Automating Discharge Summary Distribution to Optometrists

Background 

We implemented a robust digital solution automating the distribution of discharge summaries from a private-healthcare provider to community optometrists. The legacy process relied on manual handling — printing, posting or ad-hoc emailing of outcome letters — which was slow, error-prone and administratively heavy. In delivering this project, our team replaced that workflow with a fully automated, secure, scalable digital pipeline.

The Solution

The solution uses a secure on-premises data gateway to extract discharge letters and metadata from the provider’s system (Medisight). These are then ingested into a structured folder system in SharePoint. From there, automation via Power Automate handles the rest: the system looks up the patient’s referring optometrist from a SQL database, retrieves their contact email, generates a secure sharing link to the letter, and sends it — all without manual intervention. Links are configured to expire automatically after three months to maintain compliance and data-security standards. Robust logging, retry logic and real-time monitoring ensure reliability and traceability.
The impact was tangible and substantial. The system now processes more than 1,600 outcome letters each day. Around 65% of what was previously a manual distribution workload is now automated, leading to a commensurate reduction in administrative burden (over 70 %), and generating estimated annual cost and efficiency savings of roughly £350,000. Importantly, optometrists receive discharge summaries much faster and in a consistent, reliable way — improving timeliness of care and reducing delays.

The Impact

Additionally, the platform’s architecture is future-ready and extensible: the same infrastructure can be expanded to accommodate different correspondence types or other clinical partners beyond optometry, without needing to redesign the core solution.

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