Strategic Partnership Showcase: Berkshire Healthcare, Wellola, and Publisure
Enhancing patient experiences for Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BHFT) set out to modernise its patient communications by adopting a flexible, future-proof digital architecture that would integrate seamlessly with its existing systems and preferred patient engagement platform. Publisure was selected for its ability to operate as middleware, providing an open, non-proprietary interface. This enabled BHFT to integrate communications workflows with Wellola’s patient portal, Portasana®, without locking the Trust into a single delivery platform.
By implementing the Publisure SaaS platform alongside Portasana®, BHFT established the foundation for a phased, scalable, digital transformation of outbound patient communications.
“One of our goals is to modernise the patient experience without replacing our core clinical systems. Publisure is the perfect digital bridge to achieve this, integrating seamlessly with the Portasana® patient portal, allowing us to reduce our postage and printing costs while maintaining a single, secure source of truth for those outbound patient communications.”
— Thomas Englefield, Systems Project Manager, Berkshire Healthcare.
The challenges BHFT faced were to:
An integrated document solution for BHFT
Automated workflow – When an appointment is booked in Rio, metadata is securely passed via Portasana® into Publisure using API-based integrations, automatically triggering document creation within the Publisure workflow.
Structured communication – Publisure automatically creates a personalised communication for each patient incorporating unique clinic or specialty information. Each letter is passed back to Portasana® for digital delivery.
Unstructured templates (POD desktop print driver) – To handle ad-hoc or desktop-created documents, BHFT implemented Publisure’s third-generation intelligent hybrid mail print driver (POD). This allows users to securely send unstructured documents to the Publisure platform, where they are automatically catalogued, indexed, and processed alongside structured communications. As a result, these documents can be routed through the same automated, digital-first workflows that prioritise the lowest-cost delivery method.
Centralised management and governance – Publisure provides a secure management interface with two-factor authentication that is integrated with the BHFTs Active Directory single sign-on. User roles and organisational hierarchies are automatically mirrored in the system, improving oversight while reducing administrative work.
Clinical safety – Although digital delivery through Portasana® is the default option, if a digital letter remains unread in the patient portal for 48 hours, Publisure’s least-cost hybrid mail workflow automatically triggers a physical print. The system provides a closed-loop audit trail, so the Trust knows with 100% certainty whether a patient has viewed their digital letter, protecting patient care.
Results
By using open integration, intelligent document creation, and automated, cost-efficient workflows, Publisure enabled BHFT to:
- Streamline outbound patient communications.
- Reduce manual work.
- Improve governance across the organisation.
- Enhance patient experience through timely, accessible digital communication.
- Support long-term digital transformation without compromising control, flexibility or operational efficiency.