Wye Valley goes live with IMS Maxims EPR
- 2 August 2017
Wye Valley NHS Trust has gone live with IMS Maxims electronic patient record (EPR), despite several delays.
The trust implemented the open-source clinical system on 31 July, more than four months after its deployment date (26 March), replacing its acute and community patient administration systems (PAS) and theatre system.
The deployment included migrating more than 18 million records from old acute and community PAS on the final weekend. IMS Maxims will now handle more than 2,000 patient records a day.
āThe first days have been very encouraging, which is a testament to the hard work and dedication of programme team and the wider trust”, said Mark Francis, EPR programme director at the trust.
“As expected and as with any system implementation there have been issues but we have a robust process to manage and resolve them and an engaged organisation and suppliers all of whom are keen to put in the work to make this programme a success.ā
The whole project has taken more than 18 months of planning.
Wye Valley, one of the smallest hospitals in the country,Ā was scheduled to go live with the EPR on 17 July but was further delayed asĀ the board felt the additional fortnight “would be beneficial to the implementation in terms of technical and organisational readiness” – according to a trust spokesman.
TheĀ trustās 7 July board papers said the programme āremains on targetā for the 17 July, but āthere is still much work to doā.
This included ensuring 500 remaining members of staff confirmed their booking for training, and continued Ā configuration and testing of the system.
However, the report in this paper had an added note saying āthis report will become out of dateā by the time of meeting and an addendum will be added to reflect the current state of play.Ā The trust has not supplied this addendum.
The trustās March board papers said the go-live was being delayed from 26 March to 17 July due to parts of the technology not being developed and tested in time. This wasĀ āto allow additional clinical functionality to be developedā, a trust spokesman told Digital Health News at the time.
In August 2015, Digital Health News reported that the five-year project was worth Ā£15 million, including supplier costs and infrastructure upgrades.
The trust was the second one in the country to choose IMS Maxims software in the country.
In the trustās July board papers, it said Ā£320,000 was spent on the EPR project out of a total of Ā£415,000 capital spend.
The trust intends to expand IMS Maxims over the next two years, with order communications and additional clinical functionality.
āThis is an important step forward for the trust and one we have been planning for some time”,Ā Howard Oddy, director of finance and information at the trust said.
āA great deal of effort has gone into making sure the launch was successful and we look forward to reaping the benefits of the new system in the coming weeks, months and years.ā
Wye Valley has also been nominated as a global digital exemplar fast follower trust, by fellow IMS Maxims trust, Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.
Shane Tickell, chief executive of IMS Maxims, said he was “delighted” to support the trust.
“There is a growing sense of confidence on site as staff familiarise themselves with the software, with the support of our implementation team.”
The trust is based in Hereford, and is one of the smallest rural district general hospitals in England.
02/08/17 – This story was updated to include comments from the trust and supplier
8 Comments
So pretty much the same functionality as implemented in Taunton. Are there any sites using any OpenMaxins EPR functionality?
Hi CliniTech, Dave,
The article has been amended to address the inaccuracy relating to the reference to Ā£15 million. It is the total value of the project rather than the deal with IMS MAXIMS, as previously stated.
Hi Dave,
Ā£3m a year is more than even the big thoroughly tested and proven systems cost. Without having to get the client to develop the content for them. It just seems very very expensive.
Ā£3m a year for a PAS system that was delayed because it hadn’t even been developed/tested for one of the smallest Trusts in the UK…. Just let that sink in
At the risk of sounding argumentative (and just to add, I have no vested interest here), what’s your point?
Is it a PAS or an EPR that is live – headline says EPR, detail seems to say PAS?
Hi John – the go live inlcudes the replacement of two patient administration systems but the Trust is deploying the IMS MAXIMS EPR.
What a fantastic achievement of dedication and hard work by a wonderful team of people who have made the future brighter for so many.Congratulations and Thanks.
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