Integrating third-party telehealth records with the general practice electronic medical record system: a use case approach

Abstract
The implementation of telemonitoring at scale has been less successful than anticipated, often hindered by clinicians’ perceived increase in workload. One important factor has been the lack of integration of patient generated data (PGD) with the electronic medical record (EMR). Clinicians have had problems accessing PGD on telehealth systems especially in patient consultations in primary care. We have designed a method to produce a report of PGD which is available to clinicians through their routine medical record system. Anonymised PGD (with only a telehealth ID) are downloaded from a third party telehealth system to the NHS and linked to the patient record available in the hospital recording system using the patient NHS ID through an interface accessed by healthcare professionals. The telehealth data are then processed into a report using the patient record. This report summarises the readings in graphical and tabular form with an average calculated and with recommended follow up suggested if required. The report is then disseminated to GP practices through routine document distribution pathways. This addition to the telehealth system is viewed positively by clinicians. It has helped to greatly increase the number of general practices using telemonitoring to manage blood pressure (BP) in NHS Lothian.