Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital has introduced digital personalised follow-up pathways with an aim to meet national targets to move 5 percent of patients onto a Patient Initiated Follow-Up (PIFU) pathway by 2023.
The trust has worked with health tech suppliers, Infinity Health and DrDoctor, to utilise the suppliers’ digital appointment management system and task management system. It means patients can book appointments online and specialities can send online assessment forms to patients to help monitor outpatients.
To date 17 specialties are using the system, with 2,000 patients enrolled in the approach. Instead of routine follow-up appointments being automatically booked, patients can decide if they would like an appointment and request it themselves. Integrating with the task management system means clinical teams can review assessments and prioritise patients.
Sam Higginson, Chief Executive, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, said: “Our Digital Health team have successfully integrated new digital platforms so that specialities can now send online assessment forms to patients to help monitor outpatients with longer-term follow up needs.”
“This helps to free up clinician time for new appointments, procedures and for outpatients who need us the most.”
Tom Whicher, CEO, DrDoctor, added: “What’s exciting about our integration with Infinity Health at NNUH is how it will pave the way for a truly end-to-end elective recovery solution for the trust.
“Personalised follow-up which suits individual patients is the way forward and we’re really excited to be able to partner with Infinity Health to provide clinicians with a holistic view of the patient pathway as well. This is a key project which proves that integration between two systems can work effectively and provide a seamless experience for both clinicians and patients.”
