MIG from EMIS and INPS passes ITK tests

The Medical Interoperability Gateway developed by healthcare IT system suppliers INPS and EMIS has received Interoperability Toolkit accreditation from NHS Connecting for Health.

The MIG is being implemented by the two suppliers through a joint venture company, Healthcare Gateway. It said ITK accreditation would open up access to records held by 75% of GP practices using EMIS and INPS systems.

Peter Anderson, commercial director of Healthcare Gateway, told EHI Primary Care that the accreditation covers the exchange of clinical document architecture documentation, such as a discharge summary or other clinical document, in a range of formats.

He said discharge summaries or other clinical documents could now be communicated directly from third party systems, such as hospital systems, into EMIS and INPS systems.

Anderson added: “We are in active discussions with a number of acute trusts about not only electronic discharge summaries but also the two-way information flow that the MIG enables.

"We expect to have a pilot project around electronic discharge summaries running by the end of the year.”

The MIG was involved in one of the five consortia that underwent proof of concept testing for CfH’s standards for electronic discharge summaries earlier this year. It was in a consortium with Infoflex as the sending system supplier and INPS’s Vision 3 as the receiving system.

Anderson said: “We are delighted to be among the very first companies to receive ITK accreditation. Receiving ITK accreditation demonstrates the robustness of the technology and will provide extra reassurance for our customers.”