EMIS Health

Last updated

EMIS Health, formerly known as Egton Medical Information Systems, [1] supplies electronic patient record systems and software used in primary care, acute care and community pharmacy in the United Kingdom. The company is based in Leeds. It claims that more than half of GP practices across the UK use EMIS Health software and holds number one or two market positions in its main markets. [2] In June 2022 the company was acquired by Bordeaux UK Holdings II Limited, an affiliate of UnitedHealth's Optum business for a 49% premium on EMIS's closing share price. [3]

Contents

Competitors

The other approved GP systems are SystmOne, Microtest Health and Vision. In England EMIS and SystmOne have a duopoly. The pair were paid £77 million for primary care software in 2018. [4]

EMIS Group

EMIS Group, which includes Egton Medical Information Systems Limited, also comprises:

The company bought Pinbellcom Group which supplies administration and compliance software to both the primary and the secondary care markets in July 2015, now a part of Egton. [10]

Healthcare record systems

EMIS is one of the suppliers approved by the GP Systems of Choice and so funded by the NHS. Through its Patient Access service, EMIS was the first clinical system providers to enable patients to book GP appointments online and order repeat prescriptions. [11] Patient Access also enables patients to access their own records online. [12] EMIS Web had been rolled out to 3,750 practices in September 2014. [13]

EMIS Web allows primary, secondary and community healthcare practitioners to view and contribute to a patient's electronic healthcare record. Failures to link up medical records held by hospitals and those kept by their family doctors put patient's lives at risk, according to Prof Steve Field of the Care Quality Commission. He says this could be tackled by giving patients access to their own records – a system pioneered using EMIS software, in an attempt to restore patient confidence, by Dr Amir Hannan when he took over Harold Shipman's practice. "He's got examples of patients being admitted to hospital where they have had to show the consultants their record, which may have saved their lives. It's policy to try and make it happen. But it's not moving quickly enough." [14] EMIS was the first provider of GP record systems to permit Patient record access. [15] EMIS said that the numbers of practices providing patients with online access to their records 'shot up' after it allowed GPs to tailor the parts of the record that patients can see. [16] Dr Shaun O'Hanlon, EMIS's Chief Medical Officer says that the legal framework around data sharing is the main problem in integrating patient data because the Data Protection Act 1998 puts responsibilities on GPs to protect the confidentiality of patient data, but at the same time they have a "duty to share" when it is in the best interests of the patient. He says the quickest, easiest route to large scale record sharing is to put patients in the driving seat using smartphone technology. He quotes a YouGov poll which found that 85% of the population wanted any medical professional directly responsible for their treatment to have secure electronic access to key data from their GP record, such as long term conditions, medication history or allergies. [17] EMIS Web supports Summary Care Records.

Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust has access to patients' GP records in the Urgent Care Centre run by Haverstock Healthcare in its A&E department using the EMIS Web integrated clinical IT system. This enables the majority of patients to be sent home with written information on self-care or referred to a pharmacy. [18]

In March 2015 the company made an agreement to share patient data with SystmOne the second-biggest supplier of GP software after IMS MAXIMS released an open source version of its software, which acute trusts can use and alter the code to tailor the system to their needs. The companies say they hope to deliver functionality to support cross-organisational working, such as shared tasks and shared appointment booking. This agreement is independent of the medical interoperability gateway. [19]

Patient information is integrated with the record systems, so patients can manage their own care with an information library, health apps, online and mobile services such as GP appointment booking and repeat prescription ordering.

Ascribe is a supplier of clinical record systems for hospital pharmacy, A&E, mental health and patient administration (PAS)/electronic patient record systems (EPR). Seventy per cent of NHS secondary care organisations use an Ascribe solution.[ buzzword ]

Tracey Grainger, Head of Digital Primary Care Development at NHS England, who manages the Prime Minister's Challenge Fund in July 2015 asked the company for assistance in obtaining "extracts of de-identified patient level data from systems that either record appointments or record consultations or in some cases both" on a monthly basis back to April 2013. This included the postcode sector of the patient, the date, time and duration of appointments as well as the reason for the consultation. [20]

The company is working with Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust and Waltham Forest Clinical Commissioning Group on two pilots that will allow users of its software to see patient records on TPP's SystmOne and vice versa without any external software. [21]

Pharmacy

RX Systems, now EMIS Health, is a supplier of software to pharmacists. The ProScript and ProScript Connect software systems are community pharmacy dispensary management systems, managing the dispensary process, labelling and endorsing patient records, ordering and stock control. In February 2018 the company piloted EMIS Web for Pharmacy, which enabled community pharmacists to read and write to the GP patient record and to see a full history of medication and diagnostic results. [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health informatics</span> Computational approaches to health care

Health informatics is the study and implementation of computer structures and algorithms to improve communication, understanding, and management of medical information. It can be viewed as branch of engineering and applied science.

