Empowering PCNs

Empowering PCNs

Contents:

4 Introduction 6 Why Optum?

18 Doubling consultation capacity with PCN Hub 20 Medicines optimisation and management 21 Improving medication management 22 Proactive and preventative care 23 The shift from reactive treatment to proactive care 24 Focusing on early intervention 25 Collaborating in the fight for Hepatitis C elimination 26 Empowering your workforce 27 Staff training and development

7 How we support PCNs 8 Transforming with data 9 Building a sustainable future using data 10 Scalable workforce planning 11 Data insights help PCN to shape services 12 Improving patient access 13 Engaged and enabled patients 14 Work together with shared appointment books 16 Efficient care delivery model 17 Interoperability is key

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The way we deliver healthcare is evolving. As people live longer and patient needs become more varied and complex, there’s a growing opportunity to strengthen how care is delivered, by bringing teams, systems and services closer together. Integrated care plays a vital role in shaping the future of healthcare. It’s about working together, across boundaries, to provide consistent, coordinated care that truly meets the needs of individuals and communities. For Primary Care Networks (PCNs), it offers the chance to deliver care that’s more proactive, more personalised, and more centred around the people we serve. Bringing care together: a vision for integrated working in primary care

Across the NHS, countless teams contribute to delivering high-quality care every day. By working in partnership, these teams are aligning their efforts to ensure that patients experience smooth and connected journeys - wherever they receive support. Whether care is delivered in GP practices, in the community, or at home, this joined up approach helps everything feel seamless. It enables teams to tackle some of the NHS’s most important priorities: bringing care closer to home, supporting preventative and proactive approaches, and using technology to empower healthcare professionals. By building stronger links between services and embracing digital innovation, we can enhance both the quality and the efficiency of care. It all comes down to efficiency, speeding things up, saving costs, making things easier for GPs, it’s all the little things that add up to the big answers. This is the future of healthcare.” “

Thomas Weedon , Systems Manager, Rochdale Health Alliance

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How we support PCNs:

Why Optum?

We have over 40 years of experience of supporting the NHS - and we’re proud to help healthcare organisations across the UK as they shape new models of care. Our technology is built with integration in mind, enabling professionals to access the information they need, when they need it, and helping systems work together seamlessly. Interoperability is at the heart of everything we do. By sharing information across teams in a simple, secure and seamless way, we bring clarity and consistency to everyday processes — empowering people and systems to collaborate more effectively. When the right technology is in place, teams can work in more agile, efficient and connected ways which improve outcomes for patients and a positive experience for staff. We’re proud to be part of this journey with the NHS. United by a belief in the power of collaboration, the value of insight, and the importance of building systems that work for everyone. Together, we can unlock the full potential of integrated care and start delivering healthcare that’s coordinated, efficient, and truly centred on people.

Enabling better collaboration Simplifying processes

Our tools help healthcare professionals work together more effectively around the needs of their patients.

By joining up systems and reducing duplication, our solutions allow teams to focus more time on care delivery and less on administration.

Our technology provides valuable insights into population needs, helping teams balance capacity and demand, and enabling them to plan and allocate resources in ways that make the greatest impact. Using data to support decisions

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Building a sustainable future using data People are the backbone of primary care, and investing in the workforce’s strength and resilience is key to meeting the challenges of an evolving healthcare landscape. With growing patient demand and limited capacity, healthcare teams face growing pressure. By using data to understand capacity and demand, healthcare teams can make smarter, proactive decisions about resource allocation. Ensuring that the right skills are deployed in the right place at the right time. This enables teams to work more efficiently and reduce strain. Data-driven insights allow practices to optimise workflows, automate reporting and streamline patient journeys. Ultimately saving time and reducing costs. By investing in technology and workforce planning, we can ensure that primary care is not just sustainable but thriving — empowering teams to deliver exceptional care for years to come. The future of the NHS looks bright when we harness the full potential of data to transform care.

Transforming with data

Use data to drive informed decisions

Measure patient demand and plan capacity

Automate your reporting

Deliver better services and improve efficiency

Deploy your workforce with the right skillset, in the right place, at the right time

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Scalable workforce planning

Data insights help PCN to shape services Folkestone, Hythe & Rural PCN has used Apex to help them transform how they plan and deliver care. With real-time dashboards and powerful reporting tools, the team can now clearly see demand and capacity across their seven practices, enabling smarter decisions and better resource planning. They’ve improved access and designed more responsive services, by identifying unused appointment capacity and targeting services where and when patients need them most. Apex also helps streamline operations: Contract Manager has saved hours by automating local service claims and simplifying their Impact and Investment Fund (IIF) tracking with visual indicators and benchmarking. The team have even used Apex to support vaccination campaigns and ensure equitable workload sharing. So, they’re not just collecting data, they’re using it to drive meaningful change and improve patient outcomes.

