Mid-Cheshire Selects IMS Maxims

IMS Maxims plc has announced it has signed a contract for its care pathways and results reporting system to Mid-Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

The initial five year contract will link five core specialties to the trust’s iSoft-supplied Patient Administration System (PAS) and form the basis for level 3 EPR throughout the Trust. The five-year contract is valued at £500,000.

The initial contract is for five specialties together with electronic links to GP practices – Diabetes, Cardiology, General Surgery, Colorectal and Colposcopy, plus provision of the core clinical workstation which allows clinicians to see all relevant clinical information on their patients not only from within their specialties but across other specialties and departments.

Diane Nolder, Project Manager, said: "It is our intention to extend the pilot phase to encompass all 25 different specialties and ultimately all 77 consultant teams across the trust.”

The system should also dramatically improve the exchange of information between the hospital and local GP practices. Currently the GPs capture information, such as data for the Diabetes register, electronically, but then need to manually complete a form to send to the Trust.

Electronic transfer will not only save time but will give fast feedback of test results and findings. With 35 of the 37 GP Practices running on EMIS-supplied practice systems, once the application is proven, rollout should be swift.

The pilot phase will also include results reporting from laboratory and radiology, and links to a clinical assessment algorithm for colorectal cancer, developed by consultant surgeons at the trust.

With clinical governance and audit reports currently done manually within the hospital there was considerable pressure from the consultants to purchase individual disparate systems. However, the trust took a strategic decision to purchase a trust-wide solution, which could provide ‘joined up’ healthcare and single measurable standard of care across the hospital.

Duncan Goodwin, finance director at Mid-Cheshire NHS Trust, commented: “This has been a lengthy procurement with our OJEC advertisement attracting some 45+ responses. IMS has demonstrated significant leadership in their ability to deliver the individual clinical systems crucial to our consultants while providing us with a Trust-wide integrated solution.”

Alun Rees, IMS sales and marketing manager, commented: “This is an excellent contract for us because it demonstrates our ability to deliver an extensive array of in-depth clinical solutions and our comprehensive EPR capabilities.

IMS Maxims, which was floated on the London AIM market in 1999, specialising in the development and implementation of clinically oriented eHealth solutions, core hospital EPR and enterprise-wide EHR systems. According to the company it has installations in more than 80 hospitals.