Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICS sign shared care deal with Orion

The Integrated Care System in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has agreed an eight-year contract with Orion Health to develop a shared care record.

The move will mean health and care specialists in the region will have access to a single view of patient’s full medical and care records, helping them to deliver more efficient, coordinated health services.

The shared care record will be accessed by eight health and care organisations, along with all of the GP practices. The integrated record will mean patients no longer to repeat information to different health settings, as all the information will be centrally accessible as information will be collated from data feeds from the IT systems used by health and social care providers.

Andrew Raynes, director of digital and chief information officer at The Royal Papworth NHS Foundation Trust and chair of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICS (Integrated Care System) Digital Enabling Group, said: “We have had really good engagement with our community across hospital, mental health, and community trusts, along with primary and social care, to help us take this project forward.

“A shared care record helps to join up services and saves time for both patients and health care staff. It’s been a cornerstone for us as a system and we’re delighted to be moving ahead with the next step in creating something that best serves our patients across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.”

The decision to choose Orion Health centred around its commitment to using national standards to collect and structure information. Using Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) and other standards makes it easier to share information between the multiple IT systems used by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough in a safe and approved way.

Brian Murray, southern sales director for Orion Health, added: “The ICS will be adopting the very latest version of the Orion Health portal, which comes with a new user interface that adjusts automatically to screen size, and new dashboards that make it easier for users to get quickly to the information that they need.

“It meets the core requirement for a shared care record and, more importantly, it lays a firm foundation for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s ambitions, which include population health management and a citizen portal / personal health record.”

The first phase of the contract will go live in spring 2022, with a second phase due to follow later that year. The trust will be following in the footsteps of a Derbyshire ICS. Joined Up Care Derbyshire signed a 10-year deal with Orion to include a shared health record earlier this year.