INPS wants Vision 360 to be GP system

INPS is to seek NHS Connecting for Health accreditation for its Vision 360 data hub as a GP system.

The GP systems supplier has been developing Vision 360 for some years and it is already in use as a data repository. It is used or will be used for information sharing in Scotland, Wales and several English health communities.

Max Brighton, INPS managing director, told EHI Primary Care that the eventual aim was to seek CfH accreditation for Vision 360 as a GP system.

Fellow GP system supplier EMIS is currently undergoing accreditation for its next generation system, EMIS Web.

INPS has already gone through a round of requirements for Vision 360 and built Registration Links and Personal Demographics Service functionality for the system, which uses SNOMED coding.

However, Brighton predicted that the system would not undergo accreditation until 2011-12. He also said Vision 3, the system currently used by the company’s 2,314 GP practices, would continue to comply with new functionality requirements.

Vision 360 is being used in NHS Tayside, Scotland, as the foundation of its clinical portal. This will gather data for sharing from GP practices and hospital systems.

It is also being used in Wales to deliver the Individual Health Record in areas with INPS practices. About 30% of practices in Scotland and just over 50% of practices in Wales use Vision 3, along with 1,635 practices in England and 117 practices in Northern Ireland.

The company last week announced plans to implement an interoperability gateway in a joint venture with EMIS.

In an interview with EHI Primary Care, Brighton said he was optimistic that the current economic squeeze would be good news for IT suppliers like INPS, if the focus of NHS switched from replacing systems to making better use of the ones it has.

The full interview is available in opinion and analysis.