Digital messaging platform improves continuity of patient care

Online healthcare provider Doctor Care Anywhere has supercharged its service with digital messaging platform Docman Connect to enhance security and efficiency, as the global demand for virtual healthcare continues to rise. Doctor Care Anywhere, which covers over 200,000 patients currently and is on track to grow to over 1 million in 12 months, has reported an increase in the delivery rates of medical notes shared digitally from 55% to 85% in just six months following the implementation of Docman Connect.

Docman Connect is an established healthcare solution acquired by Advanced, a British software and services provider which works with over 7,000 healthcare organisations. It enables instant online clinical communication between care settings across the UK delivered in a secure and structured messaging platform, and is now used by Doctor Care Anywhere’s operations team and doctors to communicate with NHS GP surgeries.

 

As our business grows, our workload grows,” says James Harris, Operations Manager at Doctor Care Anywhere. “So our working practices need to be more efficient while ensuring we uphold very high standards of patient care and safety. Before now, we had to fax or post patient records to GPs, which took up a lot of time. Now, if a patient asks us to share their appointment notes with their NPS GP, we can do so instantly, enabling the very best continuity of care.”

 

Docman Connect also addresses concerns around cyber security breaches which, according to an independent report, threaten to limit the growth of the global telehealth market – currently predicted to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13% between 2017 and 2025.

 

Docman Connect dispenses with the use of outdated methods for the transfer and continuity of care, which are typically less secure and reliable. All clinical documents are encrypted when sent and decrypted when received – and, as a Cloud-based service, there are regular software updates meaning the platform is always using the latest security settings. The system is trusted by over 6,000 GP practices across the UK, as well as over 120 NHS trusts.

 

James adds: “Docman Connect’s encryption feature and its capability to provide a full audit trail gives us, and our patients, reassurance that all data is confidential and secure, and in compliance with the latest data protection standards.”

 

Ric Thompson, Managing Director of Health and Care at Advanced, concludes: “Doctor Care Anywhere is a great example of how primary care providers can use a digital messaging platform to drive efficiencies and improve security. By enabling the organisation to easily and quickly transition from paper to electronic documents, Docman Connect frees up time for GPs to focus more on patient care and operations staff to focus on improving service delivery.”