At the recent HETT show in London, there was lots of discussion about interoperability, aligning digital and improvement in NHS transformation – including the digital future of the NHS post-COVID - and how much we've learned about the use of technology in healthcare during the pandemic. There was a lecture theatre dedicated to interoperability and how to drive interoperability across the NHS, discussing digital innovation and transformation.
We are passionate about interoperability, in fact, we actively encourage partnership working to create a seamless patient pathway. In this piece, we’re going to look at interoperability and we’ll drill down into the areas of particular interest for our customers.
One important goal for the NHS is to improve interoperability across the organisation, and to move towards a digital landscape where everyone can work together and provide care seamlessly, essentially blurring the current hard lines between urgent, primary, secondary and mental health that we so often encounter as a stumbling block for patients. There is an evident desire to drive forward the amazing technological advances seen across the NHS over the last year, with the pandemic proving that healthcare organisations and software providers can move swiftly in moments of great challenge and work together to transform their processes in order to meet the needs of patients.
The recent NHSX blog 'An introduction to standards and interoperability at NHSX'[1] talks about the challenges of interoperability in healthcare - and how NHSX are planning for it, with the ultimate aim of delivering benefits to the health and care service by improving the governance, framework and processes to support standards. They go on to say: 'The benefits of successfully delivering an interoperable health and care system are huge: improved patient safety through reduced errors; more integrated care by making the right information available at the right time and at the right place; a thriving and innovative healthtech sector with usable apps and products; people able to access their own information and supporting the use of data for population health, policy making and research.'
Interoperability and urgent care
The urgent care sector relies on the creation of seamless patient pathways and interoperable solutions – joining up disparate systems in order to provide enhanced patient care. One project we are involved in is working with Urgent Treatment Centres (UTCs) to provide end-to-end digital health technology which supports the NHS Digital First agenda and also enables patients to move seamlessly through the patient pathway.
Shared Care Record
There is a need to fill in the gaps in interoperability where they still exist, and to streamline the use of data and the user experience within the NHS. As solution providers and clinicians and working in the NHS, we should all be focussing on how to use data to help improve care, and also to support the patient’s need to access their own care data. Just as we’ve seen other industries developing technology to help citizens access what they need from home, we should be doing the same within the healthcare sector.
Put patients in control of their own data
An interesting – and somewhat controversial – discussion point surrounding the future of the NHS is about putting patients in control of their own data. This is something that we are working towards – and we are one step nearer to that goal - having been successful in facilitating patients to self-triage when presenting for treatment at Urgent Treatment Centres. We understand that each patient owns their own data and welcome the step change towards ensuring data ownership isn’t controlled by a system provider.
Using technology to transform how care is given
It is evident that digital health technology must be a transforming force to improve health and care as we know it. We must be radical about re-thinking how care is given and taking on board what we’ve learned during the pandemic. As a collective, we must also reduce unnecessary trips to hospital. This is exactly what we are doing at CLEO Systems by supporting joined up care in UTCs.
Reshaping the patient pathway
It is really important to question and challenge traditional care pathways, as we look at reshaping and redesigning them to deliver better care. We must look at how clinicians think about patient pathways and how tech experts think about the user journey - and use this insight and similarity in ways of working to improve the way that health operates in a digital world.
Building for the future
Some people have expressed a concern for the future, where solution providers hold data that might not be accessible and can’t be properly shared. Would removing the data layer from the application layer make it easier to remove barriers? Solution providers are encouraged to offer the application software while the data is stored separately in the cloud, thus paving the way for a consistent data platform across the NHS.
While there can be negativity surrounding access to patient data, as the Kings Fund say in their article[2]: ‘People having control of their health data can be part of a better health system.’ They go on to explore the concept of patient data – what is it exactly? Currently it could be what is stored in the patient medical record at the GP, ‘But in future this data could sit alongside data generated by patients, made easy through cheaper and more ubiquitous digital technology.’
The recent wave of funding opportunities for digital health providers from the NHS – and support to apply for them[3] – means that urgent care providers would be well advised to keep an eye out for the funding available to them, which will ultimately facilitate their transformation journey.
We are big believers that digital healthcare is a vital part of the patient journey and we believe in the transformative power of tech to improve people’s lives. Interoperability is a game-changer and absolutely necessary to help support the NHS create a digital platform where we can all work together seamlessly, and we are ready and prepared to make this happen!
[1] https://www.nhsx.nhs.uk/blogs/an-introduction-to-standards-and-interoperability-at-nhsx/.
[2] www.kingsfund.org.uk/reports/thenhsif/what-if-people-controlled-their-own-health-data/
[3] https://www.cleosystems.com/news/understanding-healthcare-technology-funding/