Synopsis named finalist in the Forward Healthcare Awards 2020

Intouch with Health is delighted to announce its digital pre-operative platform, Synopsis, has been nominated for an award at the Forward Healthcare Awards 2020.

Leading Healthcare’s Forward Healthcare Awards celebrate and share great work across health and care. The winners and highly commended entries will be announced from 7pm, 8th October 2020 through the innovative digital awards evening.

This award nomination follows the recent nomination Synopsis has received in the Health Tech Awards 2020.

Synopsis has been named as a finalist in the Enhancing Care through Technology category. This award nomination is in conjunction with Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust in recognition of the significant results achieved since deployment in February 2020.

Digital pre-operative assessment inside and outside the hospital

Synopsis has been named as a finalist in the Enhancing Care through Technology category following a project to transform the way Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust carries out pre-operative assessments (POA) and to make the process more efficient for patients waiting for operations and the staff that deliver their care.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust provides hospital-based services from three main sites - the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, Kidderminster Hospital and Treatment Centre, and Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester.

The Trust provides a wide range of services to a population of 580,000 people in Worcestershire as well as caring for patients from surrounding counties and further afield. On average, Worcestershire Royal Hospital completes 14,000 pre-operative assessment each year.

Patients complete their pre-operative health questionnaire remotely

Following the deployment of Synopsis Home, patients no longer need to visit a Worcestershire Trust hospital to complete their POA health questionnaire. Instead, patients waiting for elective surgery can complete their questionnaire at home, in the office, or on the move. Synopsis Home provides patients with greater convenience by enabling them to complete their POA questionnaire anytime, anywhere. As a result, the hospitals receive less patients, only physically seeing patients when a face-to-face assessment is required.

Following the deployment of Synopsis iQ, patients who do attend hospital for their POA to complete their health questionnaire, can do so digitally with the results made available immediately for triage staff. This ensures the Trust works paper-light within the pre-operative assessment process. After assessing the questionnaire answers, clinical staff can quickly triage and separate the patients that are fit and ready for their operation and don’t require a full POA in hospital from those that do. Staff also benefit from decision support with an ASA, POSPOM or similar score, referrals and replies being contained within one system, alongside completed risk assessments.

Results since launching Synopsis at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust:

• Between Go-Live of Synopsis Home on the 21st May, and the 30th June, 50% of pre-op patients used Synopsis to complete their POA questionnaire outside of hospital.
• In July, this number increased further, with 64% of patients using Synopsis Home to complete their POA questionnaire out of hospital
• Hospital activity time of a pre-assessment has reduced by 21% - this reduction increases to 49% if just Synopsis Home is used
• Across the trust’s four hospitals, teams reached their target of completing 750 POA questionnaires using Synopsis by the end of the first month of deployment (February), demonstrating positive uptake by hospital staff
• In March, staff completed 795 POA questionnaires using Synopsis, a steady 6% increase on the first month of deployment
• The lag time between the patients being referred for a pre-assessment appointment and completing their triage questionnaire has been reduced from weeks to days. On average a patient is sharing their triage questionnaire back to the hospital within just 3 days
• POA can be completed safely within a two week period as a result of an increasing number of patients completing their questionnaires remotely
• Removing face-to-face POA visits by patients has supported the trust’s infection prevention and control measures in the wake of COVID-19 by minimising the number of patients in hospital buildings and enabling vulnerable pre-op patients to continue to shield from home and only attend hospital if absolutely necessary.
• 31% of patients using Synopsis Home are choosing to complete their POA assessment during their lunch break (12 - 2pm), demonstrating the importance of greater convenience for patients.
• 42% of patients using Synopsis Home are aged between 55 - 74 years old, demonstrating the technology has been embraced by older generations.

Find out more

To learn more about Synopsis iQ and Synopsis Home, please contact the team on info@intouchwithhealth.co.uk