Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS FT to launch AI-driven patient portal

Lancashire and South Cumbia NHS Foundation Trust has announced plans to roll out an intelligent patient portal (IPP), with the aim of delivering AI-powered, two-way conversation.

The IPP, created by EBO is planned to go live at the mental health trust between July and October 2024, in collaboration with software provider, The Access Group.

According to a press release, the portal has been designed to address the “low level of patient adoption in traditional portals and their lack of patient engagement”.

It adds that through the use of an AI-powered virtual assistant and comprehensive functionality, the new portal will connect with patients in a “richer and more meaningful way, enabling conversational engagement with empathy”.

The IPP uses natural language processing and language recognition that will provide the trust with the ability to interact with patients in two-way communication.

This differs from many chatbot applications that typically rely on rule-based approaches or pre-defined scripts, limiting their abilities

Dr Mark Worthington, chief clinical information officer at Lancashire and South Cumbria, said that EBO patient portal “provides leading AI-powered functionality”.

He added: “The use of AI within the NHS is increasing, and we are only just starting to realise the benefits it can deliver.

“As an organisation we are committed to adopting technology that improves our service and health outcomes”.

EBO will support Lancashire and South Cumbia to automate its patient-facing processes end-to-end, with the aim of improving care, increasing staff productivity and reducing the trust’s operational costs.

The trust will meet anticipated NHS patient portal requirements, allowing patients to manage their appointments, view letters and guidance, complete self-assessments and provide consent.

Dr Gege Gatt, CEO of EBO, said: “Using the intelligent patient portal as their digital front door is going to provide the solid foundation needed to create richer and more responsive patient journeys that will contribute to better patient outcomes and ultimately better patient health.

“The trust’s vision of a single, unified patient experience is clear. NHS App support tethers the approach to national directives. The future is very positive.”

EPO says that four more trusts are expected to roll out its IPP solution in 2024.

As from September 2023 all non-specialist acute trusts have been required to have procured a portal solution.

Other trusts to launch patient portals in 2024 include Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS FT which went live with the DrDoctor patient engagement portal (PEP) in May, and County Durham and Darlington NHS FT  which deployed a PEP in partnership with NHS-owned digital health company Health Call in February.