Northern Ireland pens deal with First DataBank for clinical decision tool

Health and Social Care Northern Ireland (HSCNI) have penned a deal with First DataBank to supply a clinical decision support solution.

First DataBank’s Multilex solution will support HSCNI’s encompass initiative – which aims to introduce a digital integrated care record across Northern Ireland.

The solution provides clinical decision support and alerts at the point of prescribing. It also supports evidence-based prescribing through essential checks to support clinicians.

Gary Loughran, director of encompass at HSCNI, said: “Improving patient safety and supporting our prescribing professionals with clinical decision support are key objectives of encompass and I am delighted to be working with FDB [First DataBank] to deliver this for our population and health care professionals across Northern Ireland.”

The partnership between HSCNI and First DataBank is part of Northern Ireland’s £275million deal with US firm Epic to implement an electronic patient record (EPR) across the whole country. This covers acute, mental health and social care services in the province, though primary care systems are not covered by the deal.

Epic will supply integrated electronic records to the five Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland plus the ambulance trust, that deliver both health and care services, and serve a population of 1.9million.

As part of the contract, Multilex will be embedded to support the Epic electronic prescribing system and will help reduce the risk of prescribing errors.

Darren Nichols, managing director at First DataBank, added “We are delighted to be working with HSCNI and Epic on this exciting project, and are thrilled to deliver the clinical efficiency and patient safety benefits of Multilex to Northern Ireland.”