by each practice along with details of the patient's condition.

It replaces the former system where primary care staff had to wait up to two months before they could analyse the data.

The new system will allow the primary care trust to identify surgeries not meeting the agreed targets and, if necessary, drill down to an individual’s medical history to analyse the reason why.

Conor Burke, Borough Managing Director of NHS Redbridge, said:
"This application will provide us with a map of how, where, and when to improve every facet of GP-led healthcare."
"This application is the key that unlocks the potential of everything we believe polyclinics can deliver. It takes us to a new level of data access and analysis that hasn't been possible before."
"We saw the potential of the earlier Health Analytics model and have worked alongside the company to develop the new application. It will be the driver through which we can really start effecting positive change throughout primary care."

Redbridge NHS Press office: Steve Watkins, Media Manager, 0208 882 3002