CEO praised for strong leadership as company leaves court protection

Dublin, Ireland – 19th November 2011 – Leading healthcare IT supplier IMS MAXIMS has announced a major new investor, laying the foundations for future growth. Thomas Anderson, who has taken full ownership of the company, and CEO Shane Tickell, have now outlined their ambitions to build IMS MAXIMS into a substantial force in international healthcare IT.

Mr Anderson is best known for being the principal of the Empire Cinema Group. He also has a keen interest in both the IT and healthcare industries and this acquisition allows him to combine these.

Mr Anderson said: “IMS MAXIMS has proven software which enables clinicians in the UK and Ireland to deliver the best possible healthcare services to millions of patients.

“I have a passionate belief in Irish business and am convinced that IMS MAXIMS has the products, the vision, and the leadership to make a truly significant contribution to improving healthcare in Ireland, the UK, Europe and beyond. I look forward to working with Shane and his team in the years ahead and to IMS MAXIMS going from strength to strength.”

The news was announced at a hearing of the High Court in Dublin during which the company was declared to be financially sound and was released from a form of temporary protection, known as Examinership. IMS MAXIMS, which is headquartered in Dublin, was accepted into Examinership in August after its former parent company ran into difficulties. This provided the opportunity to find an investor to recapitalise and ensure the growth of the business.

Shane Tickell said: “Thanks to this new investment we are better placed than ever for growth and success. It’s excellent news for IMS MAXIMS and its customers that we have secured the backing of someone with Thomas Anderson’s business skills and commitment to Irish enterprise. He has a clear appreciation of the quality of our existing products and of the excellence of our R&D, which will allow us to expand by offering new advanced software solutions to clients in the public and independent sectors, at home and overseas.

“We conducted business as usual throughout the Examinership, which demonstrates the high levels of confidence our customers have in IMS MAXIMS and its products. In the last few weeks we have even announced a new series of options which give customers even more choice over how they access our clinical and administrative software. In the coming months we will make further announcements, underlining that this is a vibrant and energetic business with a huge amount to offer the world of healthcare.”

Mr Anderson’s investment will provide IMS MAXIMS with the necessary resources for further product improvements and reduced delivery times. The company will now be able to develop its medium and long-term strategy to expand its portfolio of products and services and establish a global presence.

Follow IMS MAXIMS www.twitter.com/imsmaxims

About IMS MAXIMS
IMS MAXIMS is the company behind the widely-used MAXIMS clinical PAS. It is a specialist in developing clinical and administrative software solutions and currently supports more than 150 organisations, 1.9 million patient records in Ireland and 8 million patient records in the UK, as well as 10,000 users of IMS MAXIMS products.

To find out more about IMS MAXIMS and its products visit http://www.imsmaxims.com/, email enquiries@imsmaxims.com or call +44 1908 588800.

About the MAXIMS clinical PAS
MAXIMS gives clinicians the applications they need to provide the best possible patient care, and allows provider organisations to manage their patient administration with ease and efficiency. Rival products often tend to be administrative systems with clinical software added on. MAXIMS is equally focused on the needs of clinicians and provider organisations – which we believe is the way to guarantee the best patient outcomes with optimum efficiency.

MAXIMS is at the heart of the clinical and administrative life of everything from large UK and Irish hospitals, to small specialist independent clinics. It gives patient data to clinicians in exactly the format they need, and allows it to be shared with colleagues and updated in real-time. MAXIMS suits any clinical specialism and is excellent for order communications and reporting. Medical and administrative records can be kept fully up to date, with the minimum of effort. MAXIMS is web-based so there is no need to install software on computers or invest in expensive extra hardware.

