Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Trust Awards Strategic Health Informatics Contract to Kainos

Using Kainos Evolve EMR, the Acute Trust will digitise all live patient case notes, giving clinicians instant access to accurate, up-to-date case notes at the point of need, yielding on-going savings of £1 million a year.

Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Trust has become the latest major healthcare organisation to commit to a substantial records digitisation project with Kainos. The Trust, which awarded the 5-year contract in October will deploy Evolve® 3, Kainos’s next-generation electronic medical record (EMR) solution.

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust comprises a 600-bed large district General Hospital on the Countess of Chester Health Park, and a 64-bed Intermediate Care Service at Ellesmere Port Hospital. The Trust employs 3500 staff and provides a range of medical services to more than 445,000 patients each year from across Western Cheshire, Ellesmere Port, Neston and North Wales. Its medical records library contains half a million sets of case notes.

Initially, the Trust will draw on Kainos’s expertise in scanning to convert all live patient case notes into digitised form, before later developing the way Evolve will be used by clinicians to deliver more efficient and safer patient care in a user-friendly fashion that delivers real value and efficiencies to clinicians.

Describing the initiative as “one of the biggest projects the Trust is looking to implement over the next two years”, Rob Howorth, Assistant Director of Information Services at the Trust, said Kainos quickly emerged as the clear favourite in the European tender process which began in February 2011, an instinct that was confirmed following a detailed reference visit to one of Kainos’s established healthcare customers, the Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust.

“All of the staff across a range of disciplines have been tremendously impressed with the professionalism, dedication and enthusiasm shown by Kainos throughout the tender process, and now that we are a client,” Rob says.

The Trust’s aim is to embrace a ‘paper-light’ environment, achieving on-going savings of £1 million a year. Expected benefits include the elimination of manual collection and distribution of case notes by administrators, and the time savings and improvements to patient care made possible once clinicians have instant access to accurate, up-to-date case notes at the point of need, irrespective of who else may be viewing the documents at the same time. Says Rob, “Even though our access to patient records is already very good – typically within four hours of an emergency patient being admitted– in future this will be instantaneous.”

In a second phase of the project, the Trust will exploit Evolve’s workflow management capabilities, allowing clinicians to seek advice and refer patients, for example, with links to particular pages in their case notes. “Evolve’s flexibility is excellent,” Rob says. “With the eForms capability, our existing case notes won’t need to be a dead repository; we can turn them into live documents that we can search in detail, and add to over time. This will be of significant benefit to us.”

That Kainos is able to provide a comprehensive support service, from a full scanning service to consultancy and implementation of the Evolve software, was the final clincher to the deal. “We want to get this right first time, so it is great that we have also been able to buy Kainos’s expertise and experience in scanning,” Rob concludes. “I know that this is going to be a very successful partnership.”

FACTFILE:

Kainos is a technology company with particular expertise in three core markets - healthcare, financial services and public sector.

Evolve® is the flagship Electronic Medical Records (EMR) solution in Kainos’s comprehensive suite of healthcare solutions, which cost-effectively automate the creation, capture and handling of medical case notes and operational documents and records.

Evolve customers include the Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust, West Suffolk Hospital NHS Trust, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology NHS Foundation Trust, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust, For more information please visit www.kainos.com/evolve

Intellicig signs Electronic Cigarette deal with Costcutter

Intellicig, the leading Electronic Cigarette company, is continuing to consolidate its market share by forming yet another strategic retail partnership with Costcutter, one of the largest symbol groups in the UK.

With over 1,550 stores across the UK supporting independent retailers and providing a world-class service, Costcutter will make Intellicig Electronic Cigarettes even more readily available to smokers.

The Costcutter maxim of 'Fresh, Local, Value' is one that Intellicig easily subscribes to, being a UK company that has developed and manufactures their ECOpure eliquid in Bioscience Laboratories at Manchester University.

Costcutter stores will be offering Intellicig Rechargeable and Intellicig Disposable electronic cigarettes along with ECOpure Refill Capsules. The Intellicig is not only cheaper than traditional cigarettes; it is less harmful, which is a key factor in smokers making the transition to this realistic alternative.

Tony Sefton, Sales Manager at Intellicig, commented, “The Costcutter partnership represents another successful milestone on our development road map. We are expanding on many fronts, having already sealed UK partnerships with thousands of retailers and pharmacies, and Intellicig products are now widely available to retail customers. We spend a significant amount of time on meticulous planning and preparation so that we can provide retailers, and the end user, with the optimum experience in terms of quality and support.”

The Costcutter brand is a familiar sight in many towns across the UK and is synonymous with quality and value, making Intellicig an ideal product partner. As the cost of smoking increases and more smokers become conscious of the harm caused by cigarettes, this technological marvel, the Intellicig, represents the intelligent choice as it is less harmful and much more affordable. Smokers are now freeing themselves from the stigma of smoking and can indulge in their pleasure without causing harm to others and without creating the odours associated with burning tobacco.

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Software Europe saves NHS thousands

Software Europe's Expenses Health, already used by over 50 NHS clients, has been selected by six further NHS organisations to help save thousands.

Software Europe, the largest provider of online expenses management solutions to the NHS, is pleased to announce the acquisition of six new Expenses Health contracts.

Software Europe’s Expenses Health has already been selected by in excess of 50 NHS organisations with over 140,000 NHS professionals claiming their expenses online, totalling 1.1 million expenses claims per year. Detailed analysis demonstrates that implementing Expenses Health typically delivers Trusts with an average reduction in spend of 15-20%. Implementation and deployment can occur in as little as five weeks, giving a compelling return.

