EHI’s industry round up 31.05.2010

This month’s industry round up includes news of the savings that Mid Yorkshire Hospitals is making with a Salford Software identity management solution, new business for Cisco and HD Clinical, and contract wins for providers of e-rostering, asset management and e-learning software.

Mid Yorks saves with identity management

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust has said it is saving almost £40,000 per year by implementing Salford Software’s Identity Management Solution. This allows the details of NHS workers to be added and removed in one step from all internal systems, including HR and salary records, patient records and even car parking passes. James Rawlinson, assistant director IT services and medical records, said: “Identity Management has eliminated the time and cost to Mid Yorkshire of provisioning and de-provisioning users from the system and resetting user passwords.”

Tameside first for Cisco’s unified computing

Tameside Hospital will become the first in England to deploy Cisco’s Unified Computing System to streamline access to network data, such as patient records. The trust, which is working with provider ANS Group to deploy the data centre platform across its Ashton-under-Lyne Hospital, hopes to consolidate and increase its data storage facilities by rolling out the system. Tony Mellor, chief information officer at the trust, said: “We were looking for a solution that would build the foundation for the hospital’s current and future needs for network access, data storage and virtualisation, as the trust is committed to making significant improvements through technology-enabled change.”

HD Clinical appoints White as non-exec

HD Clinical has announced that Paul White, formerly director of UK health business at BT and previously chief executive of BT Health London, has joined the board as a non-executive director. The company said it also reached a ‘major milestone’ this spring with the release of its Solus integrated record system, built around the Solus Enterprise core. The first implementation of Solus is being installed in Mid-Yorkshire initially to handle acute stroke management at Pinderfields, Pontefract and Dewsbury Hospitals. The second phase will add cardiology and respiratory medicine modules to the core.

Allocate Software announces four deals

Allocate Software has announced that four NHS trusts have signed new agreements for MAPS Healthroster e-Rostering for Doctors and Medical Staff Module. East Cheshire NHS Trust, Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will all use MAPS Healthroster and focus on improving the rostering process for doctors’ rotas.

Basildon and Thurrock signs up with Real Asset Management

Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has gone live with a fully integrated asset management solution from Real Asset Management, including Asset4000, Project4000 and Forecast4000. This will enable it to improve the accuracy of its asset register, communication between departments, and planning and investment decisions. Ian Child, financial controller at Basildon and Thurrock, said: “More information is at our fingertips, so we can easily drill down into the detail. We can easily identify which assets are coming to the end of their life and inform the clinical team, improving overall communication.”

Kettering General Hospital installs new e-learning platform for medical imaging

Kettering General Hospital has upgraded the Aims teaching solution it was using in its radiology department to WebAims and integrated it with its PACs. This has created an enterprise wide platform and a knowledge management system for teaching and e-learning across the whole of its diagnostic imaging sector. Richard Mann at Kettering General Hospital says: “The solution allows clinicians to quickly set up presentations with anonymised images, and supports e-learning.”

Plain Healthcare launches international website

Plain Healthcare, a developer and provider of clinical decision support systems, has launched a website to support its international partners and global clients. The site includes information about Plain’s Odyssey suite of products and information tailored to the different markets in which it operates or would like to find resellers and clients. The main pages are in English, with summaries in seven languages, including Chinese.

Nuance Dragon Medical 10 supports Window 7

Nuance Communications has announced that its speech recognition solution Dragon Medical 10 now supports Windows 7. All Dragon Medical 10 software will be delivered with the new features and existing users can update their Dragon Medical 10 version through Nuance’s network of certified reseller partners. The software is available in English, French, German and Dutch.

Sensors go on trial with SEHTA grant

Smart home technology firm PassivSystems has won a grant from the South East Health Technology Alliance (SEHTA) to test electric sensors developed by the University of Sussex for their suitability for remote healthcare. The university has developed a new class of patented, non-contact sensors that can differentiate between people in a room and detect heart, nerve fibre and muscle signals. The University of Kent is also involved in the project, helping PassivSystems with the evaluation of the sensors and providing social services advice on remote sensing options.