Case study

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Effective workforce planning is essential for delivering integrated care across the NHS. Our solutions empower clinical staff and managers with the data they need to make informed, data-driven decisions. By providing real-time insights into capacity and demand, Apex, our analytics platform, helps shape your workforce structure to deliver more efficient, patient-centred care. With simple, visual dashboards, teams can optimise resource allocation and design tailored healthcare interventions. This streamlined approach not only improves overall efficiency but also supports integrated care across the NHS. This ensures that services are aligned with local population needs. Apex helps maximise workforce potential, enabling more effective care delivery across the system.

Apex has allowed us to really see all the necessary data in real-time.”

Dr Aravinth Balachandran , Clinical Director at Folkestone, Hythe & Rural PCN

Read the full story here

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Engaged and enabled patients Patients today expect seamless digital access to healthcare, just as they do in other parts of life. We help PCNs meet this expectation by enhancing access through connected appointment scheduling, optimised communication, and streamlined care navigation. This reduces admin workload and supports more efficient use of practice resources. By enabling smarter planning and scheduling, practices can offer more responsive care, reduce wait times, and free up clinical teams to focus on delivering personalised, high-quality support where it’s needed most.

Improving patient access

EMIS Web helped massively with our signposting work - by directing patients towards care that’s more appropriate for them, then working with that data to build new and improved ways of working based on the needs of the population.” “

Enhance patient access across your PCN

Minimise additional admin pressures on staff

Plan, schedule and deploy resource where they’re needed most

Connect appointment scheduling across clinics

Reduce lengthy wait times for patients

Thomas Weedon , Systems Manager, Rochdale Health Alliance

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Work together with shared appointment books

One of the big priorities that we have as a PCN, is to reduce the admissions to hospitals, wait times and associated costs - we can now look at the time saved within practice by signposting patients to care that’s more appropriate for them. Now that we’re able to review our services and make sure that they’re doing what we are commissioned to do, we are really hitting the markers for our commissioners.” “

EMIS Web® PCN Hub helps practices collaborate more effectively by making it simple to manage a shared appointment book. It’s not just about referring patients to other services, you can also offer appointments across practices within your network. This gives you greater flexibility and control over how capacity is used. This makes it easier to match patients with the right clinician, at the right time. With improved visibility and coordination, teams can work together more efficiently, helping to reduce pressure on individual practices and improve access for patients across the network.

Thomas Weedon , Systems Manager, Rochdale Health Alliance

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Interoperability is key We’re here to help PCNs deliver more connected, personalised care closer to home. Our solutions make patient information accessible across practices and care settings. So teams can collaborate more easily, reduce admin, and focus on what matters most: supporting people’s health. We provide the tools to plan proactively, share resources, and work flexibly. Our systems are built around seamless interoperability, meaning consistent care no matter how or where a patient engages. Whether online, in person or through community services. With real-time access to shared records and digital note-taking, clinicians can make informed decisions quickly, improving continuity and outcomes while easing pressure on hospitals. Whether it’s streamlining workflows or supporting mobile teams, we help primary care work smarter, creating a more joined-up, efficient and sustainable NHS for everyone.

Efficient care delivery model

We want to make sure that patients get an equitable experience and to ensure consistency across all our 36 practices and that our data is meaningful. EMIS Web can be tailored to your needs, so it absolutely suits both practices and PCNs and I can’t fault it really.”

Share information quickly and safely with other healthcare teams

Maximise time saved and keep costs down

Protocols streamline tasks, improve efficiency and reduce cognitive load

Improve consistency of workflows and increase quality of service

Sarah Hickman , Operations Manager, Rochdale Health Alliance

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Doubling consultation capacity with PCN Hub

Case study

South Downs Health and Care, a federation supporting ten PCNs in Sussex, has doubled its consultation capacity thanks to EMIS Web PCN Hub. By removing admin-heavy tasks and improving data sharing, the team can now spend more time on patient care and less on paperwork. Chief Digital and Information Officer Neil Kelly told us how features like Consultation Write Back and GP Connect have transformed daily operations, saving hours each day and enabling seamless collaboration across practices. Appointment slots are now shared fairly, with automatic updates and no need for manual registration or patient calls. Clinical information flows smoothly between systems, even when practices use different platforms. As a result, the federation has achieved significant cost savings and improved patient care. Mr Kelly describes the system as a “game-changer” and says they’re now looking to make EMIS Web their single system of choice.

