 |
The government of the Aragon region of Spain has signed an agreement worth a total of €3m with IBM and Ibermática to upgrade the back-office and business systems of its regional health system.
The project will see the Aragonese health system move from the current situation in which every hospital and medical centre has a different system . Under the deal hospitals and clinics move to a common system provided by SAP, providing them with finance and business systems.
IBM and Ibermática will jointly manage the roll-out of the SAP system and the improvement and streamlining of these processes.
In addition the SAP software will be used to streamline recruitment, purchasing, supply and logistics operations in the hospitals and health centers in Aragon. The outcome should be more efficient management of these functions with improved service and care for residents of the region.
The two-year project includes centralised services, all eight health sectors, the medical emergency services and other parts of the Aragon Health Service.
Javier Bonilla, healthcare industry leader, IBM Global Business Services, Spain, told E-Health Europe: “With this project Aragon will have just one solution based on SAP. The expansion will start in one of the health areas and then it will be a roll out for the different hospitals, health centers and their different areas.”
Bonilla added: “Once the project is completed, every health centre and health-related organization in the region will use the same technology and uniform procedures. This will enable communication and quick transfer of information between centres, reduce administrative tasks and make the day-to-day work of health practitioners easier. It will mean better managed, more efficient centres, providing a higher quality health service.”
IBM says the move to standard technology will enable the government of Aragon to streamline procedures in supply, investment and services, with logistics management in real time in every centre, access to information under a single structure permitting joint or individual data analysis.
The health service will have access to greater management information with a significant reduction in superfluous tasks, enabling practitioners to devote themselves to more patient-centric tasks.
IBM says the project is another step by the government of Aragon towards implementing e-government in the region.
Links
Ibermática (Spanish only)
The Government of Aragon (Spanish)