Integrating third-party telehealth records with the general practice electronic medical record system: a solution.

BACKGROUND: 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.

OBJECTIVE: To design a method to produce a report of PGD that is available to clinicians through their routine EMR system.

METHOD: We modelled a system with a use case approach using Unified Modelling Language to enable us to design a method of producing the required report. Anonymised PGD are downloaded from a third-party telehealth system to National Health Service (NHS) systems 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 a recommended follow-up suggested if required. The report is then disseminated to general practitioner practices through routine document distribution pathways.

RESULTS: 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 in NHS Lothian.