EMIS News

DIGITV ROLLS OUT REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS

2008-05-13T10:02:31Z

DIGITV ROLLS OUT REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS VIA DIGITAL INTERACTIVE TV AND MOBILE PHONES TO PATIENTS NATIONWIDE

Millions of patients can now request repeat prescriptions without ever visiting the doctor’s surgery – using digital interactive TV or their mobile phone.

DigiTV, through the Looking Local portal, alongside EMIS, the leading primary care systems provider, is offering the free repeat prescriptions service following its successful national launch of GP appointment booking through digital interactive TV and mobile phones in 2007.

Around 1,400 surgeries using EMIS software – representing more than eight million patients – can now offer repeat prescription ordering through interactive TV, mobile phones and the internet, in addition to patient management of GP appointments through these channels.

The prescription service was previously only available over the Internet; more than 135,000 patients actively use the online system for repeat prescription requests and GP appointment booking.

More than 70 per cent of all prescriptions signed off by GPs are repeat requests for patients who have ongoing health issues; the process is time-consuming for all involved.

Benefits of the repeat prescription system are realised all the way down the line. Patients – particularly those housebound or busy working - benefit from not having to go to the surgery. Practice staff spend less time with repeat prescription paperwork and the doctor is notified electronically to accept or reject the application, increasing efficiency in the surgery.

Steve Langrick, Business Strategy and Access manager at Kirklees Council with responsibility for Looking Local said; “Offering repeat prescriptions to complement GP appointments was a natural step towards extending our health related services and yet again demonstrates our ongoing commitment to providing locally relevant e-enabled services, extending the convenience of this access to benefit more people.

“Efficient access to health related services is important to so many people and any time that can be freed-up through developments such as repeat prescriptions allows for that time to be re-invested for the benefit of patients.”

Once registered for the service with their EMIS surgery, patients can request the prescription in real time. They can also use Looking Local to track the prescription(s) application and status of their request from the order date, in addition to any non-repeat prescriptions on order. With each prescription request, patients can use a message facility to contact the doctor with any queries.

The Kakoty Practice in Barnsley was one of the first in the UK to introduce GP appointment booking via digital interactive television. Dr Prakash Kakoty said: “The system has delivered many benefits to the practice and, of course, to patients, for whom it offers the ultimate in convenience.

“Extending the service to include repeat prescriptions is a fantastic development, especially for patients coping with long-term conditions that require constant medication.”

Sean Riddell, Healthcare Managing Director of EMIS, said: “This is a great example of how partnerships between different technology providers can improve healthcare delivery.

"By enabling our systems to link up with the Looking Local portal, we will help thousands more patients to enjoy the benefits of these pioneering free services.”

With more homes now having access to digital TV than the internet, DiTV and mobile phones are key channels for government service delivery in general, but particularly to those with no internet access or PC skills who often have a higher usage of government services. Currently 56 per cent of homes have access to digital interactive TV and over 85 per cent of the adult population owns a mobile phone.

With the analogue switchover programme already underway in Whitehaven and more people understanding what DiTV can offer them besides additional channels, Looking Local is experiencing record usage as people switch on and tune in to locally and personally relevant services.

Looking Local is accessible for free on Sky, Virgin and Freeview boxes with a modem or broadband connections. For those patients on the move, the portal is
available on mobile phones that allow browsing and access to the internet (the cost for access is variable depending on the operator and package).

The argument for moving forward on these channels is driven by the significant digital divide that is faced in the UK. There is an obligation on all service providers to involve members of the public and enable them to receive services via a wide range of channels.

A significant minority in the UK lack access or the skills to use a PC and the internet. This has created an increasingly divisive situation where those without the access or the skills are at a distinct disadvantage to those that do. Efficiencies can be made on many levels and giving equal access to e-Government services so that patients can contact their surgery when it suits them means that there is fairer access for all.

EMIS WEB DELIVERS GROUND-BREAKING INTEROPERABILITY

2008-04-24T10:27:13Z

The latest EMIS software – EMIS Web – is at the heart of two pioneering interoperability projects which are breaking down traditional barriers and helping to improve patient care.

The web-based product will underpin a groundbreaking partnership between EMIS – the UK’s leading GP systems supplier – and Adastra – the UK's market leader in unscheduled and urgent primary care solutions – to improve the continuity of out of hours (OOH) care.

The joint project – due to launch with an initial pilot in Gateshead in May 2008 – will enable OOH clinicians to access an instant summary of the patient’s primary care record, on the spot.

