The consequences of sensitive data getting into the wrong hands can be significant, and a considerable source of risk and anxiety for organisations. But a bigger problem logistically can be determining where such data exists across the business, so companies can implement protective measures.
James Paton, CEO of SynApps Solutions, explains in Digitlisation World here
Before organisations can calculate the risks around sensitive data, and put in place appropriate protection, they must first have visibility of where that information resides -and where copies might exist across the company. James Paton, CEO of SynApps Solutions, says that, even post-GDPR, many businesses lack that visibility.
Read the full article in Professional Security here.
Every organisation fears the consequences of sensitive data getting into the wrong hands. But before businesses can protect it, they need to know where it is.
Read our latest article from James Paton in in ITProPortal here.
The rising support role of AI in transforming image processing and speed accuracy is reported this month in The Journal of mHealth from Daniel Drieling of MeVis Medical Solutions AG.
You can read the whole article here.
Integrated Paperless Patient Administration Solution Provides On-Demand Records Access
Hatfield, UK – December 9, 2019 – SynApps Solutions, the content management and process automation company, has transformed document and patient records management for Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, reducing administration, freeing up space and making access simple.
Across the Trust’s diverse operations, clinicians and administrative support teams process around 3,000 live or new patient records each day and call up a further 250 legacy records from its archives. Before 2016, this activity was paper based, relying on large teams of people to access the correct files in advance of patient appointments and get them to where they needed to be.
To improve efficiency, reliability and the quality and consistency of patient care, and to be able to meet the latest Government and Department of Health requirements around digital patient records management and information security, the Trust needed to modernise its processes and capture and manage patient records and correspondence electronically.
Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust chose SynApps Solutions because it was a proven supplier of integrated healthcare record solutions to the NHS and, as an independent provider, it could tailor its systems to the needs of the Trust and deliver in its required timeframe.
SynApps Solutions deployed Alfresco Content Services, a full-featured electronic content management system, as its digital repository for scanned medical records, where they can be quickly called up by any authorised healthcare provider at the point of need, via the Trust’s in-house Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system.
“Whether it’s a consent form for surgery, notes from a previous outpatient appointment, or trend information about outpatient cases, clinical notes can be called up at the click of a button now,” explains, Liam Kennedy, Deputy chief operating officer, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust. “The ease of access, and ability to spot trends, means better patient care and patient outcomes, which is our priority. The solution SynApps has provided makes a huge difference.”
Efficiency savings have been substantial too. Closing on-site medical records libraries has freed up valuable space for use as part of the Trust’s investment in research and development, and more than 26 administration staff have been freed up for other work elsewhere across the Trust.
“The new paperless administration solution at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust is further demonstration of SynApps’ expertise in the UK healthcare sector,” adds James Paton, CEO at SynApps Solutions. “We know how important robust document and records management is and are delighted to make such a positive impact on clinicians and patients alike.”
Modern, easy-to-integrate Alfresco system allows NHS Trust to improve search, reporting and more
Hatfield, UK – October 14th, 2019 – SynApps Solutions, the enterprise content management specialist, has overhauled the document and patient records management of West London NHS Trust, improving user access to content, the ability to search and reporting.
SynApps works with a number of organisations in the UK health sector and became involved with West London NHS Trust when it became clear that the Trust’s legacy system for its document and patient records management was not fit for purpose.
Users were unable to search text in the Trust’s millions of documents and individual patient records, making it cumbersome and time-consuming to find documents. Trying to generate basic reporting metrics was clunky and slow at best, and often impossible.
“Access to documents and patient records is critical to the smooth-running of the Trust and our previous system was expensive, slow and starting to cause major issues for us,” said Graham Birrell, central records and EDMS manager, West London NHS Trust. “It was clear we needed to change and we started to look at the options available.”
The Trust had to decide whether to upgrade its existing system or replace it, and it was becoming increasingly clear that a replacement would offer the most potential for providing the more modern and improved experience users needed. It was important to be able to integrate the new system with Rio, the Trust’s patient administration system, as well as increasing accuracy and productivity, and improving overall service delivery.
For enterprise-level content management, Alfresco stood out as the obvious option for the Trust. Not only did it have a modern feel to it, and come with some great APIs, when Alfresco introduced the Trust to its strategic integration partner, SynApps Solutions to implement the new system, the Trust was immediately assured it had made the right decision.
