IMS Maxims has launched new software to support early diagnosis and care of patients with dementia.
CEO Shane Tickell said the aim was to help trusts with the increasing demands and costs of dementia care and ensure patients received the most appropriate treatment.
“The misdiagnosis and delayed or incorrect treatment of long term conditions such as dementia is placing a huge strain on our NHS, with dementia estimated to cost our society in excess of £19 billion per year,” he said.
The dementia system has been developed in line with the Department of Health’s Commissioning for Quality Innovation payment framework, which incentivises the identification of patients with dementia as well as prompting appropriate referral and follows up.
The software creates a dementia record for each patient who meets certain criteria and clinical users follow a simple work-list within the software to complete the process and guide them towards the most appropriate care payway.
Itcan be tailored to its user and can be integrated with almost any system, the company said in a statement.
IMS Maxims hopes the software will assist in identifying other causes and diagnosis of cognitive impairment and that it will lead to reduced lengths of stay, improved efficiency of discharges, fewer readmissions and inter-ward transfers.
“Our aim is to help trusts capture data as easily and effectively as possible to improve the identification and quality of care of dementia patients and receive the correct payments for doing so,” said Tickell.
According to DH statistics, just 42% of people with dementia in England have a formal diagnosis and an estimated 670 000 people are affected by dementia. The figure is expected to double over the next 30 years.