Choose and Book (a.k.a. CaB), is the name of a software application which is being introduced to the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS). It is designed to enable patients to choose which hospital they are referred to by their general practitioner (GP), and to book a convenient date and time for their appointment. Aka can refer to the following meanings: Aka is an initialism for Also Known As. ... Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ... The logo of the NHS for England. ... A patient is any person who receives medical attention, care, or treatment [1]. A patient is often ill or injured and is being treated by, or in need of treatment by, a physician or other medical professional. ... A physician visiting the sick in a hospital. ... A general practitioner (GP) or family physician (FP) is a physician/medical doctor who provides primary care. ...

Originally designed simply as an electronic booking system, Choose and Book was developed to enable patient choice. This application is being introduced into the NHS in 2005. A patient is any person who receives medical attention, care, or treatment [1]. A patient is often ill or injured and is being treated by, or in need of treatment by, a physician or other medical professional. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

It was procured as part of the National Programme for IT in 2003. The contract was awarded to Schlumberger Limited's Sema division just before its acquisition by Atos Origin. The software is based on Cerner Corporation's 'Millennium' e-Booking software. The National Programme for IT (NPfIT) which is being delivered by the new Department of Health agency NHS Connecting for Health, is an initiative in the British National Health Service to connect Englands 30,000 GPs to 300 hospitals, allowing access to all patient records by health professionals and... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Schlumberger Limited is the worlds largest multinational oilfield services corporation, incorporated in the Netherlands Antilles. ... Atos Origin, SA (Euronext: ATO) is an international IT corporation which operates in more than 50 countries worldwide, with about 47,000 employees. ... Cerner Corporation is an international IT corporation in the healthcare industry with more than 7,500 associates. ...

Interim Solutions

In its fully functional mode, Choose and Book communicates electronically between 'compliant' GP Clinical Computer systems and Hospital Patient Administration Systems (PAS). For a number of reasons a number of GP and PAS Systems have not been made compliant in time to deliver the Choose and Book targets set by the Department of Health. Interim solutions have been devised to allow patients to benefit from CaB during 2005/6.

Web Based Referral (WBR) allows a GP to access Choose and Book via a standard Web Browser until their Clinical Computing system can be successfully upgraded.

Indirectly Bookable Services (IBS) involves telephone Call Handlers in Hospitals to offer CaB appointments to patients. In a compliant environment, CaB 'harvests' appointment slots from the Hospital PAS. IBS allows a patient to speak to someone who can validate their identity, offer a choice of convenient dates and times from the PAS, then update CaB with details of the chosen appointment.

Progress To Date

The roll-out of CaB in 2005 suffered a number of delays; some technical because of its dependency on other National Programme for IT work streams, partly through functional problems in early releases, and partly through clinicians' concerns about additional workload. The National Programme for IT (NPfIT) which is being delivered by the new Department of Health agency NHS Connecting for Health, is an initiative in the British National Health Service to connect Englands 30,000 GPs to 300 hospitals, allowing access to all patient records by health professionals and...

Since the application became more stable during 2005, volumes have increased steadily. By early May 2006, over 300,000 patients in 3,500 GP Practices have benefited from CaB. 292 out of the 303 Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in England are now Live with Choose and Book (although that may only be one GP within a PCT or practice). Many services in the National Health Service in the United Kingdom are provided by NHS Trusts. ...

Where it is being used patients report an improved service and like it.

In order to increase the uptake of Choose & Book by doctors in England, surgeries are being offered a financial incentive for the first part of 2006 to 'come on board'.

External links

• Choose and Book Official site
• Choose and Book Patient Application
• Cerner's site