Pharmacy First: EMIS Pinnacle rolls out new GP Connect feature for community pharmacies

Live testing is underway for Pharmacy First minor illness and clinical pathways

EMIS Pinnacle, the leading Pharmacy First IT supplier, has begun implementing the GP Connect Update Record feature to all community pharmacies in England that use PharmOutcomes.

Starting June 28, this new feature was made available for use with the Hypertension case-finding service and the Pharmacy contraception service, as announced by the Community Pharmacy England (CPE).

The GP Connect Update Record will enable community pharmacies to securely share “structured” information with GP practices regarding consultations conducted under the Pharmacy First programme, which includes minor illness and clinical pathways, along with Hypertension Case Finding and Pharmacy Contraception services

Live testing is underway with EMIS Pinnacle for Pharmacy First minor illness and clinical pathways.

There are plans to expand the system in the future to include updates for urgent supply of medicines under the Pharmacy First service.

EMIS Pinnacle is the third CPCF IT system supplier to offer this functionality, following Cegedim’s Pharmacy Services system and Positive Solutions’ HXConsult system.

Cegedim launched this feature in April, with Positive Solutions following in May. Together, they have already sent more than 44,000 structured updates to date, CPE said.

Sonar pharmacy IT system supplier is also currently conducting live tests to integrate GP Connect Update Record functionality for the Hypertension Case-finding Service, Pharmacy Contraception Service, and Pharmacy First consultations.

Importantly, the user interface for pharmacy staff remains the same even after the implementation of Update Record. This allows pharmacy staff to continue recording and submitting consultation information as before.

The difference with Update Record is when the consultation has been completed, the information is automatically shared within the GP system, rather than being sent as a PDF via NHSmail.

With Update Record, GP practice staff will no longer have to spend time manually finding records and transcribing information from PDF letters sent by NHSmail.

This enhancement streamlines information transfer, reduces transcription errors, and accelerates record updates, enhancing patient confidence in timely and secure healthcare information sharing across practices and care providers.

This will save time, expedite record updates, reduce transcription errors, and boost patient confidence that information from their recent consultations is shared safely, promptly, and included in their records more quickly.

Pinnacle Health Partnership, the creator of PharmOutcomes, was acquired by EMIS Group in 2020 as part of a strategic initiative to drive widespread improvements in medicines management and the provision of clinical services in community pharmacies.

At the time of the acquisition, over 11,000 pharmacies were utilizing PharmOutcomes to manage both national and locally commissioned services.