PKB For Every Renal Patient

The UK Kidney Association (formerly known as the Renal Association (RA)) has contracted Patients Know Best (PKB) to re-platform the national patient-facing system PatientView (PV) to the PKB personal health records platform (PHR).

The Old PV System

The old PV system provides renal patients in the UK with a view of their clinical data. However, this 5-year deal between PKB and the UKKA is expected to benefit more than 70,000 patients receiving care and treatment for renal disease across 62 hospitals by offering patients and their renal teams more advanced features and functionality with PKB. This includes increased security, care planning, team-based messaging and an ecosystem of integrated wearable and monitoring devices to support clinical transformation.

Switching Guide

We have created a guide to switching from PatientView to Patients Know Best to support kidney teams in making the transition to PKB.

At any point, a kidney team (whether they are existing PKB or non-PKB customers) is welcome to work with PKB to begin using PKBs additional features and functionality, including questionnaires, care planning, symptom tracking and secure messaging for their total kidney cohorts.

Workflow

Common Questions

How will the patient record creation and registration process work with PKB? What will change?

Patient records will initially be created in a UKKA PKB team, and patients will then also be attached to their appropriate kidney unit. When completing registration for PKB the patient will go through a consent process to agree to be part of these teams.
The simplest route for a patient to register will be through the PKB Team Connect page that will enable a patient to claim (if the record is already created) or create (if they are a new patient) their PKB record and be attached to the UKKA team and the appropriate kidney unit. This process utilises NHS Login verification, and means that there is no administration for the team in the kidney unit. This is currently only available in England and Wales.
Patients can also be invited to register using a verified email address if the kidney unit has it. This process will involve the kidney unit sending the invite.
Once they have signed up, registered users of PKB with a PV NHS number will be able to see their historic PV data and automatically receive their new data with no effort by their kidney unit.

How will local hospital staff troubleshoot patient logins or will these be managed by PKB?

Patients and staff can reset their own passwords by clicking the Forgot Password link on the login page (see below) and following the instructions.
If they are unable to reset their own password for any reason, they can click the link on the Reset Password page to contact the Patients Know Best support team.

Will PDF letters still work and be accessible on PKB?

Hospitals currently send patient letters in PDF format to PatientView.

Yes, PDFs, Word documents and other files all work.
They work on the patient’s chosen device including smartphones.
The letters appear in the events and messages page.

Data sharing – will anything change? Will hospitals need a new data-sharing agreement with PKB?

Nothing needs to change, i.e. the existing data-sharing arrangements between the NHS hospitals and UKKA remain.
The UKKA will pass data onto PKB through its data-sharing agreement with PKB.
Each hospital will need a data-sharing agreement with PKB to provide data that currently does not come through the UKKA integration with PKB. This happens when the local kidney team wants to use PKB’s full functionality, including online consultations and shared care planning.
Where a kidney team’s NHS hospital already uses PKB, the existing data-sharing agreement is sufficient. Where a kidney team is the first in the hospital to use PKB, a new data-sharing agreement will be necessary between the hospital and PKB.

What will hospitals be able to do in PKB? Is there a manual for administrators of PatientView?

The basics are covered in this guide to switching from PatientView to Patients Know Best.
Information about the full functionality of PKB can be found here.

Can you clarify the future costs?

For sites in a direct contract with PKB:

The 2021 capitation paid to the UKKA continues for the calendar year ending December 2021.
The PKB licence cost for usage outside of kidney to be directly discussed with PKB.
From 2022, the hospital will no longer have to pay the UKKA an annual PV capitation if the kidney data are flowing into PKB directly; only the agreed cost with PKB is payable.
If the kidney data are not flowing directly into PKB then the UKKA will discuss with the individual unit when this will occur and an interim charge may apply.

What advice has been given to kidney system suppliers?

No need to change, the existing integration from kidney systems to the UKKA continues, and UKKA’s new integration with PKB will pass the data onto PKB.
There are opportunities from new integrations from kidney systems and hospital-wide electronic health records to PKB, including single sign-on, creation of shared care plans, and display of patient-entered data from PKB into hospital systems.
There is no charge from PKB for hospital integrations with PKB or for use of the additional PKB features.

Can hospitals ask patients if they are happy to receive their letters electronically only?

i.e. without paper, and if they are happy to be contacted for surveys and clinical trial invites?

Yes, PKB can already track consent to contact for research and the patient’s preferred communication channels.
Hospitals can achieve significant cost savings in postage.

Contact

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch with PKB at renal@patientsknowbest.com.

Further information

Renal care plan templates: used by Kidney teams, including an enhanced recovery post-surgery care plan
Renal questionnaire template: for patients to complete in preparation for a transplant follow-up appointment
The ‘future is bright’ for patients of the Kidney Dietetics Service: how the Kidney Dietetics Service at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust supports acute renal patients via PKB

PatientView to PKB