Using digital technologies to free up clinical time and reduce costs
A pilot project that we have initiated with IRIS at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has shown that digital personalised videos sent to patients after surgery could reduce post-operative follow-up appointments by 67 %, release 360 additional appointments per year, and achieve a 60 % increase in cost efficiency. These potential benefits are based on findings from an evaluation of one clinic performing 450 knee arthroscopic procedures annually.
The health economics evaluation, conducted in collaboration with York Health Economics Consortium( YHEC), also showed cost savings per patient of £ 250, and an annual saving of £ 112,500, based on 450 patients per year.
The innovation was developed by a specialist knee surgeon at the Trust and provides patients with a multimedia report including a personalised video, FAQ videos, and annotated surgical images on the same day following surgery, with the intention of reducing
17 Transforming Lives Through Innovation the need for follow-up appointments and increasing patient satisfaction and experience.
We have created a data metrics framework, shared with all adopting sites, to support data collection and a future evaluation, helping to build evidence for the digital personalised videos approach across different sites and clinical specialities. We have also developed an adoption and spread toolkit including a business case, value proposition, and detailed implementation guidance to support further spread of the innovation. All these resources are available online to help other trusts adopt this solution. We continue to work with IRIS to expand its adoption across our region and nationally.
The approach has been nationally recognised, winning the‘ Supporting Elective Recovery through Digital’ category at the HSJ Digital Awards for 2024.
Analogue to digital
Sickness to prevention
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