Trusts Miss Pseudonymisation Target

Debbie Williams

Blog, Friday 29th April 2011

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An article on E-Health Insider reports that fewer than half of NHS Trusts have succeeded in pseudonymising patient records under the Department of Health’s Pseudonymisation Implementation Project (PIP).

The government had set targets for all NHS Trusts to improve patient data security by the end of March 2011, but only 186 out of 396 acute, mental health, ambulance and primary care trusts have reported successful pseudonymisation under the scheme.

Ardentia’s Pseudonymisation solution provides the software that automatically pseudonymises patient data, complying with all confidentiality requirements as stated by the NHS Code of Practice.

The solution generates pseudonyms to remove key identifiers that may associate a treatment pathway with a particular individual. Pseudonymised data can then be used legally for secondary business use including research, teaching, auditing, and management activities, without compromising patient confidentiality.

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Will NHS Reforms Affect Patient Care?

Debbie Williams

Blog, Thursday 28th April 2011

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The BBC has reported about how a group of influential MPs have questioned the planned shake-up of the NHS, warning that it could compromise patient care.

The Public Accounts Committee has said that implementing significant changes while seeking £20bn in efficiency savings may damage front-line services.

Committee chairman Margaret Hodge said: “The Department of Health acknowledged the risks associated with this radical shake-up of the NHS.

“Whilst the reforms could complement the imperative of achieving £20bn efficiency gains by 2014/15, the reorganisation might also distract those responsible for making the savings while safeguarding standards of patient care.”

Ardentia’s solutions are developed with patient care in mind, providing NHS managers with the tools needed to identify where improvements can be made to enhance care delivery and improve patient experience.

To find out more about our solutions click here.

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Hospital Waiting Times Still Major Concern

Debbie Williams

Blog, Wednesday 27th April 2011

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An article in the Daily Mail has reported on the growing concern for hospital waiting times, which have hit their highest levels in three years.

According to a report by The King’s Fund, 15 percent of hospital in-patients waited over 18 weeks for treatment in February this year. This could be due in part to the financial pressures on the NHS, as it strives to meet government targets and save £20billion in productivity improvements by 2015.

Chief economist John Appleby said: “With hospital waiting times rising, the NHS faces a considerable challenge in maintaining performance as the financial squeeze begins to bite.”

David Flory, deputy chief executive of the NHS added: “Despite continued good performance, the NHS is still facing pressure from growing demand. This particular snapshot shows that the NHS must maintain its focus on waiting times and improving patient outcomes.”

IArdentia’s Pathway Manager for RTT allows Trusts to effectively manage referral to treatment times by highlighting patients who are likely to breach locally defined targets.

It can be supported by Service Line Reporting, which enables clinicians and managers to evaluate Trust performance, revealing areas in most need of attention including departments that may need more resources to ensure continuity of care.

You can read the Daily Mail article here

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NHS to Cut Ineffective Procedures?

Debbie Williams

Blog, Monday 18th April 2011

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The Audit Commission has published a report claiming that the NHS could save significant sums of money by carrying out fewer ineffective procedures.

According to the report, reducing spending on treatments that work less well could save up to £500m a year.

A separate report by The King’s Fund has also revealed that there are still unjustified variations in treatment between areas. Surgery rates for cataract replacement varied by 300% between some PCTs.

The government claims it will work with experts to help identify which ineffective procedures the NHS should no longer fund.

Business intelligence solutions like Ardentia’s Activity Flow Analytics provide managers with the tools needed to monitor referral flows and readmission rates. This allows Trusts to identify ineffective procedures and enables them to find ways to improve the situation and enhance patient experience.

Read the full article on the BBC.

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Cut waste, Not Care

Debbie Williams

Blog, Thursday 14th April 2011

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A recent investigative Channel 4 documentary has made allegations of poor patient care against a leading NHS Trust in its Dispatches series.

The Trust in question was also criticised for low staffing levels. It recently announced that a significant number of jobs might be lost in an attempt to generate cost savings.