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Phone: +44 (0) 1877 339922
Mobile: +44 (0) 7971 166936
Email: susanv@highland-marketing.com

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Dublin, Ireland – 5^th December 2011 – Brenda Courtney, a former nurse and Fellow with the HRB Centre for Primary Care Research with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, received the IMS MAXIMS sponsored prize for delivering the best paper at the Healthcare Informatics Society of Ireland (HISI) annual conference and scientific symposium. Her paper ‘An investigation into the use of HL7 clinical document architecture as a standard for discharge summaries in Ireland’ proves how straightforward changes toIreland’s healthcare IT could significantly improve patient safety across the country.

The research highlighted the current disparate nature of computer systems used by many hospitals and primary care providers. It details how the lack of semantic interoperability prevents the sharing of information electronically, including electronic discharge summaries, resulting in primary care staff having to copy data across to their own computer systems. The paper’s findings have therefore focused on showing how GPs could have immediate access to an accurate electronic record explaining the condition, care and medication of any of their patients who are discharged from hospital.

Brenda Courtneysaid: “Research has shown that medication transcription errors can result in a significant risk to patient safety, a practice which occurs in GP practices. This problem can be solved through the introduction of a national set of standards to ensure that computer systems in the primary and acute sectors can share and interpret information electronically.

“This would enable GPs to instantly share accurate information on discharged patients, including what they have been prescribed and why. This is particularly important for patients with multimorbidity who require a range of medication. National standards for electronic document exchange would radically improve patient safety and save a great deal of time on administration.”

Years spent working in Irish hospitals means that Brenda looks at IT from the perspective of the clinician, and what they need to best-serve patients.

“As a nurse I learned to deal with things in very practical ways. I don’t think about IT in terms of what’s cool, but in terms of what is going to work for the users. And that’s why it is so important that hospitals and GPs can share patient records as easily as possible,” she said.

Brenda Courtney’s paper was drawn from the research for her master’s degree at Trinity College Dublin. It recommends thatIrelandadopts the internationally-recognised HL7 v3.0 Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) standard for exchanging electronic discharge summaries inIreland. At present many organisations are using the earlier HL7 v2.0 standard.

“The approach I am recommending is similar to what happens in other countries. It’s tried and tested, easy to implement. It wouldn’t involve major changes to our computer network, but would have a very positive effect,” said Courtney.

As a leading Irish healthcare IT company IMS MAXIMS is dedicated to encouraging fresh ideas which can achieve practical benefits for patients and clinicians.

Shane Tickell, IMS MAXIMS CEO, said: “Brenda’s paper was very well received, and excellently researched. It reflects her deep interest in using IT to bring practical benefits for patients, and those working on the frontline of care. We are absolutely committed to encouraging new thinking on the way ahead for healthcare providers and this award is valuable because it encourages vigorous debate.”

The HISI conference was held on the 16th and 17th of November in the Stillorgan Park Hotel,Dublin. It featured a variety of prominent speakers from the Irish andUKhealthcare and IT sectors. Conference papers were delivered on a multitude of subjects showing how IT can improve health services.

Editor’s notes

About Brenda Courtney
A former nurse, Brenda Courtney was a specialist in paediatric and general nursing. She first became involved with computer projects while working as a theatre nurse at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin. A newfound fascination with IT resulted in her going to study computer applications in DCU where she qualified in 2001 with a first class honours degree. 

About HISI
The Healthcare Informatics Society of Ireland exists to:

• develop and disseminate knowledge of the use of informatics in healthcare
• promote research and education in healthcare informatics
• participate internationally with bodies of similar interests.

The HISI annual conference is recognised for providing a significant contribution to the development and understanding of information and its associated technologies in the delivery of healthcare. It is the focal point for those interested in healthcare informatics in Irelandto network with their peers and learn about the latest developments in healthcare ICT. To find out more visit www.hisi.ie/

About IMS MAXIMS
IMS MAXIMS is the company behind the widely-used MAXIMS clinical PAS. It is a specialist in developing clinical and administrative software solutions and currently supports more than 150 organisations, 1.9 million patient records in Irelandand 8 million patient records in the UK, as well as 10,000 users of IMS MAXIMS products. To find out more about IMS MAXIMS and its products visit www.imsmaxims.com, email enquiries@imsmaxims.com or call +44 1908 588800. 

