NHS England has accredited healthcare open source pioneer IMS MAXIMS as a supporter to its Code4Health initiative, marking another key milestone in the drive to open source technology in the NHS.
Code4Health aims to bring like-minded individuals and organisations together to exploit the opportunities for digital health in the NHS, and the use of open source technology is a key part of this movement.
IMS MAXIMS becomes the first open source EPR provider to win accreditation to Code4Health, and will see its open source code, openMAXIMS, utilised by groups of clinicians and developers across the country to build applications via the Code4Health Platform.
Using the Code4Health Platform, communities will be able to develop applications that interact with the openMAXIMS suite of solutions, which includes EPR, patient administration (PAS), and a range of clinical modules. There is also significant opportunity to enhance the openMAXIMS product suite for wider use within NHS trusts, as Code4Health communities share new ideas and develop new code.
Importantly the functionality will run on any mobile device allowing, for example, doctors to record diagnoses on the go, which can be updated centrally in a trust's openMAXIMS EPR or PAS system.
The software will also run on a variety of infrastructure stacks for example, Windows Server, Unix/Linux, SQL Server, Oracle and MySQL, and includes a set of application program interfaces (APIs) that support the MAXIMS clinical bedside application today. The APIs can be accessed via the Code4Health platform and used by developers to create new innovative healthcare applications, and in the future will also support system interoperability.
Paul Cooper, head of research at IMS MAXIMS, said: "This latest phase signals a real step change for Code4Health," he said. "The initial concept was to encourage clinicians to develop apps themselves, but it makes infinitely more sense to instead create local communities that are able to pool the right people and the right skills and adopt a collaborative development approach.
"From our perspective, we are offering tried and tested EPR technology as open source that will allow these local communities to build apps. Why? We feel our technology is well-placed to act as a key enabler for developers to help improve the way healthcare is delivered."
Code4Health builds on the growing move to open source technology and aims to bring together communities to share ideas, change working practices and build solutions that improve outcomes for patients. NHS England is fostering an 'open-to-all' approach and is creating a collaborative workspace to find digital solutions for the NHS. Announced in 2013, the Code4Health initiative aims to encourage healthcare professionals to help design simple mobile applications or system tools that they believe will help the NHS work better.
Dr. Marcus Baw, a leading advocate of open source, locum GP and former anesthetist who currently leads a Code4Health community, said "IMS MAXIMS and I are creating an instance of the openMAXIMS EPR that can be deployed on a fully open source stack, allowing developers at Code4Health events and Hack Days to build apps and services that interact with a real-world EPR. openMAXIMS is a full-scale open source EPR in operational use in NHS hospitals, and this will be the first time that it has been available on a completely open source platform."
Peter Coates, Code4Health programme head at NHS England, said: "To increase the involvement of doctors, nurses and care staff in improving healthcare through the adoption of technology, it is vital that communities have the right software tools and support from IT providers, such as IMS MAXIMS. As a pioneer of open source technology in healthcare and EPR provider, its support and active involvement is extremely valuable and welcome."
This latest move is further evidence that open source is gaining real traction and follows a number of notable developments, including the launch in February of the openMAXIMS community interest company to guide the development of an open source EPR for the NHS.
Shane Tickell, IMS MAXIMS' CEO, said: "This is another important milestone in our drive to introduce open source technology in healthcare and further demonstrates NHS England's commitment to improve IT satisfaction for clinicians, cut development times and deliver real savings.
"Code4Health is an important initiative since it promotes close collaboration and sharing of best practice among clinicians and developers and the use of open technology," Tickell added. "It will help deliver applications that make a real difference to people on the frontline of healthcare by enabling them to deliver safe, integrated care."
About openMAXIMS
Electronic patient record (EPR) provider IMS MAXIMS released the open source code for its full openMAXIMS suite, including its EPR and patient administration system (PAS), free of charge to the NHS in June 2014.
It is a robust and flexible EPR and PAS platform that interfaces easily with existing systems and infrastructure. Additional functionality includes order communications, integrated care pathways, Emergency Department, and eDischarge and more.
Clinical safety and standards are maintained through a centrally managed ‘golden thread’ of code whilst new applications for improving clinical care and healthcare efficiency can be created using the existing openMAXIMS Application Platform Interface.
About IMS MAXIMS
IMS MAXIMS is a pioneering electronic patient record provider working towards better, safer patient care. Specialists in developing clinical and administrative software solutions for healthcare providers, IMS MAXIMS currently supports more than 150 organisations, 11 million patient records in the UK, and 1.9 million patient records in Ireland, approximately 50% of the population, as well as 20,000 users of IMS MAXIMS products.