As the NHS pursues £20bn of efficiency savings by 2015, these awards champion the innovative and cost-effective measures which reduce costs while maintaining the highest standards of patient care. The Efficiency in Information Technology category showcases projects that have transformed healthcare delivery, from administrative and financial services to clinical care and beyond.
For over 12 months, King’s has utilised Docman to electronically capture, workflow, manage and track incoming referral documentation to save staff time, improve security, streamline processes and improve the patient experience. When a patient is first referred to King’s, the Docman Referral management solution allows the Trust to make sure patients are booked into the right clinics in a timely fashion through a paperless process.
Clive Stringer, Deputy IT Director, King’s College Hospital said: “GP practices have been using Docman to become paperless for years, so it was natural for us to explore Docman to improve and digitise our processes for managing referrals. The project has not only lead to a new product that other Trusts are now adopting but it opens up greater integration between Primary Care and Secondary Care.”
The successful implementation of Docman has been key to achieving benefits in the following areas:
- The achievement of standardisation of referral management processes, including a reduction in timescales from receipt of referral to appointment booking.
- Re-organistaion of Administrative teams to enable cross cover, allowing resources to be allocated according to demand within the specialty, a key driver in achieving the improvement in booking times.
- Improved patient and GP experience.
- Reduction in patient complaints and PALS enquiries relating to referrals.
Ric Thompson, Managing Director, PCTI, said: “We are delighted to be a finalist in the HSJ Efficiency Awards for our project with King’s College Hospital. There has been huge interest by Trusts from across the country in what King’s have done and the impact it has made to their organisation. Managing paper referrals is an extremely time consuming activity, so by going electronic massive benefits can be realised, including efficiency around daily tasks, real cost savings, improved reporting leading to data driven decision making and ultimately an improved patient experience.”
The winners will be announced 25th September, 2013 at the Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London.