News
Trafford hospitals integrate IT systems with Ensemble
21 July 2010
Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust is set to connect its clinical IT
systems via a new integration hub based on InterSystems Ensemble.
Trafford Healthcare were using an old version of a proprietary
interface engine, without a back-up or test platform. This meant the
Trust could not easily test and launch new interfaces.
Consequently, existing interfaces were difficult to maintain,
and any new ones had to be written with the support of third parties.
This had a direct impact on the efficiency of sharing patient and
management information, and the cost of delivering care.
Ensemble was selected for this key task because of its ability to
support both the HL7 interoperability standard and a variety of
integration interface types.
Other important capabilities were the ease with which new interfaces
and business activity monitoring (BAM) Dashboards are built and
maintained. Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust also appreciated Ensemble’s
inherent scalability that enables it to process large numbers of
messages reliably.
Once developed, the new hub will provide the Trust with a
configuration management environment to support their quality management
process with three environments: live, back-up and test. InterSystems’
management will assist with skills transfer to the Trust’s in-house team
for the development of interface messages into a wide variety of
formats.
Stephen Parsons, Information Management & Technology Project Manager
at the Trust, said: “Ensemble is now the cornerstone of the Trust’s IT
strategy; it’s far more resilient than anything we had previously. Its
flexibility to work in a number of different environments means that we
can test new links without interfering with working of the hospital in
any way, making it much easier and cheaper than in the past.
"InterSystems’ training of our in house teams, coupled with
Ensemble’s simplicity were also major factors in our decision. But what
really reassured us, was knowing that Ensemble is already used in over
40 UK hospital trusts, and we were able to see it in action at the
nearby Bolton Hospital.”
Nick Hanson, Healthcare Manager at InterSystems said: “Choosing
Ensemble will help the Trust to improve its admission, discharge and
transfer (ADT) processes and will seamlessly join information across the
hospital’s existing systems. Ensemble will enable the Trust to
consolidate its electronic patient records to improve patient care
through real time clinical decision support.”
Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust runs the hospital services in Trafford,
a borough in the west of Greater Manchester, as well as providing home
community healthcare. Ensemble will link all hospital systems directly
with the Trust’s composite patient record, making it fundamental to the
functionality of the organisation’s healthcare IT. Trafford Healthcare
NHS Trust plan to go live with Ensemble at the start of August 2010.
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