The advent of Personal Health Records in the primary care arena is becoming more mainstream every day. While the mental health community has been slower to adopt these solutions due to concerns or risk, confidentiality and sensitivity of information, organizations that have implemented a patient portal have found their patients to greatly benefit from them.
The success of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust’s (SLaM) myhealthlocker—developed using our InstantPHR platform—may just be the impetus needed to change minds about the usefulness of personal health records amongst the mental health population.
A recent article released by BMC Psychiatry details the development, launch and results of myhealthlocker; offering solid support for such solutions.
Background
SLaM conducted focus groups and determined that their patient demographic desired a secure portal to communicate with clinicians while managing their symptoms remotely. Because psychiatric patients often interact with multiple caregivers regarding a variety of co-existing conditions and medications, having a hub to connect all the pertinent players was seen as a gap in the care cycle.
By utilizing the InstantPHR platform in conjunction with Microsoft HealthVault, SLaM was able to deliver a patient portal that would give both caregivers and patients the ability to track mental health symptoms and trends outside the walls of a care facility.
Though myhealthlocker was initially offered to small sample groups, the feedback provided was immediately implemented into an updated solution rolled out to a broader demographic.
Results
BMC focused on four areas in assessing the overall value of myhealthlocker; appeal, construction, ease of use and implementation. The most relevant data gleaned from the research was that all but one of the testers felt that the site was useful and relevant to them. A whopping 73% of users indicated that they would continue to utilize myhealthlocker in the future.
The portal also garnered praise for its ease of use, navigation and layout, all hallmarks of the InstantPHR product. Both clinicians and end users preferred an interactive PHR that provided features like care plan access, mood trackers, and patient reported outcomes pulled into the clinical record.
These findings reinforce Get Real Health’s methodology of involving stakeholders, testing and keeping the end user in mind throughout the project life-cycle.
To read the full research article click here.
In the moving testimonial videos below, a SLaM service user and clinician describe the benefits they have experienced from using myhealthlocker.
Patient Testimonial
Clinician Testimonial