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Information Prescription
System (IPS500) |
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The Department of Health
has stated its desire that during 2008 all NHS organisations will
start pro-actively offering Information Prescriptions to patients.
Drawing on 10 years of experience in the patient information arena,
Intouch with Health has put together an effective solution to help
NHS organisations meet their objectives with regard to information
prescriptions. There are two elements to this solution:-
1. A web-based Information Prescription System called IPS500,
designed to make the whole process as easy as possible for health
professionals and patients
2. Consultancy services to help NHS organisations plan the people
and processes required to make a success of information prescribing.
The single greatest influence over the design of this system has
been the recognition that if already busy doctors, nurses and other
NHS staff are to be involved in information prescribing, the process
for them will need to be really quick and easy. Consequently the
main features of IPS500 are:-
a) Pre-set information prescriptions
As well as individual items of information, the system allows for
clusters of local and national information to be made ready for
prescribing. These clusters may typically be pathway driven, eg
“Preset Prescription for newly diagnosed COPD patient”.
The aim is to avoid busy health professionals having to repeatedly
re-think and search for the information required by patients in
commonly recurring situations.
 b)
Easy prescription form completion
The system presents the health professional with an on-screen prescription
pad to fill in for the patient. The pad appears next to an on-screen
directory of available information. The professional simply clicks
and drags information items onto the information prescription pad
alongside. This can include preset prescriptions (see above). Once
completed the prescription form can be printed out for the patient
with instructions on how and where to get their information dispensed.
Forms can also be emailed to patients.
Click on the
image to see a larger version
c) Simple creation of an Information Directory
Within an NHS organisation one or more individuals
will act as “librarians” and create a directory of information
items which their health teams can prescribe with confidence. The
directory is made up of electronic “InfoCards” which
can be organised into meaningful categories. Each card can carry
information in its own right (eg details of a local clinic, or information
about a book which can be purchased), or can carry an attached document
(MS Word, pdf etc), or can contain web links to local or national
online material.
d) Easy information dispensing for patients
Each information prescription form lists for patients all the
ways in which they can get hold of the information prescribed for
them. The options include going to volunteers who can help them,
phoning a call centre which will post out material, using an Intouch
information kiosk, or going online to the special IPS500 “dispensing”
website which Intouch provides.
 e)
Management and auditing of Prescription Information
The information prescription system produces full audit reports
on what has been prescribed to which patients, by whom and when.
There are automatic prompts when information in the directory has
reached its “sell by” date and should be reviewed. Many
other facilities exist to ensure that information is of top quality
and that the whole prescribing process works smoothly.
Click on the
image to see a larger version
Information Prescription Implementation Support
As well as providing the software tools to do the job effectively,
Intouch can help with implementation issues which need to be addressed
if Information Prescriptions are to be successful.
• Helping decide who is best placed to act as the information
librarians
• Advising them on sources of suitable local and national
information
• Helping them (if needed) to populate the information directory
• Staff training and familiarisation sessions
• Securing the “buy-in” of clinicians into information
prescribing and its benefits
• Helping with progress and results monitoring
More information and a demonstration of IPS500 can be obtained
by contacting Paul Blackburn on 01285 657516 or paul.blackburn@intouchwithhealth.co.uk
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