Tags: PACS

Improve Local NHS IT Fast – Get Rid Of the Legacy

By Tony Backhouse, Business Development Manager – Healthcare Division, SynApps Solutions

I want to take the opportunity with this blog to talk a bit more about the challenges that NHS customers have been telling us about – the kinds of challenges that have led us at SynApps Solutions to build not just our established VNA PACS platform but also our new Clinical Content Store (CCS) (see ‘Saving the NHS – Let’s Start with Local Health IT’)

What we are hearing from NHS Trust leaders can be summed up under the following headings, I think:

What to do with all the old data: the NHS legacy system challenge

Hospitals maintain a large number of systems for managing patient records and associated information. The problem: a lot of these systems have become “Read Only” or obsolete or are to be consolidated and replaced by newer technology. At the same time, they also have a lot of in-house applications that have accumulated large volumes of data and/or documentation over the years. And while a lot of this information is no longer ”Active”, it needs to be maintained, which can be costly. Meanwhile, in most cases, unfortunately, the performance of these systems is getting worse over time.

If they could, Trusts would like de-commission these systems so as to save the costs of all the associated software licences, servers, storage, and ongoing maintenance and administration these legacy systems represent. Especially, for all the multiple back up and archiving routines. But as I said, the data in these systems is still important and needs to be preserved. In fact, gaining access to this information in a patient-centric manner, whether across the hospital or externally across the patient journey is seen as something that will add significant value in the kind of new NHS its Chief Executive, Simon Stevens, envisages.

But first, we need to do some work on that mass of information that’s built up. We know that some of it we need to keep, for compliance reasons, meaning it cannot be deleted or altered. And it must be auditable, and readily available when asked for.

Well, the good news here is that the Clinical Content Store we have just built will let you work very effectively with that information, letting you easily retire, retrieve and in general, better manage inactive clinical application data and documents in a central, scalable, non-proprietary, compliant archive. Just some of the ways it does that is by a powerful, Web-based interface that enables search of data from decommissioned applications, even as far as cross-application searching via a single portal to view the information. Another feature is the way we can guarantee you a full audit, ensuring that the data is not tampered with and there is an unbroken ‘chain of custody’ from the point of data extraction to future usage.

All this capability means that we know the CCS can handle a big part of the admin load of the Trust. But that’s not all it can do, nor is it the only problem it was set up to tackle. Take another:

The data burden from your current, operational IT

You will also, of course, be running core, strategic systems that support the day-to-day running of your Trust – which tend to run on high-end servers, associated with high-cost storage platforms and which tend to be buttressed by expensive backup systems and configured for high availability and disaster recovery.

All of this costs – and as the volume of data being generated and managed by these systems grows, so does that cost. You will know that without effective management of such a stack, data application performance degrades, backups cannot be completed in available windows, additional software licences are required and upgrading applications becomes extremely difficult and time consuming. So you will have invested in archiving, 99% of which are point solutions addressing a particular system or data type – and whose use results in the creation of an increased number of information silos, which has just added to that legacy system and data problem we were just talking about.

What would be better? How about a unified archive platform, capable of ingesting and managing any type of data or content, structured or unstructured, on a low cost compliant infrastructure? A platform that also has a central archive that means your patients’ clinical data from legacy applications can be made available, so medical users have access to the information they need but admin people also have their needs met so as to serve the whole Trust’s business and compliance requirements. And what if that information can be shared using internationally recognized standards such as XDS?

If you had such a system, those legacy ones could be switched off, removing a huge chunk of support and maintenance costs. And as you retire old systems, you start to provide greater data availability for structured and unstructured data, as well as requiring less storage to accommodate the data. You can also stop paying unneeded application and database licenses and you will be able to reduce costs for backup, restore, and upgrades and cut down on all your data centre costs by removing solid servers that consume power, space and server support charges. The list goes on!

And that’s the list of what the Clinical Content Store can do. What’s better, we conservatively estimate that Trusts can bank on a data and storage bill of something like 60-70% less of what it would have been if you had kept it in your main operational system.

Putting all this together, it’s clear that the only real way to get on top of the data problem is to look for technology that works the way the CCS does.

Or even better, cut to the chase and use the proper Store itself!

We are currently offering a free consultative study to scope out the potential of CCS to meet your need, but be aware it is time-limited – so start talking to us today!

Please – take advantage of our seminar [https://www.synapps-solutions.com/events/addressing-the-twin-challenges-of-retiring-applications-while-increasing-access-to-patient-information] on Thursday 29th January at 12.30pm at the London Chamber of Commerce, EC4R 1AR, and find out more about the Clinical Content Store and how it can help you meet your EPR challenge.

 

Northampton General Hospital Chooses a SynApps Vendor Neutral Archive Content Store

Northampton General Hospital South Entrance_1.0Northampton is the latest English NHS Trust convinced that a Vendor Neutral Archive is an essential route to a full Electronic Patient Record

Maidenhead, UK – 26 November, 2014 – Content management leader SynApps Solutions has today announced that Northampton General Hospitalhas selected its VNA (Vendor Neutral Archive) solution to manage the repatriation of its PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) imaging library from National Programme for IT (NPfIT), systems.

