GP online services toolkit

4: Inflammatory arthritis

This guidance is for GPs and practice nurses caring for patients with inflammatory arthritis. The aim is to describe how access to GP online services contributes to person-centered care in this context and to present the case for recommending online record access to patients with inflammatory arthritis.

It describes how you can help them make use of online access to access information about their healthcare to improve their ability to understand and self-manage their condition and help to co-ordinate their care. It also describes how patients can make use of online access to test results and other health information to prepare for consultations and empower them to be more engaged in their own care.

This guidance does not seek to cover aspects of shared care, but its aim is to help the patient become more engaged and informed by utilising Patient Online. Therefore, for clinical management, please refer to your local shared care agreement and NICE guidelines.

RCGP resources

• Using Patient Online in Inflammatory Arthritis (807 KB PDF)
• Patient Online and Rheumatoid Arthritis care: webinar slides (2.1 MB PDF)

Supporting information

• Collaborative Care and Support Planning toolkit
• RCGP Person-Centred Care toolkit
• Rheumatoid arthritis in adults, NICE
• Guideline for the prescription and monitoring of non-biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs
• The prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis in the United Kingdom: new estimates for a new century