Joined-up thinking

The argument that interoperability, or ‘joined-up thinking’, is essential to ensure a healthy future for the primary care systems market is one that many readers will be familiar with.

This feature, sponsored by EMIS, takes the debate a step further by arguing that interoperability is also vital to providing the very best patient care.

Without it, argues EMIS Healthcare Managing Director Sean Riddell, patients living in different parts of the UK risk becoming victims of a ‘postcode lottery’ of care, with their treatment potentially compromised because different IT systems can’t, or won’t, talk to each other.

The feature presents practical examples of interoperability in action and concludes with a compelling challenge to other healthcare systems providers.

Interoperability improves patient care Patient care will be compromised without a full commitment to interoperability from all healthcare systems providers, argues EMIS Healthcare Managing Director Sean Riddell. Case study: Linking A&E and primary care Interoperability is at the heart of a pioneering new project to manage accident and emergency admissions at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. EMIS and Adastra join forces to improve OOH care Two of the UK’s leading clinical systems suppliers have joined forces for a groundbreaking interoperability project to improve the continuity of out of hours (OOH) patient care.