Case study 2

The Countess of Chester hospital uses MedisecTRUST and MedisecNET to bridge the communications gap between Primary and Secondary Care - and help save the Trust £100k a year.

The Countess of Chester Hospital in Cheshire uses Medisec software to run one of the UK's largest communications systems linking Primary and Secondary Care. The Medisec clinical correspondence system automatically generates clinic attendance and discharge notification letters, and sends them electronically to 43 GP practices in West Cheshire and North Wales.

Dr David Morris from St Mark's Dee View Surgery in Flintshire explains: "Medisec Software has been pivotal in improving the quality and availability of patient information and has had a direct benefit to patient care. A patient can potentially be seen at the Countess in the morning and visit us for follow-up care the next day and we will be fully up-to-speed with his condition, any medication he may be on and developments at the hospital."

From a secure website GPs can see outpatient appointments online, past clinic attendance notes and outpatient letters. They also get instant access to real-time clinical patient information.

Once the hospital discharge summary has been dictated by the consultant and entered into the system, GPs receive the update the next morning. The service is supported by daily discharge bulletins which tell GPs when their patients are leaving the Countess.

An alert is delivered in the morning, notifying administrative staff in the practice that there is electronic mail from the Countess of Chester available in the Medisec post box. GPs can view letters individually or download them in bulk for processing. As well as reducing delivery times, the system also means that no letters are lost.

By delivering patient information quickly and securely, the software gives surgeries high quality information at the right time. Instead of arriving weeks after the patient has left the hospital, discharge information can now be issued and accessed overnight.

"Medisec has cut our paper-handling costs significantly," says Dr Morris. "We no longer have to scan in documents and as the information is digital, we can easily manipulate text. The net effect is much more accurate patient records. The ability to view future hospital appointments also allows diligent GPs to ensure that an ill patient will definitely be seen soon enough, and if not, to chase."