SynApps swiftly demonstrated that Alfresco offered a lot more functionality than before, such as the ability to preview content, drag and drop documents, easily upload files and display folder contents. The whole experience of using the system was much easier, faster and clearer, while it is has also integrated with other systems easily and transformed reporting.
“I have been in the NHS for over 20 years and I can’t sing the praises of SynApps highly enough,” continued Graham Birrell. “They’re extremely responsive, even out of hours – which tends to be when we contact them – even though this isn’t in their contract. They put enormous effort into the preparations and the transition to the new Alfresco system, smoothing the way and doing exactly what they promised.”
West London NHS Trust, formerly West London Mental Health NHS Trust, is one of the most diverse providers of mental and physical healthcare in the UK, providing integrated services across 30 sites. SynApps has a strong track record in working with such health organisations, a result of its ability to understand the specific needs and challenges they are facing, according to spokesperson, job title, SynApps.
“Our work with West London NHS Trust is a further example of the success we have had within the UK health sector. It’s a market we have a deep understanding of, and we know how important document and patient records management can be and the impact they have on service delivery.”
By Daniel Drieling & Frank Niggemeier of MeVis Medical Solutions
Lung cancer is the number one cancer globally, for men and women combined. Yet it is notoriously challenging to spot early enough for positive treatment outcomes. Usually symptoms occur in late stages of the disease when successful treatment becomes more and more difficult. Unlike various other types of cancer, such as breast cancer, which can be checked for in a number of different ways, it takes targeted medical imaging to determine what’s going on inside our breathing apparatus.
That’s why governments internationally are increasingly launching targeted screening campaigns – like NHS England’s mobile lung health checks, where portable CT scanners are being driven out to areas of the country where rates of lung disease are higher than average. The idea is that by looking out for the earliest signs of problems among at-risk groups (smokers, those working in potentially harmful environments, and so on), health services will save more lives, and reduce the significant long-term costs of treating late-stage cancer.
The potential flaw in this plan is that qualified radiologists are not an abundant resource and, as more images are taken, their workloads will soar. Supported by standard, static imaging solutions, even the most experienced radiologists can take up to 10 minutes (or longer) to read a patient’s lung scans in sufficient detail to be able to inform next steps.
It is fortuitous, then, that artificial intelligence is now sufficiently mature and robust to offer a solution. It’s a technology we’ve been working with in a range of cancer detection solutions, and from 2014 we’ve been applying AI and machine learning to reading lung images. By showing the software all sorts of cancer-based images, even the most subtle early signs, we have trained our computer-aided detection algorithm to spot suspicious structures that could be cancer, which even the most expertly-trained eye might miss.
Developed using machine learning techniques, Veolity’s algorithm aims to recognise even the subtlest potential signs of lung cancer, so that it now offers an indispensable and highly stable diagnostic support tool. Combining this technology with radiologists’ own readings is leading to the best detection rates ever known – an impressive improvement compared to human-based readings alone, according to clinical studies of computer-aided detection success rates. This is crucial – one supports the other: radiologists benefit from valuable automatic features, while retaining complete control of their diagnostic process.
Together, human and machine are now detecting even the most difficult to spot signs of cancer – the signals that might otherwise have been overlooked, especially where radiologists are under increased time pressure. Importantly, the software has the potential get through those workloads at high speed too, allowing experienced radiologists to comfortably and reliably assess more cases per hour.
It isn’t only in the reading of baseline studies and complex follow-up comparisons that AI-based technology is leaving its mark, and lightening workloads. Veolity automatically extracts lung nodules and provides comparable volumetric measurements that help to assess findings. It also makes short work of planning further patient treatment, by matching findings and country-specific reporting guidelines including management recommendations.
For hard-pressed health services, and at-risk populations, use of AI-based detection techniques in mass-scale lung cancer screening is a win-win.
Thanks to our implementation of Veolity directly for large OEM healthcare equipment providers, and strategic distribution partnerships including that with SynApps Solutions in the UK, MeVis Medical Solutions AG is the world’s leading specialist in image-based lung cancer screening solutions, with established deployments on every continent. Veolity’s extensive global market penetration illustrates the scale of the technology’s potential in making more of radiologists’ time, and improving outcomes for lung cancer patients.