About the MAXIMS clinical PAS
MAXIMS gives clinicians the applications they need to provide the best possible patient care, and allows provider organisations to manage their patient administration with ease and efficiency. Rival products often tend to be administrative systems with clinical software added on. MAXIMS is equally focused on the needs of clinicians and provider organisations – which we believe is the way to guarantee the best patient outcomes with optimum efficiency.

MAXIMS is at the heart of the clinical and administrative life of everything from large UKand Irish hospitals, to small specialist independent clinics. It gives patient data to clinicians in exactly the format they need, and allows it to be shared with colleagues and updated in real-time. MAXIMS suits any clinical specialism and is excellent for order communications and reporting. Medical and administrative records can be kept fully up to date, with the minimum of effort. MAXIMS is web-based so there is no need to install software on computers or invest in expensive extra hardware.

MAXIMS versatility
IMS MAXIMS’ offers a range of solutions catering for many needs. Among them is the eDischarge solution used by clients such as the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT). This electronically provides GPs with summary details of the patient’s condition, their treatment while in hospital, their discharge medication and any future care plan as soon as they are discharged.

Media Contacts
Susan Venables, HighlandMarketing
Phone: +44 (0) 1877 339922
Mobile: +44 (0) 7971 166936
susanv@highland-marketing.com

London, UK – 23^rd November 2011 – A new report calls on the Department of Health to strengthen its efforts to encourage data sharing in the NHS. Paul Cooper, IMS MAXIMS Head of Research, co-authored ‘We Should Talk: Interoperability and the NHS’, on behalf of Intellect, the trade association representing the UK’s IT, electronics and telecoms industries. The document scrutinises the effectiveness of the Interoperability Toolkit (ITK) – a set of standards and frameworks designed to help the NHS across England to connect IT systems with one another.

The report praises much about the ITK, especially its recognition that the greatest benefits can be achieved at a local level, and that some interoperability is better than none. It goes on to recommend that far more needs to be done to engage suppliers and says a major drive is needed to persuade many people within the NHS that interoperability is vital to the success of their organisations.

Paul Cooper said: “There is a huge problem in the NHS because many of the IT systems cannot talk to each other. This means that staff often can’t get access to the information they need. Clinicians can only do the best for patients if they have all the relevant information about their conditions, and hospitals can only deliver efficient services if they have the data to identify bottlenecks in their systems or areas of waste.

“An efficient healthcare system, which delivers the best for patients and makes effective use of resources, can only exist if data can be shared within and between organisations. The good news is that these problems can be overcome and that everyone within the healthcare IT sector accepts that interoperability is the way forward. But too many people in the NHS still see interoperability as a technical matter rather than something which allows them to do their jobs better.

“The ITK initiative must do more to persuade everyone from medical and nursing directors, to FDs and CEOs that this is a mission critical issue. Suppliers provide what trusts ask for, and interoperability will only get to the top of the agenda if it’s central to what the customer demands.”

The report also calls for closer and more productive links to be established between the DH, the NHS, Intellect and its members. For the ITK to be a success, it argues, there must be productive and collaborative engagement with suppliers.

We Should Talk: Interoperability and the NHS, was written by Paul Cooper of IMS MAXIMS and Martin Whittaker of the Touchstone Consultancy, both of whom are members of the Intellect Healthcare Council. It was published in September 2011 and can be downloaded at http://www.intellectuk.org/component/docman/doc_download/5564-we-should-talk-interoperability-and-the-nhs-sept-2011.

About IMS MAXIMS
IMS MAXIMS is the company behind the widely-used MAXIMS clinical PAS. It is a specialist in developing clinical and administrative software solutions and currently supports more than 100 organisations and 10,000 users of IMS MAXIMS products.

