iSoft launches electronic prescribing software in UKThe
NPfIT software supplier says that several NHS trusts are ready to be early adopters of its e-prescribing and medication administration software (EPMA)
Smart Healthcare, Monday 2 August 2010 11.41 BST
iSoft, which is headquartered in Australia, has adapted its EPMA software from a version already used in a number of hospitals in Australia and New Zealand.
The web-based software offers drug formulary and a decision support rules engine, which aims to stop drugs being wrongly prescribed. iSoft said the software is designed to streamline processes such as discharge, to reduce re-admission rates and to cut costs. The company has worked with database provider First Databank on the software.
Adrian Stevens, UK and Ireland managing director of iSoft, said that the firm aims to deliver the best EPMA software on the market. "This is also very timely following the recent publication of the UK government's white paper, Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS, which highlights the importance of improving healthcare outcomes and patient safety," he added.
The move into electronic prescribing follows the installation of an accident and emergency system at Dartford's Darent Valley hospital last month as part of a 2009 deal with Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust. iSoft's system replaced Ascribe's Symphony product, which had been present for 10 years.
Both the EPMA launch and the Dartford go live appear to be part of iSoft's strategy to diversify from its work for the National Programme for IT (NPfIT). Under current plans, its Lorenzo suite of software will be installed at many trusts in the north and midlands of England under NPfIT if the programme survives in its present form. In an interview with SmartHealthcare.com on 15 March 2010, Adrian Stevens said the firm is developing services for consumers, and said that NPfIT represented only a fraction of the firm's UK business
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