The aim of the joint venture is to implement a medical interoperability gateway (MIG) that will facilitate the sharing of data between healthcare professionals.
EMIS and INPS software users in the UK represent around 75% of GP practices and together hold approximately 46 million electronic patient health records.
The formation of Healthcare Gateway Limited allows real-time interoperability with GP systems and other healthcare professionals within the NHS. This has the potential to significantly increase efficiency in the NHS in addition to improving patient care.
Secure data exchange via the MIG can keep both GPs and clinicians in any healthcare setting up to date, making care decisions as informed as possible. The MIG can be used to:
- View detailed patient care records - different healthcare teams involved in the care of a patient can share vital clinical data for improved health outcomes as well as save time by not duplicating patient demographic data.
- Exchange electronic discharge summaries and clinical documents - for example outpatient documents and discharge summaries sent to the patient's GP practice for immediate after care.
- Chronic disease record views - frontline staff can share patient data for easier and more informed management of patients' complex long term conditions.
- Medication record views - access to a patient's current medication information in an unscheduled care setting can help increase patient safety as well as improving diagnoses.
- Exchange of Child Health information - sharing of key child health information such as immunisations conducted in primary care which can be electronically sent directly into a Child health system, thus eliminating duplication of data entry.
The development of this medical interoperability gateway has been driven by demand from the NHS and other healthcare providers to move to a "connect all" ethos. The need for wider access to a critical mass of birth-to-grave patient records is increasingly important given the drive to deliver more NHS services in the community.
It is expected that both the NHS and other software providers, both in primary, community and hospital settings will use services from Healthcare Gateway Limited to further connect the computer systems in the NHS.
Sean Riddell, EMIS CEO, said: "Our partnership with INPS is a landmark collaboration between two leading suppliers that has the potential to deliver more efficient services, and improved care, for 75% of the UK population. The ability for healthcare professionals to securely share patient data is fundamental to improving the efficiency of NHS frontline services and patient care."
Max Brighton, INPS Managing Director, said: "In these times of austerity we have a responsibility to offer solutions that help clinicians to provide their patients with high quality services, and at the same time, improve efficiencies within the NHS. Our work in collaboration with EMIS to allow the secure exchange of data using the MIG is a significant milestone in healthcare IT."
Related news articles:
- EMIS' Profile
About INPS
INPS develops, deploys and supports the Vision clinical system, which is used extensively within primary care settings and the wider healthcare environment throughout the UK.
The number of practices using Vision continues to grow significantly each year, and the system is now used in over 95% of UK primary care trusts and health boards. Over one quarter of all Vision installations are based on a centrally hosted, managed service deployment model.
INPS is a CEGEDIM company; a global organisation operating across 80 countries, specialising in CRM systems, strategic data, and technologies and services for the healthcare sector.
About EMIS Group plc
EMIS was established in March 1987 by two GPs who identified an opportunity to develop and supply practice management software and computerise patients' electronic health records then kept on paper at GPs' surgeries.
The Group has since become the UK's leading supplier of software and related services to GP surgeries and now leads the market, with around 39 million patient records held on its platform.
The Group's latest product, EMIS Web, electronically connects GPs with other NHS professionals by enabling secure, shared, centrally hosted access to patients' cradle-to-grave electronic health records held at the Group’s data centres. The transformational system has the capability to interconnect with other NHS patient data systems to:
- save time and money by eliminating paperwork and the re-inputting of data;
- significantly reduce patient waiting times; and
- reduce the risk of prescribing and treatment errors.
EMIS is headquartered in Leeds with an overseas office in Canada. It employs 786 people, mainly in the UK. www.emis-online.com.