To find out more about IMS MAXIMS and its products visit www.imsmaxims.com, email enquiries@imsmaxims.com or call +44 1908 588800.

About the MAXIMS clinical PAS
MAXIMS gives clinicians the applications they need to provide the best possible patient care, and allows provider organisations to manage their patient administration with ease and efficiency. Rival products often tend to be administrative systems with clinical software added on. MAXIMS is equally focused on the needs of clinicians and provider organisations – which we believe is the way to guarantee the best patient outcomes with optimum efficiency.

Media Contacts
Susan Venables, Highland Marketing
Phone: +44 (0) 1877 339922
Mobile: +44 (0) 7971 166936
susanv@highland-marketing.com.

Clinical Solutions whole-heartedly supports the CCIO campaign. As a trusted provider of clinical decision support and clinical content products for healthcare professionals, we believe that it is imperative for senior clinicians to engage and lead health informatics projects and programmes.

Placing a clinician at board level in every Trust is a logical step; they have the expertise to understand the tools and systems needed to place the patient at the centre of care.  We are all aware of the barriers some technology projects have encountered over the years; placing a CCIO at the heart of every project will provide the leadership needed to steer these projects in the right direction.

University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust (UHSM) has taken advantage of Sunquest’s ICE™ OpenNet module to enable patient clinical data to be shared between hospitals, helping to ensure the continuation of safe, timely and effective antenatal care when consolidating maternity services.

Centralising services has become a financial necessity throughout the NHS, and inpatient maternity services at Manchester’s Trafford Hospital have now been relocated to the nearby Wythenshawe Hospital. To minimise the impact of this change on patients, community midwives still provide outpatient antenatal services at Trafford Hospital, requiring an advanced electronic patient record solution that allows staff to access the relevant laboratory test results, ultrasound scans and X-rays at either location. Nigel Martin, pathology laboratory IT manager at UHSM, explained: “When establishing this new service it was vital that midwives and doctors had access to all the necessary patient information whether the patient was attending Trafford Hospital or Wythenshawe Hospital. We were already using Sunquest’s ICE at both sites, as well as in local GPs’ surgeries, and so the ICE OpenNet module perfectly matched our needs.”

ICE OpenNet enables multiple trusts to share vital patient reports and test results quickly and securely, allowing healthcare professionals to spend more time with patients and avoid costly and unnecessary repeat testing. The seamless integration offered by ICE OpenNet makes it very straightforward to use, and this further enhances the patient experience according to midwife Helen Davies: “ICE OpenNet is very easy from the user’s perspective, and patients are not even aware of it. You simply click on the OpenNet icon within the already familiar ICE software to view all of a patient’s records from other sites within the network, helping to speed up patient care and improve the experience for expectant mothers.”

For more information, please contact:

Sunquest Information Systems (Europe) Limited
4, 4A & 6 Octagon Business Park
Hospital Road, Little Plumstead
Norwich, NR13 5FH
Contact: + 44 (0) 845 519 4010 Fax: +44 (0) 845 519 4030
icesales@sunquestinfo.com www.sunquestinfo.com

About Sunquest Information Systems

Sunquest Information Systems, Inc.delivers market leading diagnostic information technology and outreach solutions designed and implemented to fulfill the business objectives of today’s healthcare leaders. Headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, the company has offices in Raleigh, North Carolina; Norwich, United Kingdom; and Bangalore, India. Sunquest serves the global marketplace with reliable technology required for mission critical applications. These solutions provide the foundation to optimize the healthcare experience, deliver safe, effective, and timely patient care, expand community reach, and transform the delivery of healthcare with predictive and personalised medicine.

