Patient List to launch open source app

Patient List, the winners of the first NHS Hack Day, are set to release their open source software app next month, arguing that it has the potential to save the NHS £3m per year.

Patient List replaces the traditional, paper-based task-lists created by junior doctors.

It produces an electronic list of patients by connecting to a feed from a trust’s IT systems, such as a hospital patient administration system.

The product, which is being developed by New Context Scotland, is to be released on an open-source platform and will be free to download.

The NHS Hack Day initiative aims to solve IT problems that are witnessed on a daily basis at health organisations across the UK.

As reported by eHealth Insider in May, the app first shown at the first NHS Hack Day in London impressed a judging panel that included figures such as Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, the former chief medical officer for England.

Dr Colin Brown, who was part of the successful team, told EHI that the system would improve patient safety, information governance and the overall efficiency of a junior doctor’s day.

“The patient handover app and job tracking app will improve the work of a junior doctor who currently has to create his own handover list as this system will generate it automatically.

“You will be able to log-in real time and see what tasks have been done, what tasks need to be done urgently without having to meet other staff in a canteen and without running the risk of losing the notes,” he explained.

According to Dr Brown, some doctors currently “on call” are subjected to a substantial amount of handover notes, some of which can be lost and most of which cannot be tracked by other doctors in the organisation.

The system will be using use HL7 feeds for interoperability with local PAS systems, and there is scope for future development of the product, including the potential to communicate with other doctors by using Patient List.

The app currently has all its functionality in place but is currently undergoing some “presentation” adjustments by New Context Scotland colleagues in the USA.

Dr Brown said that the app’s “final tweaking is in place” and that the estimated £3m saving is not an “unreasonable figure”, given the significant amount of junior doctors that could potentially use the system.

“It is difficult to have a precise figure but it’s not unreasonable as we believe this system will save five minutes a day of a junior doctor’s time.

"With 10,000 junior doctors or so in the UK, on an average salary of £30,000, that cost can be diverted to patient care.

Formerly known as EdgeCase UK, New Context Scotland is part of New Context, Inc, a global consultancy.

New Context provides web and mobile software development for startups, corporations, and governments in North America, Asia, and Europe.