Northern Ireland has extended its iSoft contracts for long-term support and maintenance services of its health information systems in nine of its major acute hospitals.
Under the €9.8m (£8.4m) agreement with the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, iSoft will continue to provide services until 2015 for its Clinicom patient management system to all nine of the major acute hospitals that currently use the software.
The nine acute care hospitals are: Altnagelvin, Antrim, Belfast City, Causeway, Craigavon, Daisy Hill, Mater, Royal Group, Ulster.
As part of the contract iSoft has also agreed to support its primary care solution, a mix of iSoft Synergy and iSoft Premiere, already used in 68 GP practices for an additional three years.
The new contracts, which extend contracts first signed in 2005, will also provide the option of allowing one of the hospitals to progress to iSoft’s Lorenzo product by the end of 2015. None of the hospitals has yet taken up the option.
All nine hospitals will be able to add a range of software modules, including bed management and ordering of pathology tests online, as a result of the installation of the latest version of Clinicom.
Hospitals will be able to switch to the new software after a separate project to update computer hardware to HP’s latest server technology.
A breakdown of the contracts shows that €8.1 (£6.95m) is for support and maintenance including the option to extend the primary care contract for a year, €1.2m (£998,000) in licence fees and €508,000 (£435,000) for services.
Managing director of iSoft UK and Ireland, Adrian Stevens, said that the win provides further evidence that a smooth transition to Lorenzo technology can be offered at a low cost.
“ISoft is the linchpin in Northern Ireland’s healthcare technology system and a critical component in the delivery of care to all of the country’s 1.7 million people. The software upgrade enables the hospitals to explore options that were previously unavailable to increase efficiency, reduce time and costs, and improve the quality of care,” he said.
Stevens added: “Northern Ireland is an important market for iSoft and these contracts put us in prime position to broaden our presence, offer additional services and collaborate in the highly innovative healthcare projects currently being considered,” he added.
Links