The Renal Association has signed an important deal with Patients Know Best to re-platform their national patient-facing system PatientView to the PKB personal health records platform. The 5-year agreement will improve the existing security and functionality of the current PatientView system, which was one of the first patient portals in the UK.

Patient View supports about 74,500 patients who receive care and treatment for renal disease in the UK by sharing a view of their clinical data using a patient portal. The move to Patients Know Best (PKB), Europe’s largest provider of personal health records (PHRs), will build on this work by replacing the current portal to add advanced features including care planning, team-based messaging and an ecosystem of integrated devices.

Chief Executive of the Renal Association, Ron Cullen, said: "Partnering with a leading provider of digital personal health records is a significant step for the Renal Association and showcases our determination to provide quality platforms for patients to streamline their care. It was important that as an organisation, we evolved to meet the needs of the kidney communities that we serve.”

The contract will see PKB connect to the data sources of 62 NHS hospitals and their satellite clinics that provide renal care. The aim is to empower patients with renal disease with the digital tools to help manage their condition. It also has the potential to allow the UK Renal Registry to gather data from a wider range of sources including GP data, device data, and patient-entered data, seamlessly in real-time via PKB’s API’s using patient consent.

Dr Mohammad Al-Ubaydli, Chief Executive and Founder of Patients Know Best, added: “The Renal Registry has always been a pioneer - renal clinics were the first to give patients their data and it is now the largest registry in Europe. It’s an honour to extend their work to cover non-renal and non-hospital data via the PKB platform. The Renal Association is pioneering this model so patients can also work in collaboration with patient charities, health and care providers, and disease registries to improve care and advance research.”

As a certified B Corporation and UK-based social enterprise, Patients Know Best holds dearly its mission to empower patients with the information and tools to help them better understand and manage their health and care, for greater independence and prevention. With similar aims, the Renal Association and PKB partnership will build on this existing synergy to further improve the quality of care and support for renal patients across the UK.