Background
Patients Know Best (PKB) is a social enterprise and technology platform. The platform is designed to help health and social care providers bring together patient data, along with the patient’s own data, creating one secure Personal Health Record (PHR) for the patient.
Patients Know Best is the first PHR to integrate with the NHS App making it more accessible to more people across the UK. Patients Know Best enables patients to see health information, exchange messages with professionals, access care plans and other resources, connect wearable devices, track and monitor symptoms, and share information with carers and other professionals.
The Need
Patients Know Best sought to partner with a technology and engineering consultancy to improve data flow, quality, and depth of integration between the Patients Know Best platform and Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in England.
The Patient Knows Best technology platform was already well established before seeking to improve their integrations, with over 5 million registered users, and existing integrations with the NHS App, NHS Login and EMIS (via the IM1 Extracts Service). However Patients Know Best sought to enhance the EMIS integration and to develop new integrations with other EHRs – SystmOne and Vision.
The objectives of the engagement were to integrate with EMIS, SystmOne, and Vision, utilising a patient’s NHS login for authentication and authorisation, and to extract structured and coded patient data from EMIS, SystmOne, and Vision, and transform the data into a single HL7 FHIR R4 format. The data integration needed to consolidate several components of the patient’s healthcare record, including: demographics, observations, conditions, medications, allergies, and appointments.
The enhanced integrations would enable Patient Knows Best to deliver on their mission to enable every person to – own a copy of all their health information, to understand what the information means, and to use this understanding to make shared decisions with family members or carers and healthcare professionals.
The Solution
6B worked with Patients Know Best to develop a robust and extensible microservice, acting as a proxy for the Patients Know Best platform, and meeting the functionality in the brief to extract and transform primary care data from leading Electronic Healthcare Record system vendors – EMIS, SystmOne, and Vision.
We implemented the service inline with our established technical, security, and compliance processes, whilst following agile methodologies to remain flexible to change. We followed test-driven development (TDD) processes, releasing code in small units following multiple layers of testing; developer debugging, system testing, unit testing and automated integration testing.
Prioritising the confidentiality, integrity and security of patient data throughout the implementation of the service was key. We encrypted and anonymised patient data, and we carried out threat modelling alongside a data protection impact assessment (DPIAs), all whilst following best practices for security inline with our ISO 27001 processes and procedures.
The new integration service handles data mapping from the EMIS, SystmOne, and Vision disparate data models to a single and coherent HL7 FHIR format for millions of Patients Know Best users in England. This has enabled Patients Know Best to offer a more comprehensive and personalised experience to its users, and the consolidation of diverse health data into a single, standardised format has facilitated better insights into patients’ health status to enable more informed decision-making by both patients and healthcare professionals.
The Impact
The new integration service is set to revolutionise patient-centred care through providing seamless integration between Patients Know Best and leading Electronic Health Record systems.
With enhanced data flow and quality, patients will experience a more holistic view of their health information, and the integrations will empower patients to actively engage in their healthcare journey – fostering shared decision-making with healthcare professionals and caregivers.
In addition, the consolidation of diverse health data into a standardised format will enable improved insights, and provide a foundation for further development on the Patients Know Best platform.
“We enjoy working with Paul and the team at 6B. They are passionate about what they do, and they have always been generous in brainstorming solutions and thinking outside the box. 6B have been a great strategic technical partner for Patients Know Best, we continue to have a close working partnership, and I would recommend 6B to digital health innovators that are seeking experienced technical support.”
– Mohammad Al-Ubaydli, CEO and Founder, Patients Know Best