NHS e-Referral Service Making paperless referrals a reality

Presentations and other useful information on ERS can be found on Sheffield CCG Intranet site

Vision Principles The new NHS e-Referral Service will improve patient outcomes, user experiences and support the drive to a future paperless NHS referral system. The new service will build upon the benefits and successes of the Choose and Book system, acknowledging its failures (both real and perceived) and lessons learned. There will no longer be a mixed economy of paper and electronic referrals. The needs of patients and professionals will be foremost in designing the new service, which will include support for enhanced functionality and usability

NHS e-Referral Service Vision A more intuitive system with a modern look and feel that will support the seamless transfer of referral information from GP clinical systems into provider systems. Integration and Usability Enhanced Advice and Guidance functionality and Clinical Request Templates supporting clinical decisions. Commissioners driven Referral Assessment Services. Referral Management Support Consultants able to make tertiary and onward referrals and commissioners being able to assign referrer rights to groups of clinicians and practitioners. Any to Any Ability to link appointments in a care pathway to ensure all take place in a pre-determined order. Linked Appointments

NHS e-Referral Service Vision Patients able to choose and book their own follow-up appointments electronically along with alert/reminder advising them when to book.. Follow-up Appointments Commissioning organisations able to determine services that are appropriate to accept self referrals from patients. Patients able to refer themselves into services. Self Referrals A rich reporting function that provides easy access to referral and booking data in meaningful formats. Reporting Use of modern technology - mobile phone Apps, s, text reminders etc, to support different ways of communicating appointment-related information to patients and system alerts to professional users. Electronic Communication

Integration and Usability Easier system than current Choose and Book System will support seamless transfer from GP clinical system into provider systems Enhanced functionality will allow providers to send back clinical outcomes NHS e-Referral will allow providers to set up templates where existing appointment scheduling systems do not exist Anticipated benefits Reduction in administration costs Reduction in transcription errors More seamless integration and data transfer Greater provider efficiency and patient convenience Reduction in staff costs associated with indirectly bookable appointments

Referral Management Support Proposed Enhanced Advice and Guidance functionality allowing backward and forwards dialogue between clinicians, covert to referral if required and retain clinical conversation Clinical request template from refer clinical system will be enhanced to guide referrer as to whether patient meets referral criteria for specific service Commissioners able to set up Referral Assessment Service specially aimed at assessing referral information prior to, or instead of, appointment being booked Anticipated benefits Enhance communication between GP, Providers and Patients Greater confidence patients are into right clinic every time

Any-to-Any Referrals Proposed Clinicians will be able to refer to any other clinician, current technical constraints will disappear Consultants will be able to make tertiary referrals Commissioners will be able to assign rights to groups of clinicians allowing them to make referrals along pre-defined pathways Provider administrative support functions to have provider work list to support more effective management of e-referrals and remove need for paper Anticipated benefits Patients will have all the benefits of e-referral for future stages in their care pathway Commissions remain in control of the stages of the care pathway

Linked Appointments Proposed It will be possible to for the refer or provider to link appointments in a care pathway in the correct sequence If a test is required prior to an outpatient appointment the system will ensure appointments can be booked within the correct time frame A referrer may book a series of appointments with a patient and have them linked, so if one changes for any reason the other will be altered accordingly Anticipated benefits Patients will be more involved in arranging all their appointments in their care pathway Reduction in wasted or repeated diagnostic tests Test results always available for outpatient consultations

Follow-Up Appointments Proposed Patent will be able to choose and book their own follow-up appointment electronically during an authorised period For patients where planned follow-up is not indicated, clinicians could offer patients ability to book a follow-up only ‘if required’ Where follow-up is necessary patients will receive alert/reminder advising them to book their appointment Anticipated benefits Reduction in unnecessary follow-up appointments Patients able to choose date and time of follow-up appointment Automatic reminder system for patients

Self-referrals Proposed Patients will be able to self-refer into services that have been commissioned suitable Commissioning organisations will determine which services are appropriate to accept self-referrals from patients and make them visible to patients Patients attending self-referral appointments will decide whether their GP is notified of the referral Anticipated benefits Greater support for patient choice Improved access to healthcare services Reduction in unnecessary GP appointments Reduction in administrative costs in GP practice

Reporting Proposed Reporting module within NHS e-Referral service will provide easy access to referral and booking data, presented in meaningful formats Queries to be run without extensive analytical skills Comprehensive uploads allowing referral and booking information to be combined to provide meaningful trend analysis Data easily available to measure referral outcomes and compare activity derived from other sources to be available at different levels Anticipated benefits Support Commissioners and Providers in developing better, more efficient services based on need Allow user friendly ways of reporting Better support for capacity and demand management Better planning for use of NHS resources

Electronic Communications Proposed Use of mobile phone apps, s, text reminders etc. to support different ways of communicating appointment related information and alerts to system users Patients will be able to opt to receive referral booking updates. Paper copies will still be available, but other electronics media will be used to book, confirm and update appointments and send reminders Professional users will be able to send alerts for system events i.e. advice and guidance responses, rejected referrals etc. Anticipated benefits More immediate communication More confidence in the referral pathway Greater variety of communication Keeping patients more informed of the progress of the referral and any changes

Useful information NHS e-Referral Service Document available at NHS E-Referral Service website NHS e-Referral Bulletin signup - Please subscribe to the NHS e-Referral Service bulletin for up to date information, advice and support in using Choose and Book and getting ready for the replacement service at the end of the year?

Jill Phillips - Application Support Analyst, based at 722 direct line Thank you