PKB can be the digital solution for many perioperative teams wanting to improve surgical pathways. Providing digital informed consent, digitalised shared decision tool care plans, pre and post-surgery questionnaires and care plans, giving patients advice, reducing clinical appointment time, saving hospital money and improving the experience for both the patient and the clinical teams.

PKB's messaging and questionnaire functionality can help teams complete earlier pre-operative screening to help identify patients with additional health needs who would benefit from extra support both before and after surgery. The library and care plan features can give patients information pre and post-op and provide hospitals with a digital waiting well solution.

Workflow

Use cases

Diabetes

The team uses PKB to manage the cohort of patients admitted for surgery diagnosed with Diabetes. As part of a Diabetes/Surgical improvement project for patients with Diabetes throughout the Perioperative process. From Pre-assessment through to postoperative discharge follow-up. Enabling the use of the library for information and health and well-being support throughout the perioperative process.

Pre-operatively

PKB is used to collect patient information ahead of surgery. Information is assessed to confirm patient suitability for surgery and determine the pathway. Patients must complete a health and lifestyle questionnaire at home. The results are assessed, and patients are streamlined to an appropriate surgical pathway. Once the surgery is performed, patients are discharged from an inpatient list either to GP care or to an outpatient setting.

Orthopaedics

The Ortho Prehab team uses questionnaires, library resources and a care plan in PKB to support patients awaiting joint replacement surgery. The care plan and resources form an 8-week prehabilitation programme with everything from exercise videos to mental health activities. Patients would otherwise have no in-person support as they are low priority, compared to higher priority patients who attend a 12-week course in person.

Renal

The ERAS renal team are using PKB to digitalise their journal. Patients will be made aware of the journal pre-surgery and then asked to complete it immediately after surgery and for ten days to monitor vitals.

Colorectal

The team has a care plan informing patients about what they should do before surgery and has a place to document progress immediately post-op to help with a quicker discharge.

Key PKB features

PKB can be used in all areas of peri-operative care. Below are the key featured teams are already using.

Questionnaires

Patients can initiate a questionnaire by clicking Start Questionnaire on their homepage or directly within the NHS App. Once completed, the questionnaire can be sent to a professional or team.

Teams using the questionnaire tool can ensure the outcome of clinical reviews is recorded and the patient has a copy. Teams can also identify patients suitable for virtual appointments or pre-operative assessment questionnaires.

New Advanced Questionnaires 

PKB's advanced questionnaire functionality

The features include:

• Scoring and calculations

• Branching, allowing patients to complete the parts of the questionnaire that are relevant to them

• Coded fields questionnaires can be mapped to clinical codes

• Patients can save drafts

• Send questionnaires to patients who aren’t registered or already in your team

Questionnaire templates

• Pre clinic questionnaires

• Post-operative questionnaires

• Pre clinic questionnaire

• Assessment for adult care in the day surgery unitPre-operative questionnaires

Messaging

• Patients have access to message their healthcare team (saving time on the phone)

• The Admin team can triage messages. Either resolving or passing onto another speciality team

• Universal Messaging is the ability for patients to message clinical and non-clinical teams

• Team-based messaging allows teams to automatically receive secure messages and questionnaires as a group rather than as individuals

• Enhance recovery for post-operative care can be delivered

Library

• A wealth of resources such as pre-op, post-op

• Wound care

• Rehab

• National and local information and guidance

• Videos

• Hospital and trust information

• Disease-specific information

Care plans

PKB have a care plan toolkit with examples of care plan templates used by teams. There is a process for teams to amend care plans or create new ones here.A selection of peri-operative care plans is below.

• Peri-operative care plans templates

• Symptoms tracking in monitoring care plan templates

• Personalised care plan templates

• Disease care plan with individualised templates with escalation plans

• A place to track and record symptoms related to the speciality

• Consent care plans

• Enhanced recovery care plans

• Treatment care plans

Journal

• Digitalise journal

• Pre-surgery and post-surgery to support enhanced recovery programs

Data

• Sharing blood results

• Appointments

• Appointment letters

• Clinical letters

Comms

• Provide clear information for patients on how to use PKB pre- and post-surgery and what support the teams provide digitally.

• Comms to staff on the new clinical and patient digital pathways

Further information

• Case study on transforming post operative follow-up: consultant harnesses power of personalised video messages with PKB

• Elective Recovery: how PKB can digitally support teams and patients at every stage of the pathway

• Surgery teams: workflow and content

• Peri-operative care plans templates: examples of pre-op, consent, minor procedures and post-op templates created and used by teams

• Consent Care Plan Templates: informed consent care plan examples

• Shared decision tool care plan: PKB has converted these decision support tools into digital, editable and shareable care plans