Unleashing the Power of Outcomes at South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Introduction
When South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SWYPFT) was looking for a tool to measure outcomes, they explored a number of options, but none were felt to meet their needs. Instead, they decided to work with ReStart to develop IMX MH Outcomes, a digital solution designed in collaboration with Mental Health Professionals.
The goal: Measuring Patient Reported Outcomes
Committed to improving the quality and effectiveness of their services, SWYPFT embarked on a journey to gain a deeper understanding of their service users’ outcomes, to compliment and work alongside their existing ways of measuring service user experience. The Trust recognised the importance of how outcome measures can enhance understanding around the impact of interventions and the improvements experienced by service users. Enter Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs).
In recent years, there has been a shift in the NHS towards the collection of outcome measures from both clinician and patient perspectives. As part of the NHS long term plan, this shift towards personalised care and support has placed PROMs at the centre.
Outcome measures are typically either recorded using a combination of paper-based methods, Excel spreadsheets, or inputted into the electronic patient record system (SystmOne) which can limit their use in clinical practice. Recognising the need for a more accessible and streamlined approach, SWYPFT sought a digital tool that could provide meaningful data visualisation, support clinical action and reduce the burden on staff teams.
The solution: IMX MH Outcomes
In 2021, SWYPFT enlisted the help of ReStart, their strategic interoperability partner. ReStart worked with SWYPFT to understand the clinical workflow and provided a technical solution tailored to SWYPFT’s needs. Together they embarked on an 8-month journey to develop a tool that would capture the right information and make it clinically meaningful.
Mike Garnham, Health Intelligence Analyst, SWYPFT said: ” We have enjoyed working with Restart to design the Digital Outcomes App/IMX outcomes. The team have been fantastic support.
As we start to implement digital outcome measures, it’ll be exciting to see the response that we get from our service users and see what difference implementing outcome measures could make to their care.”
The result was IMX MH Outcomes, a digital service user outcomes solution developed in collaboration with mental health professionals. This innovative tool digitised the PROMs workflow within the trust, providing a comprehensive solution that could be used effectively in clinical practice.
Additionally, due to changes with the CQUIN associated with PROMs and the consequential modifications to the Care Programme Approach, SWYPFT recognised the importance of staying proactive. To address this, they wanted to devise a tool that would allow them to reinvest directly into patient care with a partner that could support further innovative functionality enhancement in the future.
The roll out: Supporting Clinicians and Service Users
SWYPFT began by implementing the tool with teams who expressed an interest in digital service user outcomes, over time the tool will be rolled out to most teams across the Trust. IMX MH Outcomes allows clinicians to track service users’ progress and provides both clinicians and service users with an overview of their journey.
Questionnaires are sent digitally to enable service users to self-assess their health and wellbeing. IMX MH Outcomes facilitates this process by sending service users an SMS with a link to an online form. Alternatively, in cases where service users do not have access to the necessary tools at home, they are given the option to complete the questionnaires conveniently during their appointment.
Digital completion of the questionnaire allows for real-time automatic scoring and visual representation of a service users response, saving valuable clinical and administrative time. Outcomes collected include symptoms, quality of life and other relevant measures. This approach complements face to face clinical sessions and other service user feedback mechanisms such as surveys and engagement events. By collecting and analysing data on symptoms, quality of life and other relevant measures, SWYPFT ensures that care is not only patient-centred but also outcome-focused. This comprehensive strategy goes beyond traditional methods and offers a more effective way to improve patient outcomes and ensure the delivery of high-quality care.
The future: Sharing the Benefits
The benefits of this transformative approach are many. Firstly, it has contributed to the quality of information about service users’ mental health and well-being, increased engagement in treatment, improved service user experience and reduced resource requirements, whilst complimenting existing established patient experience methods. Secondly, the reporting, analysis and scoring tools built into IMX MH Outcomes provides clinicians with faster and more accurate information about service users.
Looking ahead, SWYPFT recognises that there is a period of transition for their services. Training will be provided for the new teams using the tool to further embed its benefits into daily practice. In addition, SWYPFT aims to integrate the solution with its care record system to create a seamless and comprehensive healthcare experience.
At SWYPFT, outcomes are becoming integrated into the way the trust deliver patient centred care. Through the use of IMX MH Outcomes to collect and visualise PROMs, SWYPFT have been improving the way impact is measured, which is helping to provide a more personalised, tailored experience for their service users.
