Emis casts Web into South

Emis has won two Southern contracts for Emis Web, as the refresh of the mental health and community market triggered by the approaching end of national contracts starts to gather pace.

North Somerset Community Partnership and Sirona Care and Health in South Gloucestershire, both community interest companies, have procured Emis Web to replace their RiO systems from CSE Healthcare.

Community and mental health trusts and organisations in London and the South are using the ‘2015 Consortium’ framework to procure a replacement for their current EPRs, which were deployed as part of the National Programme for IT.

Nine suppliers are on the framework to supply EPRs, hosting and clinical portals to the trusts, which need to replace their systems before their national contracts expire in October 2015.

The contracts for the two providers cover more than 50 services including dementia care, district nursing, health visiting, a community hospital and two minor injury units.

They will have secure two-way data sharing between about 750 community staff and 52 local GP practices, giving them access to real-time patient information with consent, as well as remote access via the Emis Mobile solution.

Emis Web will also provide electronic records for a rapid response team in South Gloucestershire, while helping district nurses and therapists in North Somerset to develop electronic rehabilitation and wound care plans for patients in partnership with GPs.

Nick Danks, North Somerset’s director of finance and business development, and project lead for the community interest company, told EHI the organisation chose Emis from the framework because of its strong integration support.

Danks said all GP practices in the area are set to upgrade or move to Emis Web by the end of the 2014-15 year, while the CIC is also planning to integrate with social care providers in the area that Liquidlogic and Northgate AIS.

Danks said the Emis Mobile solution was also a significant factor in the CIC’s decision, as it will provide clinicians with offline working capability and remote access to records.

North Somerset has started testing the data migration, with plans to roll out Emis Web to its first three services by the end of October and complete the implementation by October 2015.

Richard Tarring, Sirona’s commercial director, told EHI that Emis Web will allow the CIC to integrate with GP practices in South Gloucestershire and move towards more joined-up care.

“We’re all talking about integrated care and treating people in the community instead of hospitals…so it’s not only the fact that we thought [Emis] was the best system, it works all round.”

Martin Bell, director of community, children’s and mental health at Emis, told EHI the contracts have special significance as the company looks to pick up wins from RiO trusts moving off their NPfIT contracts.

“To win contracts from that framework as it [RiO] is re-procured is very important. We’re hopeful of victories from the framework – it’s not very often you get 30 contracts up for grabs.”

Bell said Emis is also planning to target trusts in the North, Midlands and East of England exiting their contracts with CSC’s Lorenzo.

“It provides us with a platform to move into these areas – we do have a good footprint in the North West already, but we can build and generate a lot of interest across the country.”

He said Emis Web’s strong market share in primary care allows it to promote its joined-up care approach to community providers, while it also works on its integration support with other suppliers.

 “Obviously it’s highly beneficial for us, where we have a very strong GP base, to be able to overlay the community system… and where we’ve got such a strong footprint in the GP area already, our ability to offer up joined-up data sharing across different care settings is a great benefit.”