Regional Hearing Specialists Ltd (RHS) of Saltash has implemented Ethitec’s Tiara9 integrated appointment booking system and electronic patient record at its branches across the UK, enabling it to move towards a fully paperless service and receive electronic referrals directly from GPs and referral centres.

RHS, which provides NHS funded audiology services on behalf of Clinical Commissioning Groups under Any Qualified Provider (AQP) contracts, is now seeing around a third of its local GP practices booking appointments directly onto the system, using the newly launched NHS electronic Referral System (e-RS, formerly Choose and Book).

Clive Williams, RHS Commercial Director, stated: “We are now using the Tiara9 solution to publish and advertise appointment slots on the central NHS system, therefore accepting directly bookable appointments. This is enabling faster access to audiology services, shorter waiting times and a more transparent appointment booking process. We expect these efficiency gains to increase as more GPs adopt the e-RS system, a trend which we are already seeing take place.”

Tiara9 replaces the legacy IT system previously used at RHS, and provides an integrated, scalable platform for appointment booking and electronic patient records. This has transformed the quality of electronic patient records, which now include details of patient assessments, hearing test results and consultation reports. The system also generates comprehensive management reports, enabling RHS to provide Clinical Commissioning Groups with local data on aspects such as the number of patients fitted with hearing aids, numbers of home visits and stock-takes.

“Previously, our diary and patient record systems were separate, and we had very limited reporting capability. Tiara9 represents a significant step forward for us in terms of IT capability, bringing us close to our goal of going 100% paperless,” explains Clive. “The new system supports scanned documents attached to the patient record and is able to handle the growing volume of contracts RHS is supporting.”

Simon Taylor, Ethitec Managing Director, added: “We are delighted that Tiara9 is delivering the efficiency gains RHS had hoped for, and that it is supporting them to improve their services to the NHS as an AQP.”