Ultimately, it offers the potential to improve the care of more than 60 million patients receiving OOH treatment supported by Adastra systems. These are used in 95 per cent of UK unscheduled care hubs, while EMIS systems support more than 56 per cent of UK GP surgeries.

In another innovative project, EMIS Web is being used to seamlessly link primary and secondary care delivery for Liverpool Primary Care Trust.

The product is integral to the recently-launched Primary Care A&E diversion project which is being delivered by Primary Care staff at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital.

This aims to reduce the number of patients attending A&E inappropriately (with primary care problems). Using EMIS Web to deliver an on-the-spot summary of the patient’s primary care record, nursing staff from the Primary Care Diversion Scheme can refer such patients back to their GP or discharge them with self-care advice.

Sean Riddell, EMIS Healthcare Managing Director said: “These two flagship projects demonstrate how joined-up thinking between different providers can not only improve patient care but also save the NHS money through more efficient service delivery.”

EMIS/Adastra overview

The Gateshead pilot – being run with the Gateshead PCT and Out of Hours Group – will see specially developed EMIS components sitting inside the Adastra software, via a seamless link.

With the patient’s consent, the OOH clinician will be able to open a summary of the patient’s ‘in hours’ primary care record via an EMIS Web tab, helping to improve continuity of care.

The real time summary will include details of medication, allergies and long-term conditions.

Sean Riddell said: “This is not only a cost-effective solution but one that will be delivered with minimal disruption to clinicians, as it will operate within the existing software framework.”

How it works: Liverpool PCT project

The new project between EMIS and Liverpool Primary Care Trust has seamlessly linked 19 GP practices from the Liverpool South Central PBC Consortium to a Primary Care Diversion Service at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital’s A&E department.

The service is now being expanded to other practices within the PCT; in total over 40 practices have signed up.

After being identified by the A&E clerk, the patient with a primary care problem is referred to the primary care nurse for a consultation.

During the consultation, with consent from the patient, a summary of the patient’s primary care medical record can be viewed via EMIS Web – including details of medications, allergies and any previous diagnoses.

Using an A&E template, the nurse records the consultation with the patient in the system and decides whether the patient is suitable for diversion back to their GP.

If the patient agrees to be referred back the GP, the primary care nurse can book a same or next-day GP appointment, but the patient still has the option to attend A&E.

Kate Warriner, Primary Care IM&T Development Manager for Liverpool PCT said: “Interoperability has played a crucial role in making this project work. Using EMIS Web has brought considerable practical benefits with minimal disruption including enabling the GP to view the A&E consultation back at the practice.”

JOINT VENTURE FOR LEADING HEALTHCARE IT PROVIDERS

2008-04-08T11:19:32Z

EMIS – the UK’s leading provider of IT systems to GPs – has announced a Joint Venture Agreement with the Republic of Ireland’s largest healthcare IT provider, Helix Health Ltd.

The agreement sees the two companies coming together to enhance mutual market penetration.

The new EMIS Dental system, as well as software components for primary care will become available in Ireland through the Helix sales and support network, while Helix will gain access to EMIS’ sales and support network to distribute and support its QicScript range of pharmacy management software applications across the UK.

Both companies will gain access to each other’s valuable research and development expertise, in addition to software knowledge. They will also localise their products for each marketplace, incorporating features and functionality that will benefit their respective customers.

Sean Riddell, EMIS’ Healthcare Managing Director comments: “We are delighted to be associated with Helix Health. The joint venture gives us the opportunity to extend our product offering into new markets, as well as working closely with Helix to bring benefits to our respective customers at a local level.”

Howard Beggs, CEO of Helix Health says: “EMIS is well respected among Irish healthcare professionals. By sharing our research and development software expertise, we can ensure that Irish healthcare professionals can benefit from the ‘best of breed’ software applications and modules for their business.

“We also believe the joint venture is an effective way to enhance our distribution of pharmacy software products across the UK.”

QRESEARCH SUPPORTS LARGEST EUROPEAN PROJECT

2008-03-31T16:03:10Z

QResearch – a not-for-profit partnership between EMIS and the University of Nottingham – is supporting the first large scale European-wide initiative to detect adverse drug reactions (ADRs) – the ALERT project.

The QResearch database, which houses anonymised data from around 10 million UK patients, is the largest and most rapidly updated database taking part in the project, which has received €5 million funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement nº 215847.

