01 September 2009
SystmOnline a Hit With 'Silver Surfers'
The SystmOne online service, 'SystmOnline' was launched in December 2008. Nine months later, over 270 organisations are using it, and it is proving a particular hit with patients of a 'certain age'! TPP has spoken to two GP practices who are promoting the service to their patients...
Dr M Maung and Partners, The Surgery, Greenwich Avenue, in Hull was one of the pilot sites for SystmOnline and provides all of the available services to their patients. Sue Thompson, Practice Manager, has been advertising the service to all patients and has been surprised by the group using the system most. "A cross-section of our patients are registered for SystmOnline but I was surprised by how many silver surfers use it. One of our elderly patients was so keen to use it she got her grandson to set it up as a 'Favourite' so all she has to do is click into it. A lot of older people are IT literate but SystmOnline is so simple to use that they don't necessarily need to be. Anyone who can access a PC can use it."
In Cambridgeshire, Sawston Medical Practice is top of the list for the number of repeat requests and appointments booked by patients through SystmOnline. Assistant Practice Manager, Jenny Parker, says, "In our surgery, it's the silver surfers that use SystmOnline - the youngsters don't and we've decided it's because they're not organised enough! Patients above 30, but particularly in their 50s, 60s or 70s use it much more heavily. That surprised me."
Approximately one in seven patients at Sawston is registered for SystmOnline. In April, more than 300 appointments at Sawston were booked through SystmOnline. "We don't publish all of our appointments," says Jenny. "For example, I only publish the afternoon phlebotomy sessions, not the morning ones, because we keep those for fasting cholesterols and so on. We are desperately trying to get patients not to phone for appointments at 8am, and using SystmOnline does take calls away from the reception area. It means patients can book 24/7 which is ideal, particularly for professional people, and it means they can browse appointments and book in advance rather than on the day."
Jenny estimates that at 8am, the receptionists are answering one call every 30 seconds, so the 300 appointments booked online saves approximately two and a half hours of the receptionists' time a month.
Dr M Maung and Partners have made all routine bookable appointments available online, and Sue says this makes patients much happier. "General Practice is all about patient choice nowadays. With SystmOnline, patients can see what appointments are available, and can choose one that's best for them. It cuts down on frustration for them as they can see for themselves what we'd tell them over the phone."
Sawston Medical Practice covers 16 villages. Jenny has spread the word about SystmOne by sending out articles to all the village and parish magazines, putting up posters in the practice and giving out leaflets to patients. She has also put a message on all repeat prescriptions advising patients that they can request them online.
Once requested, patients can collect their prescriptions from the surgery, or from another location as Jenny explains, "We send our prescriptions out to local villages. The notes field on the website allows patients to tell us where we should deliver to."
SystmOnline uses Tasks to manage workflow from requests for medication or registration. Sue explains how The Surgery deals with these, "Repeat prescription Tasks come in as 'Unassigned' Tasks. Normally, we have a particular member of staff processing them, and they're dealt with very quickly. There's less margin for error because you are sure that you've definitely got the right patient and the right medication as the request is linked to the record and only the active repeats appear for the patient to choose from. The patients like it, and we like it because it's really efficient and it saves patients ringing up and saying 'I want the blue ones'."
The self-registration Tasks are also easy to process as Sue explains, "We're not a mobile population so we haven't had a lot of these Tasks, but when one comes in, it is assigned to the Healthcare Assistant who deals with it. The thing to remember is that the patient is not registering online, they are only requesting to register. Whether or not they can register is completely at the control of the practice. If the patient is in the area and is eligible to register, the Healthcare Assistant contacts them. Until that's done, they can't register with us."
Feedback about the SystmOnline service was included in Sawston's recent GP survey. Jenny says, "The patients told us that the online service was excellent, so we are very pleased."
Sue agrees, "We think SystmOnline is a good development from TPP and the patients think so as well. Ultimately, it's for their benefit, but it also helps us as well."
SystmOnline statistics
271 units have now been enabled to use SystmOne. 270 of these are GPs - that's over one-quarter of all GP practices using SystmOne.
64,052 patients are registered to use SystmOnline
25,249 appointments have been booked through SystmOnline
64,205 repeat prescriptions have been requested through SystmOnline
463 patients have submitted a 'request to register' with a practice through SystmOnline
Stats correct as of 22nd July 2009
