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EPR systems

With apprehension rife in the NHS during these times of extreme market change, it is understandable that, although procurement decisions are still hard ones to make, healthcare organisations are seeking to move away from the constraints of the NPfIT and deploy EPR systems that best fit their business.

However, with a variety of highly-effective EPR software solutions available across the market, it is essential that consideration is given to those systems that already have a strong and established reputation if they are to see a clear ROI from their deployment decision.

For the 70% of hospitals claiming to have no mature electronic records system in place, alternative EPR systems can deliver multiple functions and are already successfully proving that they can fulfill hospital requirements outside of the NPfIT. The opportunity to deploy the next generation of EPR solution – incorporating functionality to manage data from a variety of specialties and create a central repository for timely and visible patient care data management, together with portal functionality that connects patients to their clinical team and provides secure access to patients’ medical history, education and care advice – is too good to miss.

What’s more, delivered by a reputable specialist provider who knows the intricacies of the constantly-evolving NHS and who appreciates the security protocols of handling patients’ data across the N3 network, adhering to strict data privacy and security values, a SaaS EPR system is a truly realistic deliverable in today’s healthcare market and in fact already fully operational within some Trusts. SaaS can provide all the advantages of browser-based applications without the high cost of investment in servers, nor the implementation and configuration of on-premise software – a cost-saving the budget-constrained NHS finance teams will be thankful for indeed!

John Sanderson is managing director of Hicom