The Community module is a huge step towards a shared EPR

Improving patient care with the EMIS Community module (LV)

The Community module is a huge step towards a shared EPR, accessible by all teams involved in patient care. It is an optional, fully functional element of EMIS LV 5.1.

Community benefits

• The ability to record clinical consultations in tandem with, and stored against the same patient medical record will assist in the delivery of effective, integrated primary healthcare, i.e. GPs are more aware of care that their patients receive from Community teams and vice versa
• A caseload and diary has been designed specifically around the way Community professionals work, not only for clinical reference and input, but also as a resource management tool
• Duplication of data collection or record keeping is avoided as the EMIS system is used to record data and the relevant reports can then be extracted and sent to the Trust
• Hand held devices allow Community users to download the caseload and visit list along with clinical summary information, details of open episodes and past contacts; nurse prescribing formulary; the facility to add and alter data on site, and then upload to the EMIS clinical system back at the surgery.

An option on the EMIS main menu, the Community module can be set up for use by teams and/ or individuals. A referral to Community staff can be added manually and the referral sent to the waiting list for the relevant team. (Note: the full link from referrals is only available using EMIS v5.2). The patient can either be accepted onto their caseload list or rejected if inappropriate.

Report generation

Powerful reporting tools facilitate a variety of audit and reports* that meet and exceed existing basic information requirements of Trusts, including Körner return figures, discharge reasons, episode outcomes and much more

Visit schedules can be created for the patients, which are stored in an electronic diary for use by the Community teams. This lists all patients due for visits each day and allows these visits to be allocated to individual healthcare professionals.

Procedure codes

At the core of the module, National Casemix Office code groupings are used instead of Read codes, as they have been designed specifically for use by HCPs. However, each location can tailor the system to collect and collate meaningful data to meet local and national requirements.

Episodes of care

Community care records are created under episodes of care, with clinical coding of treatment centred around:

• Reason for care (i.e. Diabetes)
• Care aims (i.e. maintenance)
• Care activity (i.e. Chronic Disease management)
• Outcome definitions.

Within each episode the user can record each contact with the patient. A 'contact' page similar to the 'consultation mode' has been designed for the Community teams facilitating access to the same templates, protocols, PILs leaflets etc, as all other users of the system

Contacts by the Community teams will then be viewable in the consultation summary. Quality of data input can be influenced and monitored through the effective use of such templates and protocols assigned to specific disciplines (i.e. Health Visitor), and prescribing limited to a defined Community formulary.

Personal data assistants

Hand held devices (PDAs) provide healthcare workers with mobile access to a patient record following a download from the main clinical system. Providing summary information from the patient's medical record and enabling the input of data (medical and prescribing) through specially designed mini-templates and screens.

At present, the module has been created with District Nurses and Health Visitors in mind. However EMIS fully anticipate extending the use of the module to include other professions allied to medicine, including Midwives, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Dieticians and Speech Therapists.

Security

The enhanced security within EMIS v5 addresses the concerns over Community team access to GP information as it enables restriction of access by users to specific menu options and EMIS system functions. Conversely, Community staff can apply restrictions to all recorded consultations as deemed necessary to their local relationships. It is also possible to mark consultations as containing sensitive information, restricting access to specified healthcare professionals.

Technical specifications

The software is dependent on LV3 and EMIS Version 5.1 or above, and use of the PDAs requires an NT network. It can be installed on v5, however users initially will not have access to the advanced features, namely the searches option and the automatic referral module.

Further information

Please contact EMIS Central Operations on 0845 125 5529.

*EMIS can also provide a consultancy service for the creation of standard audit and reports to be installed on all practice systems across a Trust/PCT area, aiding the collection and collation of data sets from all parties at a chosen central point.