[1] The programme is to enable "digitally advanced"[2] NHS trusts to share knowledge with other NHS trusts, specifically knowledge gained during the implementation of IT systems, and especially experience from introducing electronic health record (EHR) systems.
The GDE project is expected to last two to three and a half years; with the most digitally advanced trusts on the shorter time scale.
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) was chosen as a guide for programme outputs, with GDEs expect to obtain HIMSS Level 7 and FFs, HIMSS Level 5.
[7] The partnerships between GDEs and FFs constitute a formal mechanism to support knowledge transfer.
The programme also introduced the idea of "Blueprints", documents describing how to implement digital technologies in healthcare.