What is ReferralFlow?
ReferralFlow from DLA is a decision support application for surgery reception teams that systematically identifies minor ailments that can be deflected out of the surgery and into the NHS Pharmacy First service.
It analyses appointment requests from patients who complete web forms on Silicon Practice websites, and highlights those that can be diverted to pharmacies. Receptionists can also use it when taking telephone calls and identify potential Pharmacy First referrals making contact via that route.
Receptionists using ReferralFlow can confidently deflect three or four times more patients into pharmacies which greatly relieves the pressure on precious GP appointments and serves to improve patient access to Primary Care services.
Benefits of Referral Flow
ReferralFlow makes sure that opportunities to refer minor ailment symptoms are not missed which greatly reduces the number of GP appointments being ‘wasted’ on them.
An average GP practice can expect to save a GP session every day when ReferralFlow is fully embedded and routinely used by the whole reception team.
It means more patients will benefit from same-day primary care consultations – whether in a pharmacy – or in the surgery (where more same-day slots will be freed up) and so helpfully contribute towards the NHS’ 24-hour access objectives.
Take Control of Practice Appointment Volumes
Managers of an average 10,000-patient practice in England need to arrange GP capacity for around 700 clinician appointments (*) every week which approximates to 7% of the list size. This is quite an operational challenge whilst being expensive to fund.
Research shows that around 18%** of these appointments – around 122 per week – will be for minor ailments which could be dealt with by a community pharmacist. However currently only a fraction are being identified by reception teams and streamed into pharmacies.
Whereas ReferralFlow doesn’t miss any of the 70 or so minor ailment conditions and symptoms that qualify for a referral to a community pharmacy.
Some astute practices are referring hundreds of appointments into the Pharmacy First scheme every month, freeing up considerable clinician time and resources.
*Br Journal General Practice, Dr N.K.Menon, 12th Jan 2016
**Br Journal General Practice, 01.07.13)
Harnessing Financial Benefits for Practices (& Pharmacies)
Overtime GP sessions are expensive, while some partners are seeing an exhausting 30+ patients per day in efforts to avoid such additional costs. A session has capacity for a dozen or so appointments whilst the research evidence indicates that ReferralFlow could help deflect a locum session of appointments per day for the average practice!
This whilst associated cost of providing these patient consultations is borne by the national pharmacy contract funding arrangements. Astute practices can therefore take advantage of the operational benefits whilst accruing considerable cash savings thanks to NHS Pharmacy First – ably assisted and maximised by the vigilant decision support of ReferralFlow.
Ready to Give it a Try?
Contact us now to book a demonstration. We will also estimate the volumes of referrals that could be deflected for your practice list size. be, and optimise the savings that Pharmacy First can secure for your practice while improving patient access and care.
Let ReferralFlow transform the way you manage patient referrals and revolutionise the efficiency of your Practice.