Alder Hey bids for paperless Primary Care correspondence with ITK2 adoption
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust has adopted interoperability toolkit ITK2 – taking a giant step towards paperless clinical correspondence delivery to Primary Care partners.
Hospital-based correspondence solution MedisecTRUST Digital Dictation is enabling Alder Hey to deliver letters electronially to GP practices using ITK – the Department of Health’s standards, frameworks and guides for electronic exchange of clinical information.
Discharge summaries and other clinical documents are being sent to a pilot group of local GPs via the Medical Interoperability Gateway (MIG), a system for securely exchanging clinical information using EMIS and INPS practice software.
The move is set to become a springboard for the e-delivery of clinical correspondence to Primary Care partners in North Merseyside and, eventually, areas further afield.
”Establishing standards for the electronic exchange of clinical information between organisations is a win, win for all stakeholders,” said Keith Richardson, Chief Information Officer, Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.
“It saves time, helps put the information straight into electronic patient records, reduces risk from clinical decisions being taken without a fuller picture and provides cost savings on paper, printing transportation, postage and in many cases re-scanning and filing.”
Alder Hey played the pivotal role in bringing suppliers and Primary Care together in an ISCF/NHS England-funded project.
The trust worked closely with Medisec Software to adopt ITK2 and in doing so, ITK2 accreditation was achieved for the MedisecTRUST Digital Dictation solution.
“Adding ITK2 to the delivery options for MedisecTRUST is strategically important for the Medisec Software proposition and we are keen to support the adoption of this standard in the NHS,” said Medisec Software’s Managing Director Tom Rothwell.
The longstanding advocate of NHS standards in clinical information exchange, added: “The move will support the removal of paper from the correspondence process, a fillip to NHS resourcing and to ensuring there is a healthy market for all suppliers.”