The situation highlights the tremendous pressure that all hospital staff – from management to frontline – are under to meet targets, and the impact this can have on care delivery. This emphasises the need for all trusts to have an accurate insight into what is happening in hospitals to ensure efficiencies are realised through cutting waste, rather than quality of care.

You can read the article on the BBC here.

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Hospitals Under Pressure As More Operations Are Cancelled

Debbie Williams

Blog, Monday 11th April 2011

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A recent article in The Independent suggests that a ‘funding crisis’ is threatening care throughout the UK, as treatment is rationed and more operations are being cancelled.

The cancellation of emergency operations in England has risen by a quarter in just 7 months; reaching a total of almost 250 cancellations, the article claims.

Adding to the pressure is the Health Secretary – Andrew Lansley – with his plans for ‘radical reforms’ and a demand for £20bn in efficiency savings.

According to a 2010 NHS Confederation study, operating theatres are often under-utilised with an average of just 34 hours scheduled per theatre per week, suggesting resources could be more effectively used.

With rising cancellation figures, hospitals will need to be more transparent and account for these cancelled sessions, as well as working to improve the situation.

Ardentia’s Theatres reporting module enables NHS Trusts to monitor operating theatre utilisation. The solution is built on Ardentia’s HealthWare performance management solution, which is easy to implement and saves resource time through its enhanced, user-definable reporting, helping managers optimise theatre management and patient care.

Find out more about Ardentia’s Theatres reporting module here.

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Mid Yorkshire Gets Business Intelligence From Ardentia

Debbie Williams

Blog, Monday 4th April 2011

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The story about Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust’s deployment of a complete business intelligence solution from Ardentia has been published by The Guardian.

The Trust’s Ardentia solution provides the tools needed to monitor business performance and the delivery of patient care. By having a central source of clinical data, clinicians and managers can make more informed decisions to further improve healthcare provision and optimise financial management.

To find out more read the full article here.

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Ardentia Exhibits at HC2011

Debbie Williams

Blog, Monday 4th April 2011

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Next week we will be showcasing our advanced range of business intelligence solutions at HC2011, the UK’s largest event for health and social care informaticians, ICT professionals and clinicians.

The three-day conference and exhibition is designed to engage all those working in health informatics and social care, with a range of events and opportunities.

The exhibition runs from 5 –7 April at the ICC in Birmingham – come and visit us at stand 12 to find out more about our latest BI solutions.

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NHS Trusts Need Better Performance Data, According to GPs

Debbie Williams

Blog, Wednesday 30th March 2011

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A recent article on E-Health Insider has reported on the growing criticism from GPs about the lack of data NHS Trusts are able to provide on their performance.

A BMA survey of almost 4,000 GPs and consultants found that more than two thirds of doctors (68%) said their trusts were unable to generate sufficient data relevant to their performance.

Reasons given for the lack of data included information being generated at departmental level rather than at personal level, difficulty getting outcomes data and poor quality data.

However, with the new GP commissioning regime being introduced, Trust’s are likely to be under greater pressure to demonstrate that they are performing well and operating on a firm financial footing.

Business intelligence solutions like those from Ardentia can support Trusts as they enter a new competitive healthcare environment. By providing the tools needed to analyse data, right down to patient-level, Trusts will have the evidence required to prove to GPs that they can deliver a service both efficiently – ensuring patient satisfaction – and within budget.

You can read the full article here.

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Ardentia Introduces Updated Patient Level Costing Solution

Debbie Williams

Blog, Wednesday 23rd March 2011

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Ardentia has introduced an updated version of its Patient Level Costing solution (PLC), which gives NHS Trusts greater financial visibility at patient level and helps them to drive out inefficiencies and improve patient experience.

The updated PLC solution is able to unify existing and future reports into a single administration screen for greater flexibility and ease of use. The new Administrators Dashboard makes administration of the system easier, and also gives users the ability to create and enhance administrative reporting to reflect their own site-specific analytics.

Patient Level Costing allows clinicians and financial staff to drill down to individual patient level and analyse the exact costs incurred for each treatment, helping to drive out inefficiencies, deliver improvements and generate savings.

You can read the full article on Hospital Information Technology Europe.

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