Docman cited in Good Practice Guidelines for GP electronic patient records
The Good Practice Guidelines for GP electronic patient records v4 (GPGv4 2011) encourages practices to move to becoming ‘paperless’ and beyond.
As information technology develops and becomes more integrated and interoperable, it is important that practice and Primary Care Organisation staff should be fully aware of the procedures and management arrangements that should be in place to ensure that the dependence on these electronic records is safe and justified.
With the development of Clinical Commissioning Groups the importance for collaboration, joined-up working and efficient back office functions will be vital in delivering the highest service under the new agenda.
Croydon PCT amongst many has standardised its electronic document management across its practices. NHS Southwark, Surrey PCT, Wolverhampton PCT and Oxfordshire are also recent projects moving practices to the Docman platform used by over 5,000 GP practices.
The report acknowledges that over 95% of Scottish GP practices now use the ‘Docman’ document management package and associated standardised folder structure. The report highlights the ‘Docman Transfer’ facility was available to 95% of Scottish practices and for these practices represents the simplest and safest approach to document transfer. The approach ensures all practices maximise the efficiency savings from the solution which can be up to £10,000 each year in time saved. Once utilising an electronic document transfer model for delivering documents, efficiency savings become even greater.
Dr Glyn Hayes, Clinical Director, PCTI “Simple document transfer results in significant savings due to reduction in paper and its handling. However, sophisticated document management, as described in this article, is a quantum leap forward in both savings and improvement in patient care. Using the document as an agent, data can be inserted into the clinical record, workflow is enabled and automated across multiple health service units and patient care planning is facilitated without the need for complex and expensive clinical care planning systems.
Docman is now used by over 5,000 GP Practices to provide a complete electronic document management, messaging and workflow solution. This standardised solution across practices has facilitated many electronic document transfer projects, in which over 30 Trusts have deployed PCTI’s EDT Hub. Although distributing to any GP practice, the document management standard enables the trust to deliver documents directly into the system for intelligent filing and workflow. This approach requires minimal keystrokes and removes many processes, rather than changing processes which would provide training issues.
In the Good Practice Guidelines the report focuses on a standardised document management systems to deliver safety and efficiencies for its practices. In context of the changing landscape of the NHS, the collaboration focus of EDT Hub facilitates the transferring of documents between care providers and efficiently managing documents securely. It is here that joined-up healthcare within Clinical Commissioning Groups will find benefits, efficiencies and collaborative working to reduce costs and ultimately save time for professionals. The sharing of information within desired timescales and processing documents with minimal user intervention can be a driver for high service performance to patients whilst removing many costs.
For further information please see: https://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_125350.pdf