SynApps will migrate the Trust’s image archive from the existing National Programme Accenture Agfa PACS platform by early 2015 to the SynApps Vendor Neutral Archive in order to bring the images back under the control of the Trust. This archive will be the long-term archive for the Trust and simplify and de-risk the subsequent move to a new PACS provider.

As the solution incorporates comprehensive XDS Repository/Registry cross-document sharing capabilities, clinicians will in the future be able to easily and safely share Patient Images, MRI and CT Scans etc. as well as other content, such as medical photography and reports with other healthcare organisations not just locally but potentially across the country.

Apart from saving cost and boosting efficiency by the move, the Trust sees the porting in-house of its patient image library as the first step towards using the VNA archive as part of its local, digital EPR (Electronic Patient Record) system. The solution will be the backbone for providing patients with the ability to view their patient record in line with the recently published ‘Five Year Forward View’ NHS England plan that calls for more use of local systems to help achieve a full paperless NHS by 2018.

“Our new SynApps on-site VNA has a zero-footprint viewer, which means clinicians (and ultimately patients) can look at images on any device, including tablets,” comments Christina Malcolmson, Deputy Director of ICT at Northampton.

“At the moment that’s just PACS images – but we will grow it and include other images and documents, so we can have a full EPR over time,” she confirms.

One of the core demands by Christina and her team for any new partner was deep exposure to the complexity of a successful Agfa PACS migration using IOCM protocols – something that SynApps and its partners have a convincing track record in: “Trusts are finding the repatriation of data challenging so it was reassuring for us that SynApps truly understood the technical challenges. SynApps is a good supplier to work with, as it understands both the technology and how to work with the NHS.”

“We are delighted to be helping Northampton General Hospital improve the availability of working with images and improve patient care through our VNA,” notes SynApps Solutions’ Managing Director, Jim Whitelaw.

“The project demonstrates what can be achieved quickly and cost effectively in PACS migration via a VNA approach whilst laying the ground work for a truly integrated patient record.”

About Northampton General Hospital

Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust provides general acute services for a population of 380,000 and hyper-acute stroke, vascular and renal services to 684,000 people living throughout whole of Northamptonshire.  The trust is also an accredited cancer centre, providing services to a wider population of 880,000 who live in Northamptonshire and parts of Buckinghamshire. For one highly specialist urological treatment they serve an even wider catchment.

About SynApps

SynApps is an independent services and solutions company specialising in Enterprise Content Management (ECM) technologies. Founded in 2003 by former Documentum services professionals, the company provides consultancy, implementation and support services for EMC Documentum, and has authored a suite of content integration solutions, ConXApps, that allow businesses to quickly maximise their investment in ECM technologies.

Organisations across healthcare, government and commercial markets rely on SynApps solutions and services to capture and share knowledge more dynamically and efficiently.

Find out more at synapps-solutions.com, or follow the firm on Twitter @Synappssol

 

Is the ward camera the enemy of an information sharing NHS? (Guest Post)

Mark Winstone, Sales and Marketing Director at SynApps Solutions, the content management solutions specialist, discusses how technology is dealing with a growing problem in the NHS: photography management.

Hospitals often need to take photographs of patients to record injuries or the progress of specific conditions, e.g. of injuries, severe rashes, a nasty bed sore and so on. Historically these images were taken and maintained by in-house photography teams with their own-on-site darkroom, but in the age of the digital camera such facilities are being wound down.

To read the full article, please visit Integrated Care Today: http://www.integratedcaretoday.com/2014/08/27/is-the-ward-camera-the-enemy-of-an-information-sharing-nhs-guest-post/

SynApps Creates a Content Capture and Retrieval Solution for Medical Imagery

UK tech SME partners with a major NHS England hospital to forge a medical photography capture and retrieval solution for the sector

Maidenhead, UK – August 27, 2014 –SynApps Solutions, the content management specialist, has today announced a new medical capture and retrieval solution to address the prevalence of unmanaged medical photographs in hospitals.

The innovative new solution also offers extensive and Backed up, Accessible/Searchable, Secure and Indexed photography functionality linked to a unified patient record to enhance patient care and minimise a Trust’s legal and financial risk.  The solution was created in partnership with a large NHS England Trust.

The medical care context

For patient safety and legal reasons, Trusts need to take external photographs of patients, e.g. bed sores, bruising, rashes. Prior to recent budget cuts there would have been a dedicated department responsible for the task.  However, these days, ward sisters use digital cameras but without a process and technology to support them.

As a result there is insufficient control or management of these images – some institutions will have the patient and hospital id included, but there is a wide gap in standard approaches. Meanwhile, such images are rarely backed up and there is no link to other hospitals and systems, while for videos of operations and medical procedures, there is a similar inconsistent approach across the sector. 

