2,400 users of Birmingham patient portal

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust’s patient portal has registered more than 2,400 users in its first year.

The myhealth@QEHB patient platform was launched last year after a successful pilot with liver patients.

The portal, which was developed in-house, has been in use since July 2012 across 13 specialties.

Daniel Ray, the trust’s director of informatics, said the aim was to enable patients to be more involved in their own care.

“Feedback suggests the system has been overwhelmingly well-received by patients and clinicians, who have worked with us to develop its functionality,” he said.

“Increasingly we’re hoping it will also improve patients’ communication with their GP, for example, allowing them to log in at the surgery and discuss their results before a letter arrives through the post.”

The portal allows patients to view and update their own medical records such as medication, test results, discharge letters, and details provided in clinical appointments online.

The trust also plans to connect the portal to telehealth devices which will direct questionnaires to patients to monitor their symptoms, vital signs and treatment compliance.

A survey done by the trust found that more than 77% of patients actively using the portal agreed or strongly agreed that it made them feel more prepared for hospital visits.

Patients also said they find the home page and laboratory results pages most useful, with 87% of survey respondents describing them as quite useful or very useful.

Francis Tavernor, a liver patient who has used the portal since it was in pilot stage, said it made him feel he had a closer and more open relationship with the hospital.

“I find that the site means that after a clinic visit I can look at my blood test results either later that day or within 24-36 hours at the latest,” he said.

Tavernor added that as his condition has become worse, the portal has helped him and his wife cope with the situation.

“As my condition deteriorated the ‘myhealth’ site did not always give us good news, but it did keep us informed. That in itself helped us to deal with some of the difficulties my wife and I faced,” he said.

“In the last seven months it has been cheering to see the good blood results so quickly, and to read the very encouraging letters from my surgeon and my hepatologists.

“In addition it allows me to send local blood test results, requested by my consultant, up to Queen Elizabeth Hospital electronically.”