Chris Skidmore, the MP for Kingswood and a member of the Health Select Committee, says that if used effectively, data collected by the NHS could drive forward medical research and innovation and lead to significant cost savings.

The debate over how patient data collected by the NHS could be best used, Skidmore asserts, is likely be a controversial one. He states however that this is essential as it reflects the real need for effective patient records which could help to transform the service.

Skidmore states that despite the NHS currently collecting a wide range of data, there is no real means of accessing or using it. This data it is thought could be used to the benefit of patients whose healthcare will depend on future advances in medical research and innovation.

Costly failures of large-scale projects such as the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) has left the NHS with distrust and uncertainty surrounding IT systems and the use of data. Skidmore instead urges NHS staff to focus on examples of where data has been used to effect and has ultimately lead to benefits for patients.

“We just lack the vision and ability to scale up what works within the NHS, precisely because there is no incentive to roll out and expand best practice” Skidmore said.

It appears that the climate of data sharing is beginning to change, with developments such as the Torbay Agreement, through which local trusts across Birmingham and Solihull agreed to share information, financial resources and clinical responsibility.

“In a world where people can carry out all of their banking and shopping online, the same could be true of healthcare. The NHS must embrace the Internet, to allow patients to access their medical records remotely, order prescriptions, make appointments and communicate with their doctor – all through a secure online system” Skidmore states.

What is required from the government is some basic guidelines around what is required of IT systems, and how different systems should interact. Skidmore states that IT contracts and data should not be managed by the government however, but driven from the ground up.

The pioneers of healthcare IT, Skidmore states, are in Denmark, where electronic health records have been in use for over a decade. Clinicians send and receive all information about laboratory test results, referrals and prescriptions electronically, and receive automatic notification if one of their patients registers in a hospital’s emergency department. It is estimated that over 90% of clinical communication between primary care providers and secondary care providers takes place electronically. A 2008 report calculated that electronic record keeping saved Denmark’s health system $120 million a year.

“This is how an efficient, joined-up system should work. It avoids reams of unnecessary paperwork.”

In this new age where productivity and quality are highly prized, electronic record keeping should appeal to the NHS. This year Kable, the public sector consultancy, forecast that software investment in the NHS would rise from £86 million in 2007/08 to £365m in 2013/14 – an annual growth rate of 27%. “In a changing landscape where technology is empowering patients across the globe, the future of the NHS, and the cost savings it can make, can be unlocked by technology”.

Original Source The Telegraph

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.