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InterSystems HealthShare’s patient project is a success

InterSystems Corporation today announced that the first stage of the Swedish National Patient Summary project (known as the NPÖ) – the Swedish national health record – was successfully deployed on 4 May. 

The project is designed to facilitate the creation of an electronic health record (EHR) and is a vital part of the programme to implement the National IT Strategy for the healthcare and welfare sector in Sweden. The aim is to improve patient security and quality of care by delivering the solution nationwide in stages.

It took just over a year from the contract award to establish the legal context, patient consent and the IT infrastructure for the service, and to connect the first healthcare region – Örebro County Council and the Municipality of Örebro. A key factor to the project’s rapid success has been the prime contractor Tieto’s decision to use InterSystems HealthShare™ as the health information exchange software platform.

The Swedish Healthcare Advisory Organisation selected Tieto in 2008 to deliver the development, implementation and hosting of the  NPÖ. This is the first national EHR for Sweden, and is one of the first of its kind in the world. Tieto chose InterSystems HealthShare for its proven reliability, scalability and ease of connectivity to existing healthcare systems.

The first phase of the solution across Örebro will extend to 500 users, including doctors, nurses, occupational therapists and staff at two private nursing homes. The solution gives authorised care staff access to critical patient information at any time and at any place. Equipped with a clearer overall picture of the patient, the care provider can make better-informed decisions regarding diagnoses, treatment and follow-up.

“We are delighted that the first stage of NPÖ is completed,” said Ulrika Landström, NPÖ Project Manager at Örebro.  “Sweden is leading the way in terms of integrated healthcare records. The NPÖ, supported by Tieto and InterSystems, allows County Councils to exchange patient information.”

HealthShare is a comprehensive product specifically designed to aggregate and share clinical data across multiple organisations. It creates a summary view of a patient’s medical record on a regional or national basis. This project implements the EN13606 patient record international industry standard, and includes the ability to transform records from the myriad of local formats to the central standard, making it easy for any existing system to connect to the National Patient Summary.

“We are proud to be part of this project,” said Mats Sandström, InterSystems’ country manager, Nordic. “The fact that it is being deployed as planned is a testament to the commitment of all involved. We now look forward to supporting the rest of the 20 County Councils and nearly 290 Municipalities in Sweden, to gain seamless connection to the NPÖ. It is also the objective for 2009 to connect Östergötland to the service and to prepare three other County Councils for connection. At present Sörmland, Blekinge, Uppsala, Västra Götaland and Stockholm have all expressed interest.”

InterSystems

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