Graham McGeoch1, Peter McGeoch, Brett Shand. 1. The Canterbury Initiative, 4th floor, The Princes Margaret Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand. mcgeochg@gmail.com.
Abstract
AIM: An online survey was used to determine the perceptions of healthcare professionals in Canterbury on HealthPathways, a website that provides clinical and referral information for general practice teams, relevant to locally available health services and resources. METHOD: The survey questionnaire included questions on the effectiveness and ease-of-use of the website, computer literacy and use of online clinical guidance systems. Differences in the responses between work groups were analysed using the Mann-Whitney test. RESULTS: 249/480 (52%) of general practitioners, 72/156 (46%) of practice nurses, and 43/66 (65%) of hospital clinicians completed the questionnaire. Approximately 90-95% of general practice teams considered the website was easy to use and had contributed to both an increase and improvement of care in the community, with about 50% stating that it had improved their relationships with patients and hospital clinicians. Minor concerns included the website's increasing size and prescriptive nature and that it increased the duration of a patient consultation. Approximately 60% of hospital clinicians reported improvements in referral quality and triage and working relationships with general practices since the introduction of HealthPathways. CONCLUSION: HealthPathways has achieved a high level of acceptance in both primary and secondary care, and has therefore acted as a valuable change management tool increasing healthcare integration in Canterbury.
AIM: An online survey was used to determine the perceptions of healthcare professionals in Canterbury on HealthPathways, a website that provides clinical and referral information for general practice teams, relevant to locally available health services and resources. METHOD: The survey questionnaire included questions on the effectiveness and ease-of-use of the website, computer literacy and use of online clinical guidance systems. Differences in the responses between work groups were analysed using the Mann-Whitney test. RESULTS: 249/480 (52%) of general practitioners, 72/156 (46%) of practice nurses, and 43/66 (65%) of hospital clinicians completed the questionnaire. Approximately 90-95% of general practice teams considered the website was easy to use and had contributed to both an increase and improvement of care in the community, with about 50% stating that it had improved their relationships with patients and hospital clinicians. Minor concerns included the website's increasing size and prescriptive nature and that it increased the duration of a patient consultation. Approximately 60% of hospital clinicians reported improvements in referral quality and triage and working relationships with general practices since the introduction of HealthPathways. CONCLUSION: HealthPathways has achieved a high level of acceptance in both primary and secondary care, and has therefore acted as a valuable change management tool increasing healthcare integration in Canterbury.
Authors: Michael J Epton; Paul T Kelly; Brett I Shand; Sallyanne V Powell; Judith N Jones; Graham R B McGeoch; Michael C Hlavac Journal: NPJ Prim Care Respir Med Date: 2017-04-19 Impact factor: 2.871
Authors: Graham McGeoch; Brett Shand; Carolyn Gullery; Greg Hamilton; Matthew Reid Journal: Prim Health Care Res Dev Date: 2019-10-29 Impact factor: 1.458
Authors: Maha Pervaz Iqbal; Elizabeth Manias; Laurel Mimmo; Stephen Mears; Briony Jack; Liz Hay; Reema Harrison Journal: BMC Health Serv Res Date: 2020-10-15 Impact factor: 2.655