CECPCT Trust has led the initiative, which uses the MedisecNET electronic delivery system from Medisec Software with PCTI Solutions Docman EDT to send documents to practices.
Scope
The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, East Cheshire NHS Trust and Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are using the system, and between them delivering discharge documentation to 54 practices in Central and East Cheshire and the majority of practices in West Cheshire. An end to end solution was required for all its practices.
Debi Lees, ICT project manager and business analyst, Cheshire ICT Service, highlights their Docman EDT roll out “PCTI’s EDT solution has been well received by practices; in fact they would like more letters coming through in this way as it is extremely convenient. Hospitals can sign off summaries on the day of discharge and send to the NET server, these are then sent to the Practice via Docman EDT the same day”.
Debi continues “we required a flexible solution to integrate with EMIS LV, EMIS PCS, iSoft Synergy, INPS and Microtest in our practices, and Docman EDT works with them all. Our aim was to provide one solution at the practice end so it didn’t matter to them which hospital the letters come from or what clinical system they’re on, they just arrive in the practice through Docman EDT.”
The solution
Electronic Document Transfer (EDT) provides a secure, reliable, flexible solution for the electronic communication of documentation between Secondary and Primary Care. The EDT Server module captures documents from Secondary Care systems and distributes them to Docman EDT enabled GP practices. Docman EDT enables GP practices to receive electronic documents directly into Docman for filing into the GP clinical system and onward workflow.
The technology builds on existing systems, giving both hospital and surgery time-saving efficiencies of electronic document management without major IT investment. On the day of sign off, documents can be delivered to the GP Practice the same day, helping CECPCT meet the April 2010, 24-hour NHS standard for delivering communications to GPs.
As part of the overall project Docman EDT has been rolled out to 66 practices across Cheshire. At the practice, Docman EDT handles the collection of all documents from the Medisec server and enables practices to accept these documents directly into Docman for processing and onward filing into the GP clinical system.
Documents are ‘delivered’ to the practice automatically at pre-defined intervals; all documents are received in the same way, irrespective of the source system in secondary care. Documents are filed using metadata which provides greater accuracy and consistency for the practice while reducing the administrative system. The Medisec system also provides an audit trail from letter generation to delivery, to enable the PCT and hospital to monitor the time taken to deliver discharge letters to GPs.
Trust Benefits
- An automated receipt process allows you to track the status so you know when it is delivered to the GP practice.
- Savings on printing and postage costs by sending correspondence electronically.
- Send documents in a way which requires minimal processing by the practice.
Practice Benefits
- Receive electronic documents directly into Docman for filing into the GP clinical system and onward workflow.
- Secure delivery of documents over N3 using HTTPS (SSL Security).
- All incoming documents are received in the same way, irrespective of the sending system in secondary care.
The next step
CECPCT has successfully implemented a solution for the electronic transfer of documents, saving time, money and improving its services. The next step is to send all documents this way.