How can PIFU reduce NHS waiting lists?
What is PIFU?
Patient Initiated Follow-Up - known by the acronym “PIFU”, or sometimes as Personalised Outpatient Programmes (POP) - is a way to empower patients by giving them the ability to request outpatient care if and when they need it. PIFU is an alternative way to manage outpatients, moving away from regular in-person follow-up appointments which are often not necessary, towards follow-up appointments only when needed and can be personalised to suit individual patients.
PIFU is important because needing to fit into a rigid follow-up system can be a challenge for patients, especially if they have to needlessly travel to consultations which takes time, energy, and costs money. PIFU gives patients more choice about how their care is managed – both in hospital and in the community - and helps reduce the number of avoidable hospital appointments by allowing patients to identify if they need to see a clinician, ask a question virtually, or want no further treatment.
PIFU as an Elective Recovery Plan tool
Right now, Patient Initiated Follow-Up is a hot topic in the NHS, with leaders recognising its potential to help manage the growing backlog for care by reducing unnecessary appointments, introduce an additional way to communicate with patients, and to get on top of waiting lists quickly and safely.
The requirement for NHS organisations to implement PIFU is part of the outpatients transformation strategy laid out in the 2022/23 Operational Planning Guidance. It is a key part of the NHS’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic, helping providers and systems safely follow the NHS’s Elective Recovery Plan. Trusts have been set the target of reducing outpatient follow-ups by a minimum of 25% by March 2023, and to move or discharge 5% of outpatient attendances to PIFU.
Sir Jim Mackey, author of the NHS Elective Recovery Plan, highlighted that two thirds of hospital outpatients appointments are taken up by reviews, many of which are unnecessary and add to the long and growing waiting list for treatment for those that really need it. Using PIFU to allow patients to decide whether they would like a review or follow up appointment should safely cut down the number of appointments and could be a game changer for the overstretched NHS.
Digital tools to enable PIFU
Whilst a good starting point for Elective Recovery, without digital tools, managing Patient Initiated Follow-Up can be a manual and administrative-heavy process.
Currently, many trusts that have PIFU are using spreadsheets or lists which are not integrated to manage PIFU patients. To feel the full benefits of PIFU, it is essential to transform this pathway using digital tools, making outpatients management more efficient, less manual, and safer - for good.
A digital platform like Infinity can be used to coordinate and manage a whole suite of PIFU associated tasks, for example, patient assessments, appointment booking, follow-up phonecalls, and more.
1. Review and prioritise PIFU requests
Infinity can be integrated with other clinical and operation systems, and therefore provide a real-time single source of truth. Once Patient Initiated Follow-Up requests have been made, Infinity’s digital platform can allow health and care staff to easily review, prioritise, and assign them to the correct hospital department, instead of using unwieldy spreadsheets.
A list of PIFU patients and their requests is accessible from anywhere and by all appropriate staff, which removes the information storage and sharing risks of using spreadsheets, and avoids using non-integrated lists which get out of date quickly.
2. Streamline appointment booking
Integrating Infinity with appointment booking and management solutions helps to remove the administrative burden on administration teams that can result from implementing Patient Initiated Follow-Up using non-digital methods.
Patients can also be sent automatic appointment reminders with this type of solution, which can significantly reduce the number of missed appointments (DNAs), saving more clinical time.
3. Track patient assessments
Patients on a PIFU pathway can complete and submit assessment forms to the hospital, which, without digital solutions, have to be processed manually, or on a simple spreadsheet.
Patients may also be already self-monitoring their condition at home, taking and submitting readings for example, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and blood sugar.
Assessments can be seen in Infinity and clinical teams can review reported symptoms and take appropriate action, for example, ensuring appointments are made or expedited.
Infinity also allows clinicians to identify non-engagement, for example patients who don't book an appointment, submit readings or complete questionnaires, and contact patients, reducing the risk of PIFU patients being lost to follow up.
4. Monitor PIFU data
Infinity collects and stores Patient Initiated Follow-Up data that satisfies national reporting requirements, allows trusts to monitor their performance, identify issues, and take action in real time.
Real-time dashboards enable all stakeholders to have a clear picture of their performance for example percentage of patients on PIFU pathways for each specialty, and average wait time.
It is clear that Patient Initiated Follow-Up can be a helpful way to reduce the burden of unnecessary appointments for both the healthcare system and patients, whilst safely monitoring and manage those patients that do need to be seen.
Using digital tools can make PIFU much more efficient, giving patients more control over their care and a personalised way to communicate with and feel supported by clinicians if needed. Clinical staff can quickly identify issues, prioritise patients, take action when needed, and ensure that patients are not lost to follow-up. All of this will help speed up the Elective Recovery process, and a solution like Infinity for PIFU can free up a significant amount of clinical time.
Now is the time for trusts to invest in digital solutions to support PIFU in a safe and efficient way. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss how Infinity can support your trust to implement digital PIFU pathways and manage PIFU patients safely and efficiently.
