EMIS develops next generation of healthcare technology

The Leeds-based company is developing EMIS-X, new cloud-based software which links different healthcare teams and systems.

The company said the next generation software will upgrade and extend EMIS Web, the clinical system used by 56 per cent of GPs, to meet the current and future needs of customers and end users including patients, clinicians and the NHS.

EMIS-X, which is being led by group chief technology officer Pete Malcolm, will enable clinicians working in any location with any third-party technology to view and share patient information safely.

They will be able to view of key medical information across healthcare organisations using EMIS-X, partner products, other NHS systems and patients themselves, giving them insight into patients’ medical history.

EMIS-X claims it will improve the quality of care through embedded clinical intelligence and also save time spent trying to access records in disparate, unconnected systems.

The software’s ability to exchange information with other systems could make it easier for new providers with interesting technologies such as artificial intelligence to enter the NHS market.

EMIS group chief executive Andy Thorburn said: “We believe it is the blueprint for the future of connected healthcare in the UK. EMIS-X is massively scalable and provides unprecedented levels of protection for patient data, including strong encryption of sensitive data.

“It is designed as a portfolio of foundation services upon which clinical applications can be developed, both by EMIS Group and partners.”

He added: “We believe EMIS-X will help to hugely improve efficiency and patient safety, while providing dramatic cost savings to the NHS.

Other developments announced today include Intelligent Consulting, voice recognition technology currently being tested in EMIS-X, which uses artificial intelligence to make consultations more patient-friendly and save clinicians time.

It has also created EMIS Health analytics, a healthcare intelligence which gives users insight across a breadth of clinical and administrative indicators, including appointments capacity, and prescribing and referral patterns.