General practice is the name given in various nations, such as the United Kingdom, India, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to the services provided by general practitioners. In some nations, such as the US, similar services may be described as family medicine or primary care. The term Primary Care in the UK may also include services provided by community pharmacy, optometrist, dental surgery and community hearing care providers. The balance of care between primary care and secondary care - which usually refers to hospital based services - varies from place to place, and with time. In many countries there are initiatives to move services out of hospitals into the community, in the expectation that this will save money and be more convenient.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family medicine</span> Medical specialty

Family medicine is a medical specialty within primary care that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body. The specialist, who is usually a primary care physician, is named a family physician. It is often referred to as general practice and a practitioner as a general practitioner. Historically, their role was once performed by any doctor with qualifications from a medical school and who works in the community. However, since the 1950s, family medicine / general practice has become a specialty in its own right, with specific training requirements tailored to each country. The names of the specialty emphasize its holistic nature and/or its roots in the family. It is based on knowledge of the patient in the context of the family and the community, focusing on disease prevention and health promotion. According to the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA), the aim of family medicine is "promoting personal, comprehensive and continuing care for the individual in the context of the family and the community". The issues of values underlying this practice are usually known as primary care ethics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NHS Scotland</span> Publicly-funded healthcare system in Scotland

NHS Scotland, sometimes styled NHSScotland, is the publicly–funded healthcare system in Scotland and one of the four systems that make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It operates 14 territorial NHS boards across Scotland, supported by seven special non-geographic health boards, and Public Health Scotland.

Centene Corporation is a publicly traded managed care company based in St. Louis, Missouri, which is an intermediary for government-sponsored and privately insured healthcare programs. Centene ranked No. 25 on the 2023 Fortune 500.

SystmOne is a centrally hosted clinical computer system developed by Horsforth-based The Phoenix Partnership (TPP). It is used by healthcare professionals in the UK predominantly in primary care. The system is being deployed as one of the accredited systems in the government's programme of modernising IT in the NHS.

Healthcare in England is mainly provided by the National Health Service (NHS), a public body that provides healthcare to all permanent residents in England, that is free at the point of use. The body is one of four forming the UK National Health Service as health is a devolved matter; there are differences with the provisions for healthcare elsewhere in the United Kingdom, and in England it is overseen by NHS England. Though the public system dominates healthcare provision in England, private health care and a wide variety of alternative and complementary treatments are available for those willing and able to pay.

A Summary Care Record (SCR) is an electronic patient record, a summary of National Health Service patient data held on a central database covering England, part of the NHS National Programme for IT. The purpose of the database is to make patient data readily available anywhere that the patient seeks treatment, for example if they are staying away from their home town or if they are unable to give information for themselves. Despite opposition from some quarters, by September 2010, 424 GP practices across at least 36 primary care trusts had uploaded 2.7 million Summary Care Records. On 10 October 2010, the Health Secretary announced that the coalition government would continue with the introduction, but that the records would 'hold only the essential medical information needed in an emergency – that is medication, allergen and [drug] reactions'. By March 2013, more than 24 million SCRs had been created across England.

111 is a free-to-call single non-emergency number medical helpline operating in England, Scotland and Wales. The 111 phone service has replaced the various non-geographic 0845 rate numbers and is part of each country's National Health Service: in England the service is known as NHS 111; in Scotland, NHS 24; and in Wales, NHS111 Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clinical commissioning group</span> Healthcare organisation in the United Kingdom

Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were National Health Service (NHS) organisations set up by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to organise the delivery of NHS services in each of their local areas in England. On 1 July 2022 they were abolished, and replaced by Integrated care systems as a result of the Health and Care Act 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Phoenix Partnership</span> UK based IT company

The Phoenix Partnership (Leeds) Ltd (TPP) is a software company based in Horsforth, Leeds. It develops and supplies clinical software including SystmOne.

