The Physiotherapy Health Informatics Strategy (PHIS) will give CSP members guidance and content to support their application of informatics knowledge and skills.
On this page:
Who is the PHIS for?
The PHIS has been designed to work for all members of the UK physiotherapy profession, regardless of their geographical location, employment sector, current role, or experience with informatics.
Through the content of the strategy, it should provide the knowledge and skills to explore their current use of informatics in their practice, as well as the tools to practically apply that knowledge and skills, and the vision of where else they could apply informatics to improve their services, all supported by a growing network of members of the physiotherapy profession involved and/or interested in informatics.
PHIS personas
We've developed some personas to demonstrate where informatics and the PHIS can play a role for individual members of the physiotherapy profession.
They are fictional but represent real sections, challenges, and opportunities of our membership.
The personas are designed to follow the members through the five-year course of the PHIS between 2022 and 2027.
Taylor, the student
Taylor in 2022: Taylor is in the third year of their BSc degree in physiotherapy. For their fourth placement they had a combined clinical/leadership setting involving a new simulation suite to support teaching respiratory techniques for staff on ITU and acute respiratory wards. Taylor worked three days a week clinically, and two days producing a report on simulated learning for physiotherapy students. Taylor is now writing their dissertation on the experiences of physiotherapy students of simulated learning.
Taylor in 2027: Taylor is now a band 6 physiotherapist in respiratory care. After graduating they worked through the PHIS education modules which developed their interest in informatics. Using skills and interests gained from their placement, and the education modules, they are working on a service improvement project to evaluate apps used within treatment programmes. They are using Quality Improvement methodology to establish the user satisfaction of the apps, using small focus groups, and feedback data from people who have used the app. Following their project completion, Taylor hopes to present their findings to the department manager. Current results suggest that patients and clinicians find the apps beneficial, and Taylor would like to bid for funding to buy tablets for patients to use the apps alongside in-person physiotherapy.
Mahsa, the private physio
Mahsa in 2022: Mahsa runs a private physiotherapy clinic. She is keen to expand the services she offers to patients, to make her clinic more attractive to new clients, and provide best treatment and outcomes. She has trialled a new technological device, which offers real-time biomechanical assessment and video feedback, to support diagnosis and treatment. It has the capability to produce reports which can be emailed to patients to support them to track and monitor progress. She is exploring the potential of virtual reality interventions to optimise exercise compliance.
Mahsa in 2027: Mahsa invested in the new device and has seen her practice grow as people have specifically asked for assessment using real-time biomechanics. With developments in technology, Mahsa is now able to offer this assessment remotely or in person, depending on patient choice. Patients can download their reports onto an app, which has interoperability with a local gym, so they can log their progress with independent or supported exercises. Mahsa has expanded her service to include joint biomechanical assessments with a podiatrist to offer integrated advice and treatment. She has gathered treatment outcome data, and patient satisfaction feedback which has shown better rehabilitation outcomes and experiences for patients. Mahsa has presented her findings to a regional physiotherapy conference and is planning to write an article for her professional network journal.
David, the service manager
David in 2022: David manages a large therapy team in a community trust. He has been in the role for seven years, and over this time workforce planning and recruitment have been a challenge. As part of wider service improvements, David has begun a workforce planning project, using data modelling from electronic staff records. He is looking at referral data for community services and reviewing the patient and staff data to look at expanding roles in community services to include assistant practitioners. To support with his own development, David signed up to the CSP’s mentor scheme and joined the Digital Informatics and Physiotherapy Group (DIPG).
David in 2027: Through the DIPG David met a physiotherapist working as a chief clinical information officer, who became David’s mentor and supported him to learn more about career options in informatics. David was supported by his manager to attend courses through the NHS Digital Academy. He also developed his learning by becoming a Caldicott Guardian within the trust and setting up a local digital and informatics group to share ideas and information. Six months ago, David successfully applied for the newly created role of chief allied health information officer (CAHIO). He is enjoying the challenge of a new position, and an opportunity to use skills learned in physiotherapy and informatics to support clinicians and teams to deliver more efficient integrated services.
Sam, the chief allied health information officer
Sam in 2022: Sam is working as a CAHIO in a large NHS trust. They are leading allied health professionals (AHPs) in their organisation through the implementation of a new electronic health record, utilising new devices, and using informatics to support multiple quality improvement and research projects. They are building peer networks to support project delivery and to act as a conduit between the clinical workforce, technical workforce, and leadership team. They are also involved in networks with other similar posts across the UK to support their own CPD. They are in the NHS Digital Academy and enjoying exposure to multi-professional informatics-specific learning.
Sam in 2027: Sam is now the informatics lead within the national AHP team using their expert knowledge, skills, and experience to drive system-level change. They are working to deliver national policy and strategy in the use of informatics, embedding informatics in the curriculum for multiple professions, and mentoring others through their informatics career. They collaborate on and publish health informatics research and contribute to multiple conferences, events and government think tanks.
Why do we need the PHIS?
In May/June 2021 a survey based on HEE’s UK AHP Digital Competency Framework launched for all AHPs across the UK. The survey was developed by Chris Tack, author of the HEE framework and CSP member, representatives from the 4 home nations and with input from subject matter experts.
The survey was open for a three-week period and after thorough analysis of the results, it was published in the British Journal of Healthcare Management in July 2022.
What is the policy landscape for informatics in physiotherapy?
A comprehensive, international literature review was conducted by the CSP to understand the current state of play in informatics for the UK physiotherapy profession. The literature review suggested that the CSP are in a position to deliver the work which eventually became the PHIS. It also gave structure and content to guide the development and delivery of the PHIS. This work is not yet published but the draft abstract is included below:
Objectives: Technology affects all aspects of life including in healthcare, so informatics is not a new concept. However, there is disparity and confusion as to where and to what extent it should be used in physiotherapy. This paper systematically reviewed all available published material guiding the use of informatics in physiotherapy in the United Kingdom (UK). Through comprehensive data extraction, synthesis, and gap analysis it assessed the current best practice documentation for the use of informatics in physiotherapy in the UK.
Methods: A systematic approach was taken to the international review of the recent, relevant literature using set criteria, and peer review to identify documents for inclusion. A gap analysis was also performed with peer review.
Results: Despite the presence of multiple published articles and strategies very few are specific to the needs of the physiotherapy profession and workforce. Of all published guidance in the past 5 years, only 27 matched the criteria for inclusion in this review. The included publications shared some common structure and content but also shared some common gaps necessary for the implementation of the guidance.
Discussion: Physiotherapy services and the physiotherapy workforce must be enabled by informatics to deliver the best services to the public. To do this they require support to ensure that the use of informatics is defined; including guidance for application, which has comprehensive coverage of the subject matter, remains clinically relevant, and has supporting evidence and resources located in a single source.
Conclusion: There is a need for a single, comprehensive resource to guide members of the physiotherapy profession in their use of informatics in the UK. As the single profession, education, and trade union body for physiotherapy in the UK, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) is in a prime position to provide this guidance