One of our key principles is that Online Consultations should be designed using evidence of what works and what does not.
In partnership with The University of Manchester, we conduct research into Patchs and other Online Consultation providers, and use our findings to make Patchs better.
This article highlights some key features of Patchs and the evidence for them - we add more information as more evidence comes available.
Free-text input, not multiple-choice questionnaires
We allow patients to submit queries using their own words, and do not force them to answer multiple-choice questionnaires that someone else has come up with.
This reduces workload on patients because they do not have to fill out lots of questions, and it reduces workload on staff because they do not have to read lots of questions and then call the patient to get more information.
Evidence: Eldh et al. 2020, Entezarjou et al. 2020, Atherton et al. 2018, Banks et al. 2018, Farr et al. 2018, Carter et al. 2018, Matheson 2015, Casey et al. 2017, Adamson and Bachman 2010, Fagerlund et al. 2019, Segui et al. 2020, Bishop et al. 2013, Peber and Wästfelt, 2020
Integration with existing clinical software systems
We integrate with your existing systems so you can seamlessly work with Patchs, for example by saving consultations to the patient record in one click. This reduces staff workload.
Evidence: Banks et al. 2018, Atherton et al. 2018, Johansson et al. 2020, Peber and Wästfelt, 2020, Matheson 2016, Eldh et al. 2020, Murphy et al. 2021, Entezarjou et al. 2020, Carter et al. 2018
Automation of tasks (AI)
There is a lot of evidence that Online Consultations increase GP practice staff workload if not done right. This is inevitable because they make it easier for patients to contact us. One way that Patchs tries to deal with that is by providing Artificial Intelligence modules to do work on your behalf. For examble, triaging patients, and work-flowing them to the right person.
Evidence: Peber and Wästfelt 2020, Atherton et al. 2018, Banks et al. 2018, Bishop et al. 2013, Carter et al. 2018, Farr et al. 2018, NHS England 2019, Johansson et al. 2020, Matheson 2016, Stamenova et al. 2020, Andersen et al. 2019, McGrail et al. 2017, IPSOS MORI 2019, Eldh et al. 2020, Entezarjou et al. 2020, Cowie et al. 2018, Segui et al. 2020 A, Segui et al. 2020 B
Matching capacity to demand
Another way we try to counteract the potential increase in workload from Online Consultations is by providing the ability to control your incoming demand. Many Online Consultation systems allow patients to submit as many requests as they want, any time of day. This can increase staff stress and cause patient safety issues if there is not enough staff to deal with them. Patchs provides a sophisticated request limiter function that allows you to specify how many request you receive from patients. You can set it by hour of the day, and by day of the week, to match how many staff you have.
Evidence: Peber and Wästfelt 2020, Atherton et al. 2018, Banks et al. 2018, Bishop et al. 2013, Carter et al. 2018, Farr et al. 2018, NHS England 2019, Johansson et al. 2020, Matheson 2016, Stamenova et al. 2020, Andersen et al. 2019, McGrail et al. 2017, IPSOS MORI 2019, Eldh et al. 2020, Entezarjou et al. 2020, Cowie et al. 2018, Segui et al. 2020 A, Segui et al. 2020 B
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