Implementation Of New Online Health Records Pilot At South London And Maudsley Trust To Be Discussed At 3rd Healthcare IT Exchange, 2-4 December 2012

Date: Sep-04-2012In May 2012 the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust launched a personal online health record system for patients. The ultimate aim of the new system is to empower patients to be better informed not only about their health conditions but also about the service pathways available to them.

In an interview with the Healthcare IT Exchange, Mike Denis, Director of Information Strategy at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, comments about the changes implemented: "We were very excited about the prospect of supporting patients to become co-designers in their care, and that was going to be a fundamental aim of the project, to find ways in which working with patients and clinicians we could seek to identify ways in which we can adapt current service models and perhaps even change particular types of behaviour to facilitate this joint effort between patients and clinical teams in producing better outcomes in health."

Selecting the right solution provider to facilitate the process was not easy and involved extensive research. Mike explained that they could not find providers who would meet their requirements for the project in the United Kingdom. So they reached out to providers in the United States to see how different models of personal health records were being utilised in that health system. After successful implementation there has been a great deal of excitement among the community. Everyone is up for the challenge and Mike believes this system is of relevance to any geography in any service dimension (for a podcast of the entire interview visit: http://www.bit.ly/TsGWV5, or download a free transcript from http://www.bit.ly/PPLJiF).

The new NHS information strategy published in May 2012 urges health and social care services to make full use of online technologies to enable patients to control their own health records. From 2nd -4th December this year at the 3rd Healthcare IT Exchange senior executives responsible for the strategic direction of IT within their NHS or private healthcare organisation will gather to discuss, among other topics, how the IT function can empower patients to become co-designers in their care through providing records access to patients. At the Exchange heads of IM&T will meet with innovative solution providers to explore the range of solutions available.

For further information about the Healthcare IT Exchange or to request delegate/solution provider invitation visit: http://www.healthcareitexchange.co.uk/PR

Courtesy: Medical News Today Note: Any medical information available in this news section is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.