Patient access to records via NHS app delayed until April next year

Plans to enable patient access to GP records via the NHS app will be delayed until April 2022, the BMA has told Pulse.

It follows the BMA writing to NHSX expressing their concerns about the timing of the rollout.

NHS Digital had announced in October that patients whose practices use TPP will be first to have access to new entries in their GP notes through the NHS App from December – with EMIS practices to follow next year.

In a GPC email bulletin sent to GPs earlier this month, the BMA said it was ‘seeking a pause’ on the rollout to ‘ensure the views of the profession are better represented’, and that ‘the programme is delayed until there is appropriate time to work through our concerns’.

In its most recent primary care bulletin, NHS England said the change was made ‘in response to issues raised by general practices’.

NHS England said: ‘We appreciate that further time is needed to prepare systems and staff for the changes and to provide training on ensuring sensitive information is safely hidden from patient view as it’s entered on systems. This change is now planned to occur from April 2022 and will apply to all practices using TPP and EMIS systems.’

Dr Anu Rao, BMA GP committee IT policy lead, told Pulse: ‘We are pleased that NHSX has listened to our concerns about the programme and decided to delay the rollout until spring next year.

‘The BMA is supportive of the principles and aims of responsible data sharing and patient access to their GP records and we will continue to work with NHSX and other stakeholders to look at the programme in detail to ensure a smooth rollout that is beneficial, useful and safe for patients, while minimising disruption to practices.’

Caitlin Tilley (Pulsetoday.co.uk)
25 November 2021

Medi2data chosen as Clarity’s first partner

Medi2data joins the programme first, saving practices up to 18 hours of admin time a week.

We are delighted to announce that Medi2data is the first partner to join the Clarity Partner Programme. Medi2data provides completely free-to-use software for GP practices, which can save hundreds of pounds per week in admin time.

The software, eMR, creates secure, digital, GDPR-compliant Subject to Access Requests (SARs) and third-party medical reports, redacting sensitive patient data in as little as 15 minutes.

On average, GP practices will receive three SARS and four insurance requests a week, costing general practice around £85 million a year. Medi2data was chosen as Clarity’s first partner to help drive down costs, save time, and reduce the burden on practices to complete these requests.

Clarity’s Managing Director, Tim Sewart said: “We’re delighted to be launching our new partner programme and helping to deliver trusted and reliable technology to the primary care sector and the NHS, something that can be hard to come by.

Working with Medi2data as our first partner is a natural fit, as we know one of the biggest headaches for practice managers is processing third party medical reports – and redacting sensitive data is time consuming and expensive. We hope that by partnering with Medi2data, we can help GP practices around the country save precious time and money.
Tim Sewart, Clarity’s Managing Director

Richard Freeman, Founder and CEO of Medi2data said: “We’re excited to be working with Clarity Informatics and be the first firm to be picked for their new partner programme to help practices across the country to have easier access to our technology.

“We’re passionate about helping GP practices save time, money, and ease the pressure on them, whilst remaining GDPR Compliant – that’s why our technology is completely free to use, and any associated costs don’t fall on the GP Practices so they can focus on the things that matter.”

Medi2data featured in Corporate Advisor article

Medi2data’s CEO and Founder Richard Freeman shares his insight into access to medical data and how technology can enable efficient reporting, in a recent Corporate Adviser article.

Technology now exists – with an electronic medical reporting (eMR) platform – that cuts the turnaround time of supplying medical reports right down from 35 to five days. Technology enables more client/patient involvement, as clients can authorise data sharing more quickly and with transparency.
Richard Freeman

Read the full article on Corporate Advisor.com

eMR and eMR+ services go live with SystmOne

We’re delighted to announce that our integration with TPP is now complete, which means that eMR and eMR+ are fully operational for practices who use SystmOne software.

All 2,500 SystmOne GP practices can now, at flick of a switch, activate eMR and eMR+ to access huge time and cost savings. The services are free and include the technology platform. eMR+ customers receive the additional benefit of a fully-managed service which offloads all the completion of insurance reports and SARs to our Training and Customer Support Team.

Lynn Moffat, Medi2data’s Director of Operations and Business Services is delighted to welcome the SystmOne community.

‘TPP customers have had to wait a long time for this day to finally arrive and we are just delighted to welcome those 2,500 customers, for whom life in their practice is going to change. It will be our absolute pleasure to provide our high-standard professional services and allow our new SystmOne customers to concentrate on running their busy practices.’
Lynn Moffat

Find out how eMR+ is helping Haughton Thornley Medical Practices to free up 18 hours per week

Watch Dr Hussain Gandhi’s EGP Learning Facebook webstream session about eMR and eMR+ (45 minutes)

Medi2data in FT Advisor: How tech can help your clients to claim

An article written by Richard Freeman, our Chief Executive and Founder, addressing the challenges relating to medical reporting faced by GP practices, patients and insurers, has recently been published in FT Advisor.

The key role that technology plays is also highlighted in the piece.

“Not only does the eMR technology platform mean that claims are expedited, the process can also be tracked in real time, enabling advisers and insurers to deliver the ultimate customer service and client experience.”
richard Freeman

Click here to read the article in full on FT Advisor.com

Need for medical reports will spiral as a result of Covid

The insurance industry is under pressure as a result of Covid, and it’s set to increase. As the job retention scheme ends¹, there will be increases in unemployment, those on universal credit and income protection claims. This will mean an increase in requests for medical reports as people need to demonstrate if they have a health condition or disability that prevents them from working².

With GPs dealing with the vaccination roll-out, logistical restrictions on the number of patients they can see in surgeries, and increased remote consultations, this is a pressure to their workload they could well do without. The result is likely to be increased delays in medical reports being processed which is bad news for all, not least patients who will face delays to payments. Insurers will be impacted too as they deal with the administrative burden of chasing, processing and managing patient data.

Richard Freeman, managing director of Medi2data says: ‘Sharing patient medical data, with patients’ consent, efficiently and quickly, is in the interests of everyone involved, from insurers to GP surgeries to patients. That need is about to increase and it’s vital that a solution is in place.’

It’s paramount that any electronic transfer of medical information is GDPR-compliant, swift, secure and trusted. Just as structured medical data reports make it easier to review and sign-off by GP practices, it also makes it easier for insurers to review for underwriting and claims assessment. The majority of GP surgeries are now able to transfer medical information that has patient approval in this manner and insurers need to be ready to work with them.

There are approximately 3 million Subject to Access Requests (SARS) every year and 2.8 million requests for medical reports (AMRA). The industry has been used to an average turnaround time for SARS of 30-40 days, and 25 days for AMRAs. However, the latest technology platform now makes it a reality to turn around SARS requests within 10-14 days, and AMRAs in just five days.

Richard Freeman continued, ‘The technology exists to make this impending increased demand much more manageable, and it’s vital for GPs, patients and insurers that it’s utilised. Now is the time for insurers to ensure they are fully aware of the latest platforms to fulfil AMRAs and to incorporate them into their administration of underwriting and claims processes and procedures.

‘GP surgeries have saved significant time using such technology, and this has proved a great incentive for them to use it – which of course is key in the insurance process – and the resulting five-day turnaround brings clear advantages for insurers: benefitting their customers, ie patients, too.’

References:

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme extended to 30 April 2021 – https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme.
You might get an extra amount of Universal Credit if you have a health condition or disability that prevents you from working or preparing for work – https://www.gov.uk/health-conditions-disability-universal-credit

Find out more about eMR.