GTP - The Generic Telemedicine Platform

Cross sectorial communication and collaboration

The Generic Telemedicine Platform (GTP) is an information sharing platform, which makes it possible to improve and strengthen cross sectorial communication and collaboration.

Health data is gathered through sensory devices, home monitoring devices and/or personal patient reported outcomes (PRO-data) and thereafter distributed using the GTP. The data is registered by health professionals and/or the patient themselves and securely stored centrally, so all involved in the individual’s care have access to relevant information and an overview of past and present health records, alongside future appointments within health and social care services.

The GTP is an integrated system utilized by all general practitioners, hospitals and municipalities involved in the project to ensure ease of adaptation in using the platform, thus ensuring sustainability of the GTP in the work practice of the health and social sectors.

Healthcare professionals benefit greatly as they no longer use excess time in contacting fellow health professionals, or searching for health records to obtain patient information. This allows for better time management in caring for the patient rather than processing irrelevant information.

Patients feel secure and confident in the quality of care they receive as all health professionals have the same information regarding the patients care and speak a common language involving the patient. Additionally, GTP is patient oriented as patients can also register health data, have access to personal health records and are informed of future care plans.

The same overview of patients' health records across the sectors

The GTP was initially part of the European project SmartCare and was developed in collaboration with IBM in 2013. The Region of Southern Denmark’s contribution to the SmartCare project was the creation and development of a secure data sharing system (GTP) in partnership with IBM, which could distribute data across health and social care sectors. In doing so healthcare professionals could have a more complete overview of patient’s health records and their clinical care pathways.

As The Region Southern Denmark’s vision is to ensure integrated care through a patient-centered approach the platform was further developed, to include patients also gained access to health records and the ability to register health data and home monitoring to their personal health records. Patients can access GTP via a secure personalized login.

The GTP is an innovative solution supported by a well-built digital infrastructure which can support a wide range of pilot projects in telemedicine. GTP’s easy-set up facilitates the option to quickly transform ideas to test-phase in the application of new projects and data input. In using the platform, ideas are cultivated and business cases can be tried and tested within a safe secure set-up that is linked to general practitioners, regional hospitals and municipalities’ data systems. GTP can be customized for target groups by defining the data to be collected, displayed or shared as well as determining the extent of which citizens can obtain access and determining the data available to them.

Strengths

• Strengthens cross sectorial collaboration
• Promotes patient involvement in their own health plan, with focus on patient-centered care
• Gives a complete medical overview of the patient in one place
• In the case of patients unawareness of their own medical history, the GTP overcomes this information gap
• Increases patient safety in treatment and care plans as well as ensuring safer medicine administration
• Cost effective in relation to alternative work practice (phone-calls and time used to find health records and process information)
• Increases effectivity and efficiency among health professionals and healthcare sectors
• Easy, fast and effective in testing telemedicine health projects with assisted expertise adaption facilities
• Can be developed further to meet emerging trends in sensory monitoring and future requirements in healthcare systems.

The vision for GTP over the next 5 years is to further develop GTP in adapting to future sensory technology, future trends in healthcare and society. Presently, the last stage of planning for the incorporation of video consultations between general practitioners and patients to the GTP is under way with implementation beginning mid-April 2019.

The Generic Telemedicine Platform (GTP) enables sharing of data in real time between relevant caregivers (GP’s, hospitals and municipalities social services). Furthermore all health professionals, care receivers and relatives have access to a complete overview of personal health records, including laboratory results, medical notes, upcoming health appointments etc.

The target groups in GTP usage are citizens and health professionals in 4 municipalities within the Region of Southern Denmark.

The GTP enables citizens with a chronic disease or a complex illness to actively partake in mastering their own health. Citizens and relatives have direct access to GTP, where they can enter relevant information on their health status e.g. blood pressure monitoring, as well as an overview of their health records. The service can also be used as a motivational tool for the citizen as goals and current status is clearly visualised textually and graphically.

The GTP has created a new and efficient work process for health professionals. Previously, health professionals often had to ring or email to gain additional relevant information on citizens health status. Since the implementation of GTP, relevant information registered by health professional and/or the citizen themselves is directly accessible, thus providing a higher quality of treatment and reducing errors, by using specific appropriate information. Further beneficial factors are increased efficiency and a higher degree of collaboration between the health sectors, optimising clinical pathways for the citizen.