Thousands more kidney patients are to be encouraged to use Renal PatientView, a secure online service that gives them password-protected access to test results and information about their diagnosis and treatment.
The Renal Information Exchange Group, which has a dozen members including the Department of Health, the Scottish and Welsh governments, transplant and research charities and medical bodies, has launched an initiative to increase the number of patients using the site from 7,500 to 10,000 by the end of the year.
At a launch event in London, Professor Neil Turner, convenor of the Renal PatientView Steering Group said: “Renal PatientView is delivering today the type of patient access that features so highly on many health board and department wish-lists for tomorrow.”
The website is the creation of the Renal Information Exchange Group, which was set up in 2003 to identify how best to use modern IT to improve patient care for people with kidney disease.
Renal PatientView was launched in October 2005. It takes patient information and links it to information about kidney conditions and their treatment. It also stores blood test results, clinic letters and medication details.
Patients can give password access to anyone they like, including carers and clinical staff, who then have access to their medical history. Funding comes from the DH, Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly and individual renal units in the UK, more than half of whom have registered patients for the service.
The registration drive will encourage more renal units to participate by training more renal unit administrators in the system and providing information about it to kidney patients. Registration takes about six minutes per patient.
Evaluations have shown that the service is popular, that it can help patients to self-manage their conditions, cutting GP and renal unit visits, and that it does not increase the workload of renal unit staff.
Kidney Research UK, one of the organisations backing the recruitment drive, argues that “patients are empowered and better able to manage and predict their disease.”
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