REFERRALS
Transforming Outpatient Referrals:
ICS:
West Yorkshire and Harrogate ICS
Trust Name:
Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust
Department:
Outpatients – Clinical Admin
Process Name:
e-RS Referrals into EPR
Improved Patient Care
Reduced Referral Backlog
Better Waitlist Management
Reduced Clinical Risk
Enhanced Data Quality
Increased Workforce Capability
Julian Chadha – RPA General Manager, Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust
“e18 have been on hand to support our automation programme from the start and continue to work with the CHFT teams on further process selection aligned to our organisational, ICS and national objectives.
It’s a very exciting time and we are only at the start of our automation journey, so looking forward to expanding the scope across the organisation. With the success of our first process, we are excited about the future potential of our automation programme and the benefits it will continue to bring to the Trust and the community we serve.”
Streamlining Outpatient Referral Document Transfers with Automated EPR Integration
At e18 Innovation, we are proud to have supported Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT) to deliver the first automation solution as part of their innovation programme.
CHFT wanted to discover how they could use technology to digitise their current processes, so e18 Innovation worked closely with the Trust to implement market-leading Intelligent Automation technology. This has enabled CHFT to automate the process of transferring outpatient referral information from e-RS into Cerner, the Trust’s EPR. This process was previously completed manually and took between 5-10 minutes to complete per referral, with staff describing it as “very repetitive and mundane”.
This automation is now processing c250 referrals per day, with an exception rate of less than 5%. As a result, the Trust is saving around 150 hours each week, which is driving improved patient care and greater operational efficiency. Furthermore, CHFT is predicted to save £88,369 per annum from FY23/24 onwards, as they have been able to release 3.5 WTE of vacancies.
We are excited to continue our partnership with CHFT and expand the scope of this automation to include the remaining specialties that are still processing referrals manually. The successful launch of this automation demonstrates the power that Intelligent Automation technology can bring to the healthcare industry, and how it can provide tangible benefits to organisations like Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust.