Read the full story here

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Improving medication management

Medicines optimisation and management

We support safer, more effective prescribing by helping primary care teams review and optimise medication plans in one place. Our three solutions: ScriptSwitch® Prescribing - Clinical Decision Support helps healthcare providers make more informed, cost-effective, and clinically appropriate prescribing decisions at the point of care with real-time prompts and alerts. Accelerate Prescribing helps with high-volume, low-cost switches across your system. Our experienced pharmacists do the work for you. Population360®- Clinical Decision Support empowers healthcare teams to proactively improve medication safety, turning population-level data into actionable clinical insights. By identifying the most appropriate treatments for each patient, we support better health outcomes, reduce risk, and improve coordination across teams. 1. 2. 3.

Review, change and streamline an individual’s medicine plan

Safely and simply manage medication all in one place

Make prescribing safe, cost effective and simple

Improved health outcomes for all

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Shifting from reactive to proactive care is essential for addressing the growing demand for healthcare services. By leveraging fast access to large-scale population health data, we enable primary care teams to identify trends, analyse health risks, and intervene early — preventing conditions from worsening. Using interoperable technology, PCNs can streamline care pathways, ensuring patients receive the right interventions before issues become more complex or costly to treat. This approach reduces the need for invasive treatments, saving vital resources and freeing up capacity for those who need it most. Proactive care improves the overall patient experience, enhances the quality of care provided, and leads to better overall health outcomes. By using data to plan future initiatives, healthcare teams can work smarter. This data-driven strategy empowers the NHS to better manage resources, tackle long-term challenges, and create a future-facing, sustainable approach to healthcare delivery. The shift from reactive treatment to proactive care

Proactive and preventative care

Improve outcomes and reduce costs through proactive intervention

Understand your population and address inequalities with linked datasets

Improve services through actionable insights

Support clinical trials by identifying eligible patients

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Focusing on early intervention

Collaborating in the fight for Hepatitis C elimination

Case study

Bringing together data from across the health and care system is essential to fully understanding patients and their needs – providing powerful insights that can drive early intervention and prevention. The shift from sickness to prevention focuses on keeping people healthy and reducing the need for hospital or emergency care. This begins with identifying at risk patients. By segmenting the population and grouping patients with similar needs into cohorts, healthcare providers can better understand where to intervene early. Our data-driven transformation solutions help unlock the full potential of your data. Using advanced analytics and population health tools, we support the design of targeted care pathways that guide patients to the right support at the right time. This enables more personalised, preventative care and helps redesign services around the needs of your population. The result is smarter, more efficient care. With actionable insights, you can reduce unnecessary referrals, improve operational efficiency and deliver better outcomes. Our analytical solutions support integrated care, helping you make informed decisions that lead to long-term sustainability and healthier communities.

We’re working with NHS England and MSD to help eliminate Hepatitis C by using clinical intelligence to identify at-risk patients and enabling healthcare teams to refer these patients onto the appropriate care pathway. Using Pathway, our proactive care tool, a pilot across three GP practices in Cheshire and Merseyside identified 465 patients with risk factors and 47 with a confirmed diagnosis—seven of whom had no record of treatment. Thanks to this data-driven approach, two patients have already started life-saving treatment for the first time. Pathway works by scanning clinical records for risk markers, enabling proactive outreach and seamless referrals from GP practices to specialist care. It’s a powerful example of how technology and collaboration can close care gaps and support national public health goals. The pilot’s success is now informing a wider rollout across the region and potentially nationwide.

“ David Byrne , ODN Manager, Cheshire and Merseyside ODN

We’re no longer waiting for referrals — we’re going out and finding patients who need us.”

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Developing and upskilling your teams through continued professional development helps increase job satisfaction, safeguards against burnout, and improve efficiency. Training and development that empowers your team We offer a flexible mix of in-person and online system training to help your staff get the most out of our technology. Our interactive learning platform gives access to guides, release notes, expert-led modules, and live support — all in one place. For professional development, FourteenFish provides tailored CPD resources, including appraisal tools, clinical education, and exam prep for all career stages. From GPs and nurses to practice managers and paramedics, your team can track progress, build skills, and stay up to date — ensuring they’re equipped to deliver safe, effective, and collaborative care. Staff training and development

Empowering your workforce

Reduce staff burnout

Enhance skillset across your teams

Build a motivated and efficient workforce

Improve efficiency and quality of care delivered

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Get in touch

If you’d like to find out more about how we can support you, speak with your local account director today, or get in touch at:

uk.info@optum.com

optum.co.uk/tech-enabled-services

Egton Medical Information Systems Ltd (t/a Optum) is a company registered in England and Wales. Registered number: 02117205. Registered office: Fulford Grange, Micklefield Lane, Rawdon, Leeds, LS19 6BA. © 2025 Optum. All rights reserved.