Alison Clare said: "The new NHS Information Strategy, The Power of Information, places a strong focus on the development of portals to allow patients and care professionals to access and view records and services. It's essential that, as the NHS begins to invest significant sums in these kinds of systems, we make the most of that investment and deliver the maximum benefit for patients and care professionals.
"Drawing on my experiences at the trust, this paper provides an outline of the key steps, issues and considerations that need to be taken into account when writing a business case for a clinical portal project."
In the white paper, Clare demonstrates not only how to create a business case that will secure funding for investment in a clinical portal, but also one that will gain buy-in from the staff who will be impacted by its introduction. Included is a nine step guide that will help individual project teams build a case specifically to suit an individual trust's needs and objectives. It explores all the various elements required including how to develop a proof of concept evaluation and choose and procure a solution, along with the associated risks, the likely benefits, how the benefits will be measured, how the implementation will be managed, the resources required and the project timescales. Packed with practical advice, checklists and guidelines, the white paper will be an invaluable resource for healthcare organisations looking to deploy a clinical portal.
Supporting the white paper, James Norman, director of IM&T at the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust said: "We decided to opt for a portal solution as we felt it would be easier and more cost effective to deploy alongside our existing systems, minimising disruption.
"However, to ensure this was the right strategy for the trust, developing a business case was critical. Alison's paper provides an accurate account of how we achieved this and will provide an excellent guide as to what to consider when thinking about a portal approach in various care settings. This is particularly pertinent now as new IT strategies, across the UK, place a heavy emphasis on the use of portals to deliver the right information at the right time to care professionals and patients while making the most of existing investments in IT."
The white paper series is sponsored by the Harris Healthcare, which supplies the Harris provider portal being deployed at the trust.
Wayne Parslow, VP EMEA at Harris Healthcare, said: "Providing faster, more efficient access to patient records and data is a key aim for NHS trusts. The new NHS Information Strategy has placed a clear emphasis on the role clinical portals will play in delivering this aim. However, deploying a clinical portal is a complex task that touches on almost every area of an organisation's operations. This is why we were keen to support Alison to enable her to share, with other organisations within the NHS, the insights and best practices she gained during the successful deployment of the Harris provider portal at the trust."
The whitepaper is being launched at EHI Live on 6th/7th November 2012 at the NEC Birmingham and will be available for view on the Harris Healthcare stand C72.
About the clinical portal project at Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust
The full business case at the trust for a clinical portal based on Harris Healthcare's Carefx clinical portal solution was written following a proof-of-concept evaluation in the trust's haematology and dermatology department in 2010. The business case was approved in
early 2011 and deployment to clinics across all departments at the trust began in January 2012. The success of this project was facilitated by the collaborative partnership that the trust developed with the supplier, as together they were able to demonstrate the clinical and business process change and the quantifiable improvements and savings as outlined in the business case.
Benefits identified by the trust include an average reduction in the length of clinic times by 30 minutes, improved patient services, improved patient safety and savings in staff time and resources. In addition, the clinical portal has created a bridge between existing applications which is enabling the trust to extend the life of existing systems, maximising its previous investment in IT.
The trust is now working collaboratively to extend the clinical portal to wards and emergency departments, and will be providing access to the system for GPs to support delivery of seamless care.
About Alison Clare
Alison is a freelance project and programme manager with 25 years experience in implementing business change and IT applications across both the public and private sector. An ex-Oracle employee, Alison has been delivering change projects in the NHS since 2006, where she has been rolling out the electronic patient record programme of work. Since completing an MBA, Alison has been researching change and sustaining change in the NHS. She is currently concluding her doctoral thesis from Durham University, where she also lectures part-time to undergraduate and masters students on Business Transformation and Benefits Management.
About Harris
Harris is an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries. Headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, the company has approximately £3.7 billion of annual revenue and about 17,000 employees - including nearly 7,000 engineers and scientists. Harris is dedicated to developing best-in-class assured communications® products, systems, and services.