How to transform patient care with post-consultation information prescriptions: Healthinote & HCI videos
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, clinics are identifying a large proportion of patients whose questions can be responded to virtually, without the need to bring them in for an appointment. The use of email and text services have shown that patients can be sent a message with information on how to care for themselves and what to do if things get worse. Online triage is needed to allow the healthcare professionals to quickly identify these patients, reducing waiting times, saving practice staff time and allowing for better delivery of care.
eConsult has integrated Healthinote, to deliver a seamless solution for doctors to offer patients clear, reliable and validated health information so that they can better understand and manage their health. GP practices using eConsult can send messages via email to their patients including ‘health information prescriptions’, delivering personalised information that the patient can trust.
GP practices using this are discovering that this is offering great resource-saving opportunities, allowing GPs to allocate more time and attention to patients who, for various reasons, have a necessity for face-to-face consultations.
By gathering initial patient information and triaging remotely, the majority of patients can be managed with a virtual consultation and messaging of patient information. As a result, practices are optimising their services. This is even more important during lockdowns and for patients who are shielding.
“We have been building up to a patient journey which delivers an excellent consultation experience whilst optimising GP time and resources for several years, having successfully delivered over four million online consultations. COVID-19 has shown this is the way forward.
“With increased virtual consultations, it is even more necessary to ensure that we extend the online consultation with clear, engaging and accessible patient information that can be consumed by the patient in their own time. With the integration of the Healthinote platform, primary care clinicians will be able to seamlessly select and share trusted information with their patients.
Dr Murray Ellender, CEO of eConsult and practising NHS GP
What patient information does Healthinote offer?
Healthinote has a bank of validated, clinically-led patient information from over 40 trusted sources. The platform’s content totals over 5,000 pieces of clinically-led content from over 50 providers, including 1,000 2D and 3D videos, as well as immersive and interactive content.
Healthinote’s content sources currently include:
- The NHS Health A to Z and medication library
- NHS Inform content
- Charity partners, including Macmillan, Cancer Research UK, Asthma UK, British Pregnancy Advisory Service, Royal National Institute of Blind People and many more
- HCI’s library of Health and Care videos, which has been commissioned by the NHS
- Cognitant Group’s visual and interactive content, with all content created by medical writers followed by a stringent clinical review process
Healthinote follows an internal quality assurance process including internal clinical review of partner content links prior to making these available to access on the live Healthinote platform. The source of all content that appears in Healthinote is clearly shown.
“I am delighted to collaborate with eConsult through the integration of Healthinote. The integration of Healthinote’s patient information into the Post Consultation Messaging, will extend the consultation, helping patients to better understand their health, disease and treatment.
It is exciting to see that, by bringing health tech companies together, we are developing solutions to effectively manage consultations effectively, saving patients a trip into their practice and leaving them with easy to consume information that they can access remotely in their own time.”
Dr Tim Ringrose, CEO and Founder of Cognitant
Replying to patients following an eConsult:
Integrated into eConsult’s post-consult messaging tool, the Healthinote search engine offers a quick and easy way to search and share validated, clear and engaging information for your patients.
When responding to a patient via eConsult, clinicians have instant access to a wealth of patient information to enhance the response and empower the patient to better understand and manage their health.
Watch the demo video below to see how quick it is to send your patients a Healthinote link via the eConsult toolbar.
How do I prescribe health information with Healthinote from the eConsult toolbar?
1. Download and install the eConsult toolbar
If you have not already you will need to download, install and configure the eConsult toolbar. The is easy to do and takes about 5 minutes depending on your practice set-up. You can download the toolbar here: https://econsult.net/toolbar
2. Go to the messaging section of the toolbar
Having reviewed an eConsult, go to the message section in the toolbar to reply to the patient, and select ‘eConsult email (PCM).
3. Write the message and search for patient information
Write your own message to the patient and then use the Healthinote search bar to search for relevant information about the patient’s condition, symptoms or care. You can preview the content by clicking ‘preview’ before you insert it into the message.
4. Insert the information into the message and send
You can insert as many items as you like into the message. These will appear as links that the patient can access when they open the message on their phone or computer. Once inserted you can send the message.
Read about how we worked with Cognitant to integrate Healthinote with eConsult