Community and mental health trusts in London and the South can share patient information using a new feature from BT.
RiO2RiO allows healthcare professionals with the correct permissions to view a patient’s relevant medical history even if that record is held by another trust.
Trusts across London and the South had Rio, CSE Healthcare’s electronic patient record system, delivered by BT through NPfIT.
Together they serve a population of around 21m residents who are highly mobile.
A statement from BT says that RiO2RiO means that when patients move into a new trust area they can be seen the first time they arrive for an appointment, rather than having to wait for their medical records to be transferred.
The functionality was piloted by North East London NHS Foundation Trust and extended to more than 1.5m patients across Waltham Forest, Redbridge and the neighbouring boroughs of Havering and Barking and Dagenham.
Other London and southern community care and mental health organisations are now implementing the service, the statement says.
Lee Griffin, child health manager at North East London, said RiO2RiO had been extremely positive from both a clinical and patient point of view.
“At a glance we are able to see what immunisations, health checks or blood spots have been given to a child and if necessary add these to our local record at a click of a button.
“This not only cuts down on duplication of work, such as scheduling immunisations that have previously been carried out with a neighbouring GP, but also improves the accuracy of the child’s health record.”
Andrew Gooding, head of community mental health at the NHS London Programme for IT in the Health and Social Care Information Centre, described positive feedback from clinical staff using the new service as “overwhelming".
RiO has been rolled out by BT to 62 sites and is used by 110,000 healthcare professionals across London and the South and at 25 other organisations nationwide.