Why Evaluate Your Use of PKB?

Evaluating your use of Patients Know Best (PKB) is essential from the outset of any project. It ensures that the objectives, expectations, and impact of PKB are clear, measurable, and aligned with your service’s goals.

By identifying what success looks like early in the planning process, you can:

• Align stakeholders around a shared vision.

• Set realistic goals and track meaningful outcomes.

• Identify opportunities for time and cost savings.

• Build a robust business case to sustain or expand your PKB implementation.

Start here with guidance on Benefits Realisation

How to Track Outcomes Using PKB and Your Own Data

1. Map the Patient Journey

   • Understand where PKB fits into your current workflow.

   • Highlight changes from your previous systems or manual processes.

   • Identify touchpoints where PKB improves communication, access, or data flow.

2. Rolling Out PKB in Your Service - A Patient Journey wiki page

3. Define Your Objectives
   Common goals for PKB usage include:

   • Reducing Did Not Attend (DNA) rates.

   • Lowering emergency admissions.

   • Reduce follow-up appointments 

   • Increase appointment times

   • Provide digital letters and appointments

4. Establish Baselines and Metrics

   • Use existing service data to set a pre-PKB baseline.

   • Track change over time using a mix of PKB analytics (e.g., login rates, letters sent, message usage) and internal data.

   • Consider both quantitative metrics (e.g., number of messages sent) and qualitative outcomes (e.g., patient satisfaction).

5. Evaluate and Report

   • Regularly review your data against objectives.

   • Use outcome metrics to inform service improvements.

   • Collate your findings to build a Business Case for ongoing PKB usage and investment.

Building the Business Case

To secure funding and stakeholder buy-in for continued use of PKB, clearly show:

• Efficiency Gains: e.g., reduced admin workload, quicker communication methods.

• Clinical Outcomes: e.g., improved disease management, better patient engagement.

• Cost Savings: e.g., fewer missed appointments, reduced cost of postage and paper and reduced admin time.

• Equity of Access: e.g., digital access for whole patient population.

Use data, testimonials, patient and staff surveys and use cases to support your narrative.

Use Cases

Explore case studies from other services that have successfully demonstrated the value of PKB through outcome tracking and business case development:

Visit our Case Studies section on the PKB website

Next Steps

• Review your objectives and data quality..

• Map the patient journey.

• Begin data collection and establish a reporting rhythm.

• Contact your PKB Deployment Lead if you'd like help designing your evaluation framework.

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