New 'early warning system' to improve patient care, UK

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Article Date: 03 Sep 2005 - 21:00 PDT

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A new computer programme which will provide the NHS with an 'early warning' system for identifying patients with long-term conditions most at risk of admittance to hospital was launched today by the Department of Health.

The computer software uses a wide range of patient information to work out who is most at risk. Data such as the patients' age, type of illness, and recent contacts with the NHS are processed to work out which patients are most in need of care. Once prioritised, NHS care teams can then work with patients to help them maintain their health and avoid a visit to hospital.

Health Minister Lord Warner said:

"The NHS is developing into a service that not only provides excellent care when a person becomes sick, but also works with patients to help them maintain their health and stay out of hospital.

"In January, we announced sweeping changes to the way in which NHS and social care organisations deliver care to people with long term conditions. As these changes are implemented, we are seeing excellent work going on across the country. This new system is a great innovation that will provide NHS staff with additional help in this important work."

National Clinical Director for Primary Care Professor David Colin-Thome said:

"There are millions of people around the country who are coping with one or more long-term conditions. The vast majority receive excellent care from the NHS. But we know that there are a minority whose conditions can sometimes go unmonitored and unmanaged until a hospital visit becomes necessary.

"This new system has real potential to improve the care delivered to these patients. NHS organisations will now look at how best they can use the new software alongside their current systems to deliver the best possible care for their patients."

The new computer programme has been developed for the Department of Health by the King's Fund in partnership with researchers at New York University and Health Dialog - a care management firm that specialises in analytics and chronic disease management. The project was commissioned by Essex Strategic Health Authority, acting as lead commissioner for the 28 SHAs, Department of Health and the NHS Modernisation Agency.

King's Fund chief executive Niall Dickson said:

"Providing better care for people with long-term conditions is one of the greatest challenges facing the NHS. We know that we need to target help at those most at risk, but until now there was no robust way of achieving this. We hope this programme will be more effective than previous techniques at identifying high-risk patients. The prize would be immense - better care of a higher quality delivered earlier to patients, fewer unnecessary hospital admissions and better use of NHS resources."

Essex Strategic Health Authority Medical Director Paul Watson said:

"Essex SHA has commissioned this work on behalf of the Department of Health and the other SHAs. We are very pleased and excited about the new software. This will really help us improve services by targeting the right patients. This will then help prevent patients' clinical condition deteriorating to the point that they need emergency hospital admission."

The new software is available free to the NHS from today. It will also be further developed over the autumn to incorporate data from community sources in addition to hospital data; this will enhance its capability further. This final version should be available at the beginning of 2006.

Earlier this year, the Department of Health announced a major overhaul in the way health and social care services will deliver care to the millions of people in England with long-term conditions. Long-term conditions are those conditions that cannot, at present, be cured, but can be controlled by medication and other therapies. They include diabetes, asthma, and arthritis.

The new changes are designed to improve the health and quality of life of those with long-term conditions, prevent premature death, and reduce the number of times they have emergency visits to hospital.

UK Dept of Health

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