With an aim to become paper light, Pennine MSK introduced Docman Hub in February to send electronic letters such as MRI results, clinical letters and blood results to 45 GP Practices in Oldham.
With 100 clinics per week and over 44,000 letters sent to GPs each year, Pennine MSK are already seeing hours of staff time being saved since the introduction of Docman Hub.
Previously secretaries would type, print and file letters into pigeon holes which were collated at the end of every day and posted to each GP Practice. Jenny Harewood, Team Leader, Pennine MSK Partnership commented “Docman has made our delivery of letters so straight forward; it’s just like sending documents through a virtual printer straight into the GP Practice”.
Docman Hub allows GP Practices in Oldham to receive clinical correspondence from Pennine MSK the same day, whereas previous processes meant letters could take several days to reach the GP. As a result, information is now sent instantaneously meaning changes in medication for example can be dealt with by the GP much sooner, ultimately improving patient care.
Ruth Holden, Director of HR and Operations, Pennine MSK Partnership noted how improved patient care and information governance have been the key benefits realised since the implementation of Docman Hub:
“We no longer have the worry that patient letters may get lost in the post or not reach the correct GP. The full audit trail removes doubt and we now feel more confident sending clinical correspondence to GPs as we can track all letters that have been sent and received”.
This is just the beginning of Pennine MSK’s journey towards becoming fully paper free. In the future Pennine MSK would like to send all documents electronically, including letters to patients to remove room for error, providing a full audit trail of the transfer of care.
