The project at King's College Hospital (KCH) aims to optimise homecare services by evaluating and redistributing resources based on geographic and referral data. This initiative is particularly focused on Integrated Care Board (ICB) commissioned treatments, recognising the significant number of patients coming from outside the South East London (SEL) region.
The objectives include mapping patient locations, analysing referral patterns, and assessing the impact of patient distribution on resource allocation and treatment costs.
The project also proposes strategies to repatriate care to local trusts to enhance resource use efficiency at KCH and reduce waiting times for SEL patients.
Initial findings from data collected between October 2022 and September 2023 using Ascribe and Power BI reveal that 30% of homecare patients (n = 1182) are from outside SEL, incurring substantial costs on KCH. Key outcomes include creating visual tools like heat maps to highlight patient distribution, which indicate a potential for cost savings and improved service delivery by repatriating non-SEL patients to their local trusts. The analysis also identified high-cost medications and specialties with a significant number of non-SEL patients, further supporting the need for optimised care pathways.
This early-stage project demonstrates the effectiveness of leveraging geographic information systems (GIS) and advanced data analytics for medicines optimisation. It aims to enhance patient outcomes by reducing travel burdens, localising care, and ensuring efficient resource allocation. Future steps include refining the analysis with the newly adopted EPIC system, ongoing patient satisfaction surveys, and collaboration with local commissioners to address care barriers.
This project sets a standard for data-driven strategies in healthcare, emphasising patient-centered care and resource efficiency.
