East of England trust picks RiO

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust has bought CSE Healthcare Systems’ electronic patient record system, RiO, at a cost of just over £1.8m.

The trust, which provides services to 750,000 people, went out to tender in August 2011 for an EPR that would provide a single clinical record by replacing the three separate patient administration systems currently in use.

The trust decided to leave the National Programme for IT in the NHS following analysis of its “strategic objectives.” It would have been due to get Lorenzo from local service provider CSC.

But RiO has become a much-used system in the mental health sector because of its widespread deployment in London and the South, where LSP BT chose it as a ‘strategic’ system.

Jane Berezynskyj, programme manager for the trust, told eHealth Insider that one of the motivations for implementing the system was that “staff wanted more contact time with patients and less time feeding the corporate beast.”

“We worked with clinicians throughout this process. I have had three consultant-level clinicians directly involved, but there has been a whole host of other people helping us to deliver our benefits specification.

“We had 1,000 requirements that we identified and then we noted 12 key benefits and grouped them. The system will make sure that patients only have to tell us once about themselves. It will also provide clinicians with the right information at the right time and at the right point of care.”

The contract between the two organisations will run for six years, with the possibility of a two year extension. The trust employs 2,500 staff working as part of 150 multi-disciplinary teams across 75 sites.

The August tender notice described Cambridge and Peterborough as wanting to procure an information system that would provide it with functionality in four key areas: an EPR, document management, full intra and inter-organisational interoperability, and remote/mobile working solutions.

The trust’s services currently revolve around four systems. ISoft’s IPM is the trust’s primary system, PC-MIS is used by the ‘improving access to psychological therapies’ team, while children’s community services in the north of its area accessTPP’s SystmOne. The trust has also developed its own clinical document library.

Berezynskyj said the trust would like RiO to perform as “one clinical record” but that it wouldn’t immediately replace SystmOne in the children’s community services. A decision on that implementation is likely to take place next year.

“We have chosen to phase in the system, as it is important that we look at it from a number of different perspectives and we want to ensure we succeed and learn from the first implementation.

“After talking with staff and suppliers we are keen to manage the impact on the organisation, reducing the operational disruption that occurs when you install a new system and have to train staff.”

In a statement, Cambridge and Peterborough chief executive, Dr Attila Vegh, said the “awarding of the contract for the RiO electronic patient record is excellent news for the trust.”

“It will be a key enabler in helping us not only have the information systems that underpin clinical practice in other mental health trusts , but it also will facilitate [the trust] becoming the leading healthcare organisation that we want to be. The successful rollout of RiO is vital to the future of our organisation.”

The managing director of CSE Healthcare, Sue Hawkswell, told eHealth Insider that the company was delighted with the deal and that the price of the contract was “consistent” with similar deployments.

“There was a long detailed consultation period with Cambridgeshire. We are delighted that after going through that period, telling them how we could help them, the trust has decided that it will choose us to help,” she said.

Hawkswell added that the company’s Oceano PAS would be hitting the market “later this year.” The first implementation of RiO at the trust will occur in December. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough hopes to complete the roll-out of the system by September 2013.