Moving the clinical conversation

Kinesis is a web-based application which facilitates clinical dialogue between GPs and Consultants, Prescribers to Pharmacists or anywhere else where NHS staff need to seek advice from somoeone else in the NHS.

Kinesis uses - GP referrals

Kinesis has the potential to significantly reduce inappropriate outpatient referrals into secondary care.

On average, outpatient referrals across the country have risen by as much as 13% during 2008/09¹, with many referrals made because the GP merely wishes to seek advice. Anecdotal evidence also suggests that up to 65% of patients attending outpatient specialty clinics are discharged with no significant pathology being detected.

Use of Kinesis by GPs as a tool for seeking timely advice and input from specialists to allow the patient to be treated in primary care rather than by referral could considerably reduce the number of referrals for a proportion of patients.

Anticipated Benefits

There are significant benefits for GPs, patients, PCTs, Acute Trusts and the SHA as a whole which include:

• The ability for GP’s to access expert advice when they and their patients need it;
• A reduction in the number of unnecessary referrals into secondary care;
• Improving the patients’ experience, the right advice, the first time and in the right place – providing planned care closer to home;
• Better patient outcomes and improved observation and management of chronic diseases in primary care;
• Quicker treatment pathways for patients, treatment can commence in primary care weeks before an outpatient appointment would have been available;
• More appropriate use of specialist time and reduced interruptions to inpatient work from unscheduled calls and unnecessary referrals
• Improved quality of referral into secondary care where appropriate;
• Improved management of long-term conditions within Primary Care.

Use of Kinesis is assocaiated with substantial cost savings. One NHS region generated over 1.8 million GP referrals during 2008/09, resulting in over 1.5 million new patient attendances. This represents approximately 4,178 referrals per day.  Referrals into just 6 of those specialties: trauma & orthopaedics; cardiology, nephrology, gastroenterology, rheumatology and neurology represents approximately 20% of total referrals into all specialties and generated over 331,000 new attendances.
The cost of each of these referrals ranged from £135 - £385 per appointment. Reducing referrals by 20% across these 6 specialties alone could save the region over £10 million per year. Even based on a 5% reduction in referrals this still represents a significant cost saving of over £2.5million in the first year.

Kinesis technology