Out-of-hours services are the arrangements to provide access to healthcare at times when General Practitioner surgeries are closed; in the United Kingdom this is normally between 6.30pm and 8am, at weekends, at Bank Holidays and sometimes if the practice is closed for educational sessions.

The Five Year Forward View was produced by NHS England in October 2014 under the leadership of Simon Stevens as a planning document.

Patient record access in the United Kingdom has developed most fully in respect of the GP record, because computerisation in that field is almost universal. British hospitals were slower to move into electronic records. From 1 April 2015 all GP practices in England have to provide online services to patients, including access to summary electronic medical records.

Amir Simon Hannan MBE is an English doctor who works as a General Practitioner in Tameside and has pioneered patients having access and understanding to their Electronic health records in the English National Health Service.

Babylon Health was a digital-first health service provider that combined an artificial intelligence-powered platform with virtual clinical operations for patients. Patients are connected with health care professionals through their web and mobile application.

In Practice Systems Limited (INPS) is a health informatics company, part of the Cegedim group and based in the United Kingdom.

In 2005 the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom began deployment of electronic health record systems in NHS Trusts. The goal was to have all patients with a centralized electronic health record by 2010. Lorenzo patient record systems were adopted in a number of NHS trusts. While many hospitals acquired electronic patient records systems in this process, there was no national healthcare information exchange. Ultimately, the program was dismantled after a cost to the UK taxpayer was over $24 billion, and is considered one of the most expensive healthcare IT failures.

Livi is a digital healthcare service by Kry International AB, a Swedish online healthcare company based in Stockholm. Kry International was established in 2015 and operates as Kry in Norway and Sweden. In France and the United Kingdom, it operates as Livi.

Accurx is a British software company working in the health sector.

References

  1. ↑ "EMIS rebrands as EMIS Health". The Good Health Suite. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  2. ↑ "EMIS Group (EMIS); Full Year results 2018". Edison Group. Edison Group. 27 April 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  3. ↑ "UnitedHealth Unit to Buy UK Health-Tech Firm EMIS for $1.5 Billion". Bloomberg. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  4. ↑ "The Download: The GP IT showdown". Health Service Journal. 18 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  5. ↑ "EMIS buys Ascribe for £57.5m". EHealth Insider. 13 September 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  6. ↑ "EMIS acquires majority stake in pharmacy software company Rx Systems Limited". EMIS-online (Press release). 19 August 2010. Archived from the original on 31 March 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  7. ↑ Lewy, Ruth (26 January 2013). "50 top websites you can't live without". The Times. ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  8. ↑ "EMIS Group acquires UK healthcare blockchain business". Digital Health. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  9. ↑ "EMIS Group to expand pharmacy services following acquisition". 9 March 2020.
  10. ↑ "EMIS secures acquisition to help it grow". Yorkshire Post. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  11. ↑ "Thousands now book to see GPs on web" . Health Service Journal. 11 February 2008. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  12. ↑ "Silver surfers seeking digital options for healthcare information". Pulse +IT. 8 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  13. ↑ "EMIS emits a healthy glow" . Investors Chronicle. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  14. ↑ "Failure to join up medical records is a 'health risk', says GP chief inspector". Independent. 2 September 2014. Archived from the original on 6 September 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  15. ↑ "Web records prove hit with patients". BBC News. 5 February 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  16. ↑ "GPs restricting patients' access to online records". Pulse. 25 September 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  17. ↑ O'Hanlon, Shaun (24 November 2014). "Data sharing: step out of the technological dark ages". Health Service Journal. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  18. ↑ "GP records at A&E means only 10% of patients sent on to main emergency department". The Good Health Suite. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  19. ↑ "Major general practice software suppliers agree to share patient data" . Health Service Journal. 13 March 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  20. ↑ "NHS England backs down over another data extraction scheme".
  21. ↑ "Record sharing: TPP and Emis integrate". Digital Health. 21 October 2015. Archived from the original on 5 February 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  22. ↑ "Software that allows pharmacists to write to the patient record hailed as 'game changer'". Pharmaceutical Journal. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.