Virtual Clinics are a click away
An agreement between Savience Limited and HSL Telehealth is providing virtual clinics at a crucial time for the NHS.
Clinicians now need only to click on a screen icon to organise a remote and secure outpatient’s consultation.
By integrating the Virtual Clinic module from Savience’s Clarity system with HSL’s shared conferencing and collaboration network, the service uses tried and tested technology. All clinicians need is a webcam while patients access the sessions via a smartphone, tablet, laptop or PC.
By using standard technology and integrating with existing PAS and EPR systems, the service becomes part of the existing healthcare workflow. Updated in real-time by a hospital’s PAS, Clarity’s database contains full details of all patient appointments for the current day and for the future. This is no different from established ways of working; just two additional icons appear on clinicians’ screens. These will show what form the appointment will take whether face-to-face, by phone, or by video. Patients are notified by SMS or e-mail alerts and then the clinician, by clicking on the video icon, starts the clinic.
The call is generated by software in HSL’s network which offers a complete, secure communications platform for the health establishments, providing virtual meeting rooms, gateway services, and web applications. Full, constant monitoring and support is guaranteed and the HSL solution is compliant with the network security standards adopted by the NHS and the UK government.
On completion of the consultation, the clinician closes the video window, completes an associated outcome form or writes up the notes in the relevant EPR before moving to the next patient.
“No other service offers this level of integration,” says Sam McMaster, Director of Telehealth at HSL. “As a result it will increase capacity in the NHS without placing extra stress on its resources. Costs are reduced and clinicians’ time better utilised while outpatients avoid the need to travel.”
Roger Everitt, CEO of Savience, added: “This innovation from two progressive NHS-focussed companies with many years’ experience and knowledge working with the NHS brings together two disparate parts of Health ICT to deliver a solution that supports the NHS in meeting the continuing demands of Covid 19. Just as important it will work for other clinical disciplines post the crisis, removing the risks of expedient, non-integrated, external services from companies driven by profit rather than the benefit to the NHS.”
