Making IT count

NHS chief executive David Nicholson has warned that lower funding increases combined with rising demand could leave the NHS facing a £20billion budget deficit over five years.

Suppliers, systems and in-house IT teams have a crucial role to play in helping organisations to make efficiency savings while maintaining quality and meeting patient demands. EMIS’ next generation EMIS Web system is already helping trusts across the UK to save time and money – and to deliver better patient care.

NHS Tower Hamlets, for example, is using EMIS Web to share information between community staff and GPs. It can now capture performance data in seconds and is using this information to improve childhood vaccination rates and streamline care pathways.

Meanwhile, the Tollgate Medical Centre in Newham is using EMIS’ Qute software to gain an overview of individual patient journeys. Using the software, it has been able to identify patients who need more support in a primary care environment and to work with its local hospital to improve discharge summaries.