This May Be a Much Better Way to Do Shared Electronic Health Records.

The following caught my eye a few days ago. It really looks very useful indeed.

EMIS unveils EMIS Web

25 Jun 2009

Leading GP IT system supplier EMIS has unveiled its next generation IT system EMIS Web, ahead of an official launch in the autumn.

The system, which has been in development for five years, is scheduled to receive NHS Connecting for Health accreditation in November and the company hopes it will become widely used by 2010. A roll-out date will be offered to all practices within two years.

EMIS claims the system will set a new standard for the NHS by enabling clinicians outside general practice to access a patient’s GP medical record, view other patient information that will be recorded on the system, and to add to that data.

Patient data will be accessible from non-EMIS systems using an interoperability portal called the Medical Interoperability Gateway (MIG).

GP system suppliers INPS and iSoft and out-of-hours provider Adastra are also to use the MIG to share data.

Yesterday, EMIS said it was also holding talking with other healthcare IT suppliers including Ascribe, Oasis and IMS Maxims. Local service providers Cerner and CSC have declined to take part, saying it is outside their contractual commitments under the National Programme for IT in the NHS.

Sean Riddell, managing director of EMIS, told EHI Primary Care that EMIS Web would hold the GP patient record together with what would, in effect, be a series of other separate records such as a podiatry record, a record of information supplied by patients, a diabetes record and a district nursing record.

GPs will be able to see the information on the other records, with patient consent, but will only incorporate the data they want into their own record.

Riddell added: “The main differentiation between EMIS Web and other systems is our concept of one patient and a series of virtual records.”

Data is shared and viewed with explicit patient consent and according to local data sharing agreements.

Outside of general practice, the system is already being used by the NHS as part of the pilot-phase of EMIS Web.

Lots more here:

http://www.ehiprimarycare.com/news/4967/emis_unveils_emis_web

Here are some of the details from the web-site:

EMIS Web - the future of integrated care

EMIS’s new primary care system, EMIS Web, uses the latest technology to drive GP computing to the next level.

The system will deliver two key benefits to general practices: access to shared patient records between GPs and community or secondary care, and advanced functionality for everyone in the practice.

Building on the success of existing LV and PCS systems, EMIS Web offers general practices all the very best of EMIS’s development expertise in 20 years of being the market leading clinical system supplier in the UK.

And the best part is that users of EMIS LV and PCS don’t have to wait to start benefiting from the new technology: EMIS Web will be rolled out a module at a time, so that they have the latest technology as soon as we have finished developing and testing it. New modules will seamlessly ‘plug in’ to existing LV and PCS systems, to create LV Web and PCS Web.

A shared record for GPs

GPs will be able to access their patient data as normal, either hosted centrally in a secure Enterprise environment or on servers at the practice. If the latter option is chosen then the practice’s data will be replicated in EMIS Web, using EMIS’s data streaming process. Community healthcare professionals will also submit patient data to the central EMIS Web database, enabling GPs to access data recorded about their patients by other healthcare professionals.

EMIS Web will be a fully interoperable system meeting the requirements of Connecting for Health (CfH), and as such will exchange data securely with the Spine. This will facilitate, in the first instance, CfH projects such as EPS2 and CRS.

A shared record for other healthcare professionals

Clinicians providing care outside of the general practice setting, such as specialist clinics or community care, will have access to a summary of the patient’s GP medical record so that they have an accurate and up to date picture of each patient’s health. They will record notes that can be accessed by the patient’s GP.

Advanced EMIS Web functionality will be available for these users too, with user interfaces tailored specifically for each role, including relevant templates and Read/ SNOMED codes.

This is enabled by interoperability – systems exchanging data securely, in context and in real time. This puts vital patient data at the fingertips of those who need it most, when they need it most.

The system will also exchange data securely with third party healthcare software, to add to the patient’s record vital patient data from organisations that use other systems, such as Adastra out of hours systems and INPS clinical software.

Interoperability

To provide EMIS users with additional IT functionality, EMIS systems interoperate with a wide range of third party primary care IT suppliers, to offer products and services such as integrated ECG readings, automated arrivals software and document management. EMIS Web interoperability will also facilitate patient services such as EMIS Access online appointment booking and patient access to medical records. To complete the interoperability picture, EMIS Web will exchange data with secondary care IT providers, such as Anglia ICE online test requesting.

More on the site:

http://www.emis-online.com/primary-care-systems/emis-web/

It seems to me EMIS have a practical and sensible architecture that can really make GP and Specialist practices hum while at the same time enabling access to relevant information by those who need it with the agreement of the patient and clinicians.

I think it is important that GP system providers in Australia and NEHTA take a close look at this and see of this might just be an architecture that is suitable for Australia.

David.