Is HealthPathways effective? An online survey of hospital clinicians, general practitioners and practice nurses
McGeoch, G.; McGeoch, P.; Shand, B.
New Zealand Medical Journal 128(1408): 36-46
2015
ISSN/ISBN: 1175-8716 PMID: 25662377 Document Number: 681979
An online survey was used to determine the perceptions of healthcare professionals in Canterbury on HealthPathways, a website that provides clinical and referral information for general practice teams, relevant to locally available health services and resources. The survey questionnaire included questions on the effectiveness and ease-of-use of the website, computer literacy and use of online clinical guidance systems. Differences in the responses between work groups were analysed using the Mann-Whitney test. 249/480 (52%) of general practitioners, 72/156 (46%) of practice nurses, and 43/66 (65%) of hospital clinicians completed the questionnaire. Approximately 90-95% of general practice teams considered the website was easy to use and had contributed to both an increase and improvement of care in the community, with about 50% stating that it had improved their relationships with patients and hospital clinicians. Minor concerns included the website's increasing size and prescriptive nature and that it increased the duration of a patient consultation. Approximately 60% of hospital clinicians reported improvements in referral quality and triage and working relationships with general practices since the introduction of HealthPathways. HealthPathways has achieved a high level of acceptance in both primary and secondary care, and has therefore acted as a valuable change management tool increasing healthcare integration in Canterbury.