The recently approved ALERT project aims to develop the first Europe-wide computerised system to detect ADRs better and faster than the current spontaneous reporting systems. The initial research phase is planned to span 3.5 years.

The project will involve a consortium of 18 leading European research institutions using clinical data from the electronic healthcare records (EHRs) of over 30 million patients from European countries including The Netherlands, Denmark, UK and Italy.

The interdisciplinary team of researchers will use biomedical informatics technologies to do this, combined with biological and molecular knowledge.

ALERT will use a variety of text mining, epidemiological and other computational techniques to analyse the EHRs to detect ‘signals’ (combinations of drugs and suspected adverse events that warrant further investigation).

QResearch project leader, Professor Julia Hippisley-Cox of the University of Nottingham said: “ALERT will, for the first time, design, develop and set up a process for monitoring adverse drug reactions for a significant proportion of the European population.

“We hope that the project will demonstrate that scientific and clinical evidence can quickly and directly be translated into improvements in patient safety and therefore health benefits. It will also enable us to compare how different people respond to a variety of drugs throughout Europe.

“Another benefit of the research will mean that we should be able to discriminate between true signals that point to an ADR and spurious signals. This can help to reduce uncertainty among both patients and physicians, ultimately saving lives and increasing the quality of day-to-day life for many patients.”

EMIS helps drive latest GP2GP milestone

2008-02-27T12:01:49Z

EMIS – the UK’s leading provider of IT systems to GPs – has played a significant part in helping NHS Connecting for Health (NHS CfH) achieve its latest GP2GP milestone.

NHS CfH today announced that more than 3,500 practices with EMIS LV and INPS Vision 3 were now using GP2GP software – two thirds of the practices with GP systems that are currently eligible to receive GP2GP.

EMIS, alongside INPS, has been working with NHS CfH to install GP2GP version 1.1 in practices with EMIS LV software, enabling patients’ electronic records to be transferred between EMIS and INPS systems.

A total of 2,607 EMIS practices now have GP2GP version 1.1 installed and the company is installing the software at an average rate of 70 practices a week.

Sean Riddell, Healthcare Managing Director at EMIS said: “This is an excellent example of how interoperability and cooperation between suppliers is delivering improved patient care.

“Our operations teams across the country have been working extremely hard alongside the practices and the central GP2GP team to achieve this fantastic result.”

NICE puts QRisk on course to save lives

2008-02-15T09:53:07Z

NICE puts QRisk on course to save thousands of lives

A pioneering research project based on real-life primary care data is set to improve national diagnosis rates for cardiovascular disease (CVD) – potentially saving thousands of lives.

The QRisk project analysed 20 years of data from almost three million UK patients to produce a new equation to help doctors identify those most at risk of developing CVD.

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has now recommended that the formula is adopted across medical practice in England and Wales – replacing the current standard guidance for predicting CVD, the Framingham risk score.

In a new public consultation document, NICE said: “Emerging evidence suggests that QRisk gives a better estimation of risk in the general population of England and Wales than the Framingham equations.”

QRisk was undertaken by QResearch – a not-for-profit partnership between the University of Nottingham and leading primary care system supplier, EMIS, that has created one of the world’s largest primary care research databases.

QRisk project leader Professor Julia Hippisley-Cox, of the University of Nottingham, said: “This is a landmark decision that opens the way for our research to make a real difference to patient care.

“If adopted nationally, we estimate that QRisk could save many thousands of lives by more accurately identifying those at risk. It will also improve the quality of day-to-day life for many patients.”

She added: “Once NICE has finalised their guidance, our key task will be to ensure that colleagues can easily implement QRisk within clinical practice and we are developing software that will make this possible.”

Dr David Stables, Clinical Director of EMIS and a Director of QResearch, said: “This is a powerful example of how data captured in the process of caring for the individual patient can be used to improve healthcare for all.

“It is also a tribute to the thousands of working GPs who freely contribute their data to QResearch; without their co-operation, projects like QRisk could not happen.”

The QRisk model is significantly different from the Framingham risk score in a number of key areas – predicting that a smaller percentage of the population is at risk of CVD but critically that very different populations are at risk.

Specifically, it found that women and people living in deprived areas were at far greater risk than predicted by Framingham, which was based on a small US study from more than 30 years ago.

QResearch is looking for more EMIS practices to take part in the project. Practices interested in contributing data should contact Julia.hippisley-cox@nottingham.ac.uk quoting their EMIS customer number.