The PKB Story

About us

PKB is the leading supplier of Personal Health Records in the UK. We work with provider organisations across the country to give patients and their health and care teams access to a complete patient health record. Think of it as mobile banking, but, instead, it’s for health!

Our borderless approach to health and care means that no matter where a patient is treated, they have the power to access and share their record with anyone involved in their care. This hub of information is critical to ensure patients receive the most appropriate care and support for their individual needs.

How it all began

Dr. Mohammad Al-Ubaydli is the CEO and Founder of Patients Know Best. As a patient with a rare condition, he pioneered patient access to health records after experiencing the pitfalls of a health service where patient information is not joined up. You can read more about Mohammad’s story on our website.

What we stand for

Our number one objective is to empower patients to become equal partners in their own care. This social mission is the reason we are proud to be a Certified B Corporation – a globally recognised business that balances purpose and profit, with a legal requirement to consider the impact of all our business decisions. This ties us to a global community who are using business as a force for good – and to deliver change that positively impacts real people on a mass scale. To learn more about our story, visit our website: www.patientsknowbest.com/about

How our architecture works

PKB integrates data in real-time from existing hospital, GP, social care, and mental health IT systems, as well as the patient’s own contributed information, to create one unified patient record. This is the complete ‘hub’ of patient health and care information and means the record is always complete as well as accessible to patients, their carers and any health or care professionals who become involved in their care, regardless of where they are in the country, or in the world!

The benefits

We believe everyone benefits when Patients Know Best.

Patients are empowered to better manage their health with access to appointment letters, test results, medication lists, care plans, and much more. Access to self-management tools also make it easier and much safer for patients to monitor or track their health condition. That means they can quickly get the help or advice they need when something isn’t quite right.

Health and care professionals are better equipped to make clinical decisions based on a complete patient health record. With secure messaging and the ability to conduct online consultations, healthcare professionals can create capacity, making time to focus on the patients that most need face-to-face care. This ‘digital first’ approach also helps to put your organisation firmly in the green by reducing your environmental and carbon footprint.

Reductions in face-to-face care = less traffic, more capacity

Reductions in postal letters = less waste, more capital

Commissioners and transformation leaders reap the financial rewards of PKB by sending patient correspondence digitally and reducing postal costs. Furthermore, our business intelligence tools help to target services more efficiently, creating space for more of the ‘big-ticket items’ on the transformation agenda. This approach has been evidenced to transform clinical pathways and increase patient engagement.

Make the offer attractive

Like any new offering, it’s important to showcase the value of Patients Know Best for your patients. People will only use it if they can see a clear benefit for them. Additionally, while each organisation decides the type of information that will be shared with their patients, our strong recommendation is to populate each patient record with as much information as possible early on. Access to appointments, test results and discharge information can help to maximise uptake and support long-term usage. Without this, utilisation rates could fall as patients begin to disengage with the application, on the assumption that there is nothing valuable for them to see on their record.

Where’s the evidence?

A survey carried out in 2019 evaluated the effectiveness of the Care Information Exchange (CIE). CIE is North West London’s regional patient portal, hosting the health records of over 2.3 million people. This system is powered by Patients Know Best.

Over 500 patients took part in the survey which found that the ability to see radiology reports, blood tests, clinic and discharge letters, and upcoming appointments, are the most important aspects of the health record for patients. Here, 72% of patients reported they know more about their health since using CIE.

Most important aspects of the record according to the CIE survey

• • 75% - radiology reports

  • 71% - blood test results

  • 61% - clinic and discharge letters

  • 55% - appointments

  • 52% - record of diagnoses