A discussion platform for health professionals developed by PCTI is being piloted by GP practices and clinical commissioning groups.
Docman Collaborator is a fully audited discussion platform that enables health professionals to share and discuss information, reducing the need for physical meetings, conference calls, faxes, letters and emails.
It can be used for things such as complex patient discussions, managing patient complaints and internal referral reviews.
Collaborator is being piloted in 20 GP practices and a number of CCG’s and NHS provider organisations.
Shropshire Walk In Health Centre IT manager Norman Brown said it was often difficult to get a number of people together at one time to discuss a project or issue.
In a statement, he said staff have been using Collaborator “a lot” and it is “brilliant” because it means that “everyone involved is in the loop and they are aware of all the discussions and inputs that others are having.”
He added: “Communication is vital and Collaborator certainly helps with this.”
PCTI managing director Ric Thompson said there was a real demand for a system to help healthcare professionals “collaborate across traditional boundaries in new more efficient and effective ways.”
Thompson said Collaborator had been designed by health professionals from the bottom up and required minimal initial setup or maintenance.
The platform resides on the N3 network and uses role based access to satisfy information governance requirements.