Over at the NHS Confederation, Jacob Haddad, CEO and co-founder of AccuRx, explains that the NHS’s reliance on letters and phones is hindering communication with patients, and entrenching the traditional appointment as the means of delivering care.

If communication were easier and two-way (he argues) then patients could avoid being called in for appointments when they don’t really need them, yet have better access to care when they do. All of which is better for patients, and less work for the NHS.

We agree. More than that: we would go further.

Of course communication is key, and today’s technology is good at providing both patient and clinician with a wide choice of options. Sometimes face to face is best, or a video or voice call. Sometimes a questionnaire and messaging service will be better – not only is it quicker, but it avoids the inefficiency of arranging for two people to engage at the same time (and the risk that one of them might not show up).

But how can we make sure that the right clinician is communicating with the right patient at the right time, based on the right information? Sometimes we can rely on the patient to initiate the contact, but not always: on a complex elective pathway like cancer, the NHS needs to make the moves. We need all the relevant information brought together accurately in one place, to know which patients we need to communicate with next, and why.

We also need the results of that communication to be integrated back into the data, for the benefit of actions that will happen next. If a patient fills in a clinical questionnaire for the outpatient department, then that information will be useful to other departments later on in their pathway.

By making data the backbone that joins communications and other pathway management activities together, every step of the process benefits from all the steps that came before it. So if you are considering upgrading your patient communications, then consider upgrading your pathway management data too. Drop us a line, and we’ll be happy to discuss your journey towards integrated pathway management.