A mobile telephone-style “pay as you go” (PAYG) scheme has been launched by Plain Healthcare for its best-selling clinical decision support program.
TAS Odyssey, which is used by the out-of-hours providers commissioned by 55% of English primary care trusts (PCTs), is now available to GPs across the UK and Ireland as a PAYG option, embedded into EMIS.
As with mobile phone PAYG systems, buying TAS Odyssey by the new method is cheaper for lower levels of usage than having a full licence offering unrestricted use. It is ideal for most practices’ requirements for nurse telephone assessment and clinical decision support. Through PAYG they can sample the benefits of nurse telephone triage before upgrading to a longer-term contract as they use it more.
Plain Healthcare’s Head of Sales and Marketing Chris Coyne said: “GPs who buy on a PAYG basis will gain all the features that have made TAS Odyssey so popular.
“Using TAS Odyssey to support nurse telephone assessments will help practices ensure that patients get the most appropriate care for their clinical needs and will positively contribute to the efficient running of the practice.
“Based on UK experience, up to 50% of appointment requests could be safely triaged to selfcare advice. TAS Odyssey also helps to secure maximum payments from the Access DES initiative.
“We have launched the PAYG option because we appreciate that there are practices that feel that they are not ready to take a full contract, and we think that PAYG will be the ideal starter option for them as they introduce nurse telephone triage. We have had positive responses on PAYG from the medical professions around the UK and the Netherlands.”
