WORCESTERSHIRE ACUTE HOSPITALS NHS TRUST IMPLEMENTS NEW E-PRESCRIBING SOLUTION

NoemaLife’s Galileo e-prescribing solution set to enhance patient safety and control costs at Trust

London, 7^th November  2010...Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is implementing a new Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administrations (EPMA) solution to improve patient safety and help control costs. The Galileo EPMA from  NoemaLife , an expert provider of workflow automation and process management solutions for the health sector, will be fully integrated with the existing OneView ‘best of breed’ Patient Administration System provided by Oasis Medical Solutions, specialist in healthcare informatics solutions. 

Operating across three sites, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust provides hospital services to over 550,000 people and employs over 5000 staff.  Until now, prescribing at the Trust has been handled manually which involved complex processes and could be susceptible to human error.  Recognising the efficiency improvements that an EPMA system could bring, the Trust is implementing NoemaLife’s Galileo EPMA platform to replace the existing paper-based systems.  John Thornbury, director ICT at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust explains the choice:

“NoemaLife has a proven track record on e-prescribing in Italy and thanks to Oasis OneView, this same technology can be easily integrated into our existing systems and processes ensuring minimal upheaval for our medical teams.  Galileo’s flexibility will allow us to tailor the solution to meet our specific needs, for instance, implementing rules which will control different levels of medication that individuals can prescribe.  Ultimately the new system will improve patient safety by providing  greater control and efficiency over how medicines are prescribed.

Galileo will be rolled out across all of the Trust’s departments where it will enable multidisciplinary teams to prescribe, order and administer medicines to patients - providing an audit trail attributed to each individual professional and each individual drug. 

Any patient allergies or incompatibility between medications will be flagged, warning the user if they attempt to prescribe the drug.  Time prompts will automatically inform teams when dosages are due while comprehensive lists of patients and prescribed drugs will simplify administration rounds for nurses.  Full access to the electronic patient record and patient identification through barcodes will ensure that the right medications are given to the right patient, helping to reduce the risk of error.

Robyn Tolley, managing director, NoemaLife UK comments:

“In countries such as Italy, e-prescribing isn’t a ‘nice to have’, it’s already starting to make an impact on how early adopters of the technology are functioning on a daily basis. In the UK, now that the barriers of the NPfIT have been lifted, we’re seeing a new energy from progressive Trusts such as Worcestershire who recognise the positive impact that EPMA technology can bring to the organisation. This is the first contract for the Oasis and NoemaLife partnership and judging by the interest we’re seeing for e-prescribing, it certainly won’t be the last. “

Sharon Boyes-Schiller, managing director, Oasis Medical Solutions adds, “The days of hospital departments operating in isolation from each other are drawing to a close.  Trusts are increasingly realising that creating more cohesive teams not only enhances patient care through improved communication but can also positively impact the bottom line through more streamlined processes. E-prescribing is just one real-world example of how greater integration between teams and individuals can benefit patients, staff and budgets alike thanks togreater efficiencies, enhanced knowledge sharing and improved stock control.” 

Deployment of Galileo will commence in November 2011.