United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust Saves Time And Money With Our ‘Digital Pen’ Solution

After implementing our Digital Pen Technology, the Therapy Service department at United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust has identified an expected saving of 167 hours per month for clinicians, once the solution is fully rolled out across the Trust.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust originally approached us with a brief to improve the speed and efficiency with which patient activity data could be entered into the trust therapy management system ‘Clinical Manager‘, which we have supplied to the trust for many years.

Over the last few months we have worked closely with the trust to implement a fully integrated digital pen solution, which was piloted across four clinical teams within Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy Services at the trusts’ Pilgrim Hospital in Boston. The project pilot went live in August 2010 within Therapy Services, and we started by digitising the unit’s standard forms, and then introduced the digital pens for use across the teams. This pilot yielded impressive results, drastically reducing administrative duties for the clinicians within these teams, and it also significantly improved data quality.

“The Digital Pens have really freed up time for clinical staff and will eventually change the role of administrative team.”
Anita Cooper, Associate Director of Therapy Services

The new solution

The resultant solution differentiates itself from others in the market place, as not only does it produce a PDF, it also uploads captured clinical data into the relevant fields within Clinical Manager. Further analysis of the pilot and its benefits, have identified another expected 83.5 hours savings per month for administrative staff.

“The solution is really simple to use,” says Anita Cooper, Associate Director of Therapy Services. “Very little training is required and the therapists have found it very easy to pick up. Users simply write on the digitised forms, while retaining the written copy, and then dock the pen at their convenience during the day.” The written data is automatically converted into digital text and then uploads directly into Clinical Manager. Data validation checks and correction facilities are carried out prior to transmission in order to avoid error. Anita adds “The Digital Pens have really freed up time for clinical staff and will eventually change the role of administrative team”.

The solution is currently being scaled up within the trust, following the recent approval of the business case, and it is intended that it will be rolled out to outpatients and other specialities across all hospitals and sites, as well as other therapy services teams.