Umotif and the Picker Institute have partnered to create a new healthcare app. Used effectively, the digital platform supports patients to better manage their own care – potentially reducing hospital readmissions rates and improving emergency services in the process.
The light-touch tool, has been designed for patients to use post-discharge, independently and with minimal clinician guidance or involvement. Following a simple invite and registration process, patients are empowered to track their own care experience, including everything from symptoms, recommended treatments, medication schedules and even a photo and text led progress diary.
The aim is to support patient confidence and encourage people to ask more questions about their care journey, by having access to this library of data. During follow-up treatment, it enables transparency and open communication between patients and healthcare staff, preventing any confusion around medication instructions and enhancing the potential for shared-decision making. In addition to the patient empowerment benefits, questions designed by the Picker Institute allow healthcare teams to specifically ask patient experience related questions. This data can then be downloaded and collated into digestible reports and channelled into future service improvements.
Philip Stylianides, group director at the Picker Institute, said: “If you consider that 41% of people were not told key medication side effects, when discharged, you can begin to see why avoidable emergency hospital readmissions are costing the NHS an astounding £1.6 billion per year and rising. Understanding someone’s patient experience is essential for teams’ to learn the strengths and weaknesses of the care they provide.”
