Meeting client expectations is at the top of every law firm's mind. In an era where online giants like Amazon can offer same-day delivery, client’s expectations for rapid, on-demand services are on the rise. This is no different in the legal sector, specifically conveyancing with clients now expecting a quicker turnaround than ever before.
This article covers how digital conveyancing and utilising technology can help law firms achieve greater efficiency and provide an enhanced client experience.
- Topic:
- Legal
Social determinants of health (SDH) are non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. Numerous factors can affect people’s health and wellbeing. Currently, 1 in 5 GP appointments are for addressing social issues.
With the World Health Organisation identifying that social issues can be more crucial than lifestyle choices and can account for up to 55% of health outcomes, there has never been a more important time to improve the health and wellbeing of the individuals in your community.
The wider social determinants of health must be addressed to overcome the health inequalities and health inequities across different communities. But, what exactly are they, how do they affect people’s health, and most importantly how best can you overcome them?
Social prescribing offers an alternative non-clinical method to improve an individual’s health and wellbeing.
Hospital discharge delays are becoming a major issue for patients, their families, hospitals, and local authorities. The UK Government has announced a £250 million discharge fund to combat the ever-growing impact of delayed hospital discharges.
If you are responsible for social care in your local authority, or work within healthcare this discharge fund is probably on your mind. You may be struggling to decide how best to utilise the fund so your local community can fully benefit from it, or you might be wanting to see what other local authorities are currently doing to reduce hospital discharge delays for inspiration.
At The Access Group we are aware of the challenges local authorities face to keep up with the demand and capacity to accommodate all discharge plans as they come through. We know ideally the best place for patients to continue recovering is in their own homes, however due to staffing capacities this is not always the case.
We provide a plethora of digital tools and solutions to local authorities, hospitals, health and social care providers, to help them work more efficiently, plan for and manage demand, and to integrate and improve services.
This article will review the causes of hospital discharge delays and how that impacts the patient, the community, hospitals, and your local area. We also explain in depth the terms of the Government’s discharge fund and what that means for local authorities, the reactions to this discharge fund, and what are the best ways to utilise the funding to reduce these delays to improve patient outcomes further.
Community alarm systems have been available since the early 1970s and the fundamentals have changed little. However, in the last few years, spurred on in part by the pandemic, use and interest in both digital telecare and digital telehealth have grown massively.
If you are a local authority you are probably regularly searching for different ways to help your adults and older residents be able to live independently and safely at home for as long as possible . Increasingly, Local Authorities are looking for solutions that go beyond just reactive alarms for emergencies and are looking for more proactive , preventative solutions with an alarm service acting as a safety net.
You might be a loved one or a relative of someone that needs extra support and could be overwhelmed with all the information that is out there on personal alarms for older people, and want to find out all the information you need in one place.
Or you might just want to see the differences between different types of alarms to identify which one best suits your needs.
If that is you then by the end of this article all your questions surrounding community alarm systems will be answered.
At The Access Group we make it a priority to put people first with everything we do. We want to give people the freedom to do more and promote the importance of person-centred support and care. We aware of the challenges facing local authorities with the current shortages in capacity, hospital discharge delays and the importance of delivering their responsibilities under the Care Act.
So, we want to ease this stress and help you find the best community alarm for you and your community.
Telehealth has lots of benefits and challenges. One of the biggest challenges is providing telehealth to older adults.
Like the rest of the UK, you are more than likely to be aware that the use of telehealth and telemedicine has risen dramatically since the pandemic. Even if you are unsure what telehealth means, you have more than likely been exposed to it thanks to the rise in virtual health visits.
In 2020 80% physicians and 22% of consumers were using virtual visits and these numbers continue to rise. However, with the number of virtual visits increasing telehealth services have experienced a number of barriers and challenges.
The cost of telehealth services, plus the cost and staff involved in using telehealth technologies can vary from place to place. As a whole the use of telehealth services across the whole of the UK rose dramatically during the pandemic. Even though the rate of health and social care providers and local authorities using telehealth services have stabilized since then there have been many benefits for both end-users and the system itself.
But just how much do telehealth services cost and is telehealth cost effective?
If you are a health or social care provider, or a loved one you may be wondering whether the return on investment for telehealth services is worth it and whether you will still receive the same quality of care virtually.
Is your law firm achieving the paperless dream, or is your legal team still sifting through mountains of documents and paper day in and day out?
We have been talking about it for at least four decades, and yet today, many law firms are still drowning in paper even though the technology to eliminate the stuff has existed for quite some time.
- Topic:
- Legal
To understand patient engagement strategies, we first must define what a patient engagement strategy is – or at least what its purpose is.
A patient engagement strategy is a plan of action to further improve patient engagement with the healthcare provider and their own care. Research has shown that better patient engagement leads to better care outcomes, and this is the main purpose of any healthcare provider – to provide the best care possible.
Patient activation (how proactive a patient is with their own care) is generally fairly low, but the traditional doctor-patient relationship is being altered slowly but surely. Now the process is much more collaborative and a conversation, with younger generations especially – thanks to modern technology – taking a greater interest in their healthcare.
More software applications are being developed too; to avoid inequality in care by being easy to learn and easy to use by those who may lack the digital literacy of the younger generations, thus being inclusive and giving everyone the opportunity to be part of their care journey and to feel more involved.
In this article we will be exploring the patient experience, general strategies for engagement, how these tactics can be used within healthcare specifically, and how healthcare organisations can build upon this to develop a framework for future rollouts of patient engagement strategies.
The Care Act’s local authority responsibilities have changed since the Health and Care bill passed in 2022. Local authorities will soon be under the supervision and scrutiny of the CQC, including the use of CQC inspection of local authorities. With that, many of the responsibilities which local authorities have under the Care Act have been discussed consistently including both market shaping and market oversight.
You may be wondering what these responsibilities mean for your local community and how by ensuring you are delivering these duties, you can you have a better provision of care.
At the Access Group we are aware of the challenges local authorities are facing currently which can impede you delivering the duties under the Care Act. We understand the issues with discharge delays, contract management, and managing longer term care plans to name a few.
Are you looking for local government technology trends that will improve the quality and mitigate the risks to the range of services your local government department provides? Have you recently started revitalising your digital journey but are not sure what software, products, or equipment are best to invest in? Or maybe you’re just interested in seeing how other local authorities are innovating workflows with technology?
If that is you, then your first step is to fully understand the variety of technology that can be used to improve your services.
Very much like legislation, technology is constantly changing. It is essential to keep up-to-date with the latest technology advances and trends to ensure the needs of citizens in your local area are met, outcomes improve, and both local and national targets are reached.