The ConXPhoto system from SynApps Solutions addresses these issues by using a wi-fi enabled memory card that captures the photo or video and downloads it on to a network drive so it’s adequately backed up. It then validates the clinical info associated with the media by performing a look up on the hospital admin system so that when it files in the VNA (Vendor Neutral Archive), the hospital and patient ID are accurate.

An interface to enter details is also provided in ConXPhoto, while thumbnails of photos and a lightbox for video is also available, allowing users to pick, index and save desired final images to the VNA.

ConXPhoto can work with any Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS).

“Until now, there really was no viable solution that would help address the proliferation of unmanaged photography produced by hospitals across the UK and therefore minimise the storage and administrative difficulties this is starting to create for the NHS,” commented Mark Winstone, Sales & Marketing Director at SynApps.

“We’re excited to introduce today our ConXPhoto software that completely automates this process – allowing hospitals to enhance patient care and improve governance at the same time,” Winstone added.

About SynApps

SynApps is an independent UK-headquartered services and solutions company specialising in Enterprise Content Management (ECM) technologies. Founded in 2003 by former Documentum services professionals, the company provides consultancy, implementation and support services for EMC Documentum, and has authored a suite of content integration solutions, ConXApps, that allow businesses to quickly maximise their investment in ECM technologies. Organisations across healthcare, government and commercial markets rely on SynApps solutions and services to capture and share knowledge more dynamically and efficiently.

Find out more at synapps-solutions.com, or follow the firm on Twitter @SynappsSol

 

SynApps Scales up Its Health Sector Team to Meet Strong VNA Demand from NHS England

UK tech SME building health IT market momentum with four NHS England hospitals turning to its Vendor Neutral Archive electronic patient record platform

Maidenhead, UK – July 16, 2014 –SynApps Solutions, the content management specialist, has today announced four major hospital Trusts have selected its VNA (Vendor Neutral Archive) solution as the basis of a new generation of EPR (Electronic Patient Records).

These NHS England customers are the latest of a growing roster of Trusts that see VNA, an emerging standards-based way of extending proprietary DICOM-based PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) imaging systems,  as key to meeting Department of Health demands to be ‘paperless’ by 2018.

This will be achieved, say the Trust’s IT leaders, by applying a content management approach to their VNA-based medical records to incorporate DICOM and other format content and make the sharing of medical data easier as well as making patient records available across any combination of service providers across the NHS and beyond. SynApps’ customers say VNA will be the basis of their own next-generation, low-cost EPR (Electronic Patient Records) digital health systems.

“We welcome these new customers, plus are delighted to be helping them get make the Secretary of State’s vision of a paperless, truly data-sharing NHS a reality,” said SynApps’ Sales & Marketing Director, Mark Winstone.

“We have been growing the SynApps health sector team to meet the strong VNA demand that is coming through and will continue to build resource to provide excellent service to NHS England CCIOs.font-size: medium;”

“What makes a VNA-based solution so powerful is that we know it works, we know it’s in place – and we know many NHS England Trusts already use a DICOM-oriented approach to share information.

“The interest and take up of the solution by UK Trusts is testament to the VNA approach’s huge potential.”

About SynApps

SynApps is an independent services and solutions company specialising in Enterprise Content Management (ECM) technologies. Founded in 2003 by former Documentum services professionals, the company provides consultancy, implementation and support services for EMC Documentum, and has authored a suite of content integration solutions, ConXApps, that allow businesses to quickly maximise their investment in ECM technologies.  Organisations across healthcare, government and commercial markets rely on SynApps solutions and services to capture and share knowledge more dynamically and efficiently.

Find out more at synapps-solutions.com, or follow the firm on Twitter @Synappssol

 

Catch up with the SynApps team at the NHS Supply Chain PACS Event – April 29th

The SynApps Healthcare team is joining the NHS Supply Chain at their event on 29 April at Doncaster Racecourse.  Designed for Trusts that have already placed short-term, tactical extensions to their PACS and RIS contracts, so they can find out about system innovations and meet suppliers with strategic solutions. 

To find out more and register for the event, click here

Liverpool’s James Norman to Present at the SynApps VNA Event

Maidenhead – Feb 17th, 2014 – SynApps has finalised the agenda for its VNA event on March 17th to be held at the Foresight Centre in Liverpool starting at 0930.

The event follows the very successful format delivered last year at the Kings Fund in London – The Journey from VNA Repatriation via EDM to Content Sharing (XDS)

The day begins with registration at 0930 and includes speakers such as Neil Taylor, James Norman from the Royal Liverpool, Mark Winstone and Rory Dennis from NHS Supply Chain.

James Norman, director of IT at Royal Liverpool will present his talk entitled ‘An EPR Odyssey & Collaborative Big Data Initiatives’ and will be followed by SynApps’s Mark Winstone speaking on ‘The Journey from VNA to Cross Document Sharing’.

The event ends with a complimentary lunch at 1:00pm.

Register to attend this free event today.  Email Gary.Britnell@synapps-solutions.co.uk