The online solutions provide a faster and more accurate service for employees, making former paper based processes redundant. It can be used to significantly improve compliance, eliminate errors and provide a cost-reducing and greener service.

One of the key features for expenses is the innovative mileage calculation system, to calculate the exact mileage travelled between postcodes, automatically deducting travel to and from home. The technology even allows for further reimbursement for carrying bulky items, and dependant on how many passengers are present, at each stage of the journey.

This quarter, Care Plus, NAViGO, NHS Nottingham County and City and NHS Berkshire and two other NHS organisations have recognised the innovative product as the appropriate choice to simplify their expenses management processes. The stability offered by Software Europe, who are continuing to see growth despite the uncertain economic climate faced by some businesses, is an influencing factor on these decisions. Software Europe is continually reinvesting into product development and recruitment.

James Thompson Business Development Manager, Software Europe commented that as NHS organisations are challenged to £20 Billion of efficiency savings by 2015, increasingly expenses automation is seen as a proven solution for Trust to realise their QIPP savings. The recent purchase of Expenses Health by new commissioning clusters; acute, community, mental health and social enterprises demonstrates the flexibility of the solution for all health service professionals and ease by which organisations can realise financial benefits.

FACRFILE:
• Software Europe is a well-regarded UK supplier of web-based employee expenses and contract management solutions. Since 1989 Software Europe has been delivering exceptional products and high quality service that strive to streamline business processes and reduce spend.
• Expenses Health is a secure, online solution that provides a simple policy compliance process for employees to submit, authorise, reimburse and audit employee business expenses. With an extensive list of benefits Expenses Health includes mileage calculations, self-registration, duty of care management, carbon emission reporting and eForms to automate approval processes such as holiday requests. It is also tailored to suit the NHS with a bi-directional ESR interface.

Please visit their website for further information http://www.nhsexpenses.co.uk/

Asbestos Claims Litigation Yielding Larger Jury Awards in US Courts

Danziger & De Llano, a leading Houston law firm specialising in asbestos-related liability cases, reports 2011 saw a continuation of a decade-long trend toward fewer cases nationwide but higher individual jury awards.

And Houston is broadly in line with these national trends, says Danziger & De Llano partner Paul Danziger.

"As more companies bring their work site operations into full compliance with asbestos safety laws there has been a dividend in lives saved," notes Danziger. "Sadly, though, there are also fewer victims of past asbestos abuse who survive each passing year." Danziger adds that courts have been more successful in reducing the backlog of asbestos cases in recent years.

The figures on asbestos related liability cases compare the years 2001 and 2011.

According to Danziger, whose law practice handles cases from across the entire nation, while the total number of cases in the nation's courts have fallen by roughly twenty percent in that period--today's jury awards are up to two times greater than those of 2001.

"More public awareness of lax past safety practices in industry, along with legislation which better safeguards worker rights, have helped juries arrive at damage awards which are much more appropriate," he notes. "Part of the dynamic helping push jury awards up is the greater availability of public information on asbestos dangers."

Danziger's own law firm sponsors www.Mesocare.org, a public service website with links to resources available to families affected by mesothelioma.

US-based organisation sponsors "paid for organ donation" poll

The FAIR Foundation, a USE-based non-profit organisation that is working to reverse America’s organ donor crisis, is sponsoring an online poll to determine if citizens, as a living donor or a deceased donor family, would accept $50,000 to be an organ donor.

FAIR’s President and CEO, Dr. Richard Darling states, “Our country is experiencing an organ-donor crisis. What crisis? A transplant patient dies, on average, every 58 minutes waiting of the ‘Gift of Life’ because our government relies primarily on just one organ-donor policy—altruism.”

Statistics from the federally mandated non-profit that oversees organ transplant in the USA, UNOS, and the United States Renal Database show there are almost 113,000 patients on the waiting list today and another 317,000 patients are undergoing difficult 3-hour kidney dialysis treatments three times a week but they are not even on the transplant list yet.

Darling, “The waiting list for kidneys in some states is 8-10 years—a death sentence.”

The FAIR Foundation believes that if the American government incentivised organ donation with $50,000 the waiting list would be eliminated within five years.

Darling clarifies, “The payment to organ donors could be in cash, mortgage loan payments to avoid foreclosure, contributions to a child’s college education, to one’s retirement funds, an IRS tax credit or payment for funeral expenses for one’s deceased loved one.

Additionally under this policy a living kidney donor would also be reimbursed for medical expenses, lost wages and if the donor’s remaining kidney ever failed the donor would be moved to the top of the waiting list.

Would this cost taxpayers a dime?

Darling answers, “No, Medicare would pay the $50,000 and it would be a very cost- effective policy for taxpayers. According to the second largest provider of kidney dialysis, Davita, it costs the federal Medicare program $50,000 more to keep a patient on dialysis than to have them transplanted.

Darling continues, “Amazingly, the government-controlled non-profits that retrieve organs and tissues from deceased donors receive millions in revenue from selling those tissues as do many other for-profit companies that are expected to gross over $200 million by 2012 from donated tissues. Some of their employees receive over $450,000 in total compensation yet the deceased donor’s family that has donated the tissues or a living donor gets no compensation. This is immoral and grossly unfair.”

Can one buy an organ from your neighbour?

Darling responds, “No, under this policy of financially incentivising organ donation citizens cannot buy an organ from a neighbor or anyone except from the US Government."

But payment for organs is presently prohibited by law.

Darling responds, “Statistics provided by UNOS show that when that 1984 law was passed there was no waiting list and when it was initiated in 1989 the list was only 19,095. With the list now approaching 113,000 patients and 18 of those dying every day, past moralizing is no longer justifiable – we must shift the focus towards saving more lives.”

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