Apps

ORCHA and Patients Know Best collaborate with Hull Teaching Hospitals

ORCHA and Patients Know Best have collaborated with Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to support patients to digitally self-manage long term conditions and when waiting for elective procedures.

When patients use the patient portal from Patients Know Best, they will be able to access the digital health library from ORCHA, including hundreds of highly rated health apps.

It means that through the portal, patients can be supported with digital health solutions to help them manage their medication, monitor their symptoms, and maintain healthy lifestyles. Using the portal, patients access the library and search for a relevant app to them; however ORCHA is exploring how to evolve the patient experience to tailor the apps offered to the patient’s condition.

The organisations involved said the project “illustrates how NHS suppliers can work together creatively and productively to support the health system”.

Neil Proudlove, Deputy Chief Information Officer, Hull University Teaching Hospitals, said: “The NHS was presented with a unique set of challenges during the pandemic and tackling the resulting backlog must involve thinking differently. This is an example of creative thinking by two providers – collaboration has to be the way forward.”

Lloyd Humphreys, managing director of ORCHA, added: “Patients Know Best is an exemplary platform and we’re delighted to be able to offer its users an enhanced level of support via our curated app library. It’s a fantastic example of how we can put new opportunities, literally, into the hands of patients – via their phones – when they are already online using a patient portal.”

ORCHA recently contributed to HTN’s Digital ICS Playbook, to highlight a case study with seven integrated care systems using ORCHA across the South West. The case study notes: “Each ICS worked with ORCHA to build its own personalised app library, giving professionals and the public access to assessed apps.” You can read the case study here.