CSC highlights benefits of ‘horizontal integration’

Local service provider Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) has opened up the possibility of integrating healthcare systems across education and social services.

CSC’s director of primary care Leigh Donoghue told a conference organised by primary care software TPP (The Phoenix Partnership) that CSC saw the potential to be gained from integrating health systems with local authority systems.

Last year CSC became LSP (Local Service Provider) for the North-east and Eastern regions when Accenture dropped out of its two LSP contracts in the National Programme for IT.

As part of the process CSC took over Accenture’s contracts with TPP as its alternative primary care system supplier. CSC, which was already LSP for the North West and West Midlands cluster, also announced in January that it would be offering TPP’s SystmOne products in NWWM.

Donoghue told the TPP conference last week that CSC recognised the “enormous power” that could be achieved from horizontal integration.

He added: “One of the great strengths of SystmOne is the horizontal integration it supports.”

He suggested that greater gains for patient care might be made from developing links with education and social service than the current vertical integration with secondary care.

Donoghue added: “Often what could transform patient care is to build out in a horizontal direction.”

CSC also took over Accenture contracts with Liquid Logic to offer e-Single Assessment Process (SAP) solutions in the North East and Eastern clusters.

Donoghue told the conference: “We also see some advantages in building out SystmOne into SAP.”