LLR ICS integrates virtual ward data with shared care record

Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care System (LLR ICS) has collaborated with remote patient monitoring technology provider Clinitouch to integrate virtual ward data into the region’s shared care record.

The LLR Care Record allows all of the providers involved in an individual’s care to access vital information across healthcare services, with the aim of improving care  coordination and treatment.

Virtual ward data was integrated with the shared care record in August 2024, in partnership with Clinitouch, which powers 12 of the virtual ward pathways in use across LLR ICS.

Toby Page, architecture consultant for the LLR Care Record, said: “LLR is involved in many services across the health system and one of the big challenges we have is mapping data in local systems to clean, structured information resources to make them widely available.

“Following user research involving health and care professionals, it was clear that there’s a world outside of virtual wards that can benefit from access to this patient information.

“For example, GPs, social care and other teams might not have any visibility of how a patient is being managed on a virtual ward until the pathway has ended.

“We wanted to create a dynamic, instant view of information that shows the bigger picture.

“For example, if a patient has been to hospital, received treatment or is receiving a package of social care support and is also on a virtual ward pathway, we can show these events together to present a richer view of the patients’ care journey – this is where structured information sharing really comes into its own.”

Patients are now able to use a remote monitoring app to input health data through tailored questionnaires and vital sign readings, which are analysed by specialist teams at LLR to enable early detection and interventions for conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure and pneumonia.

Duncan Harris, chief technology officer at Clinitouch, said: “This project aims to address the common problem that multi-disciplinary teams don’t always get access to all the relevant information in a patient’s record.

“Tackling this problem effectively opens up opportunities for better decisions about patient care.

“It’s rare to have such a solid alignment between a big ICS and technical supplier and working directly with them avoided the need for an intermediary, allowing for a far better quality of data to flow.

“It proves that adopting standards that are already there, rather than trying to reinvent your own way of storing and exchange data, is a sensible thing to do.

“We’re looking forward to seeing the impact that this longitudinal healthcare record has in the coming months.”

LLR ICS announced in August 2022 that it planned to introduce virtual wards with the intention of increasing bed capacity and delivering timely treatment to more patients.