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has successfully implemented Sunquest ICE™ software for electronic test requesting and reporting for its pathology and radiology services. Karen Truswell, Business Change Manager at Nottinghamshire Health Informatics Service, explained: “The opening of the new state-of-the-art outpatient facility at King’s Mill hospital provided the ideal opportunity to introduce a paperless requesting and reporting system. ICE was initially piloted in the outpatient facility, and then rolled out to include inpatient and emergency departments and GP practices in the area. It has proved easy to use and has allowed us to standardise the way we work, reducing errors.”

“The input of global clinical details means that pathology and radiology now receive the same information, providing them with a more complete record of why a request has been made, and all samples are bar coded when the request is initiated, so there is no longer any need to write labels or to decipher handwritten requests. A major benefit for GPs is the ability to view previous requests and download results to the practice system, avoiding test duplication.”  Karen concluded: “We chose ICE because it was a well established product that we could tailor to our requirements, and feedback has been very positive. In addition to benefitting clinicians it has reduced administration processes, with associated time and cost savings.”

For more information, please contact:

Sunquest Information Systems (Europe) Limited
4, 4A & 6 Octagon Business Park
Hospital Road, Little Plumstead
Norwich, NR13 5FH
Contact: + 44 (0) 845 519 4010   Fax: +44 (0) 845 519 4030
icesales@sunquestinfo.com                    www.sunquestinfo.com

About Sunquest Information Systems

Sunquest Information Systems, Inc.delivers market leading diagnostic information technology and outreach solutions designed and implemented to fulfill the business objectives of today’s healthcare leaders. Headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, the company has offices in Raleigh, North Carolina; Norwich, United Kingdom; and Bangalore, India. Sunquest serves the global marketplace with reliable technology required for mission critical applications. These solutions provide the foundation to optimize the healthcare experience, deliver safe, effective, and timely patient care, expand community reach, and transform the delivery of healthcare with predictive and personalised medicine.

Pathology services at Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are taking advantage of Sunquest’s Integrated Clinical Environment (ICE™) software for electronic requesting and reporting in both primary and secondary care settings, helping to improve patient care while streamlining the laboratory’s workflow. Lesley Adams, Pathology IT and Systems Manager for the Trust, explained: “We originally looked into electronic requesting and reporting for pathology following Lord Carter’s report, and worked with several other trusts within our Strategic Health Authority to identify the best solution for our needs. The flexibility of ICE – together with the Company’s support network and technical expertise – made Sunquest an obvious choice, and we set up a pilot programme at several local GP surgeries to further develop the system for their needs.”

“ICE Requesting and ICE Reporting are very intuitive, and this ease of use meant that one of the test sites went live within a week of installation, and we were able to roll out ICE across all our primary care sites very quickly based on the positive experience of these pilot practices. Over 95 % of all our pathology requesting from GPs is now done electronically, and we have also introduced ICE electronic requesting and reporting on our hospital wards. This allows both GPs and ward staff to view all the pathology test results for a patient, regardless of who requested them, helping to eliminate duplicate testing. The use of individually tailored, mandatory data fields for each test has also helped to guide doctors in requesting the most appropriate test for each patient, as well as improving the quality and flow of data. At the moment we are only scratching the surface of what can be achieved with ICE, and would like to extend this approach into other areas such as radiology, where GPs can already view radiology reports in ICE.” 

For more information, please contact:

Sunquest Information Systems (Europe) Limited
4, 4A & 6 Octagon Business Park
Hospital Road, Little Plumstead
Norwich, NR13 5FH
Contact: + 44 (0) 845 519 4010        Fax: +44 (0) 845 519 4030
icesales@sunquestinfo.com            www.sunquestinfo.com

About Sunquest Information Systems

Sunquest Information Systems, Inc.delivers market leading diagnostic information technology and outreach solutions designed and implemented to fulfill the business objectives of today’s healthcare leaders. Headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, the company has offices in Raleigh, North Carolina; Norwich, United Kingdom; and Bangalore, India. Sunquest serves the global marketplace with reliable technology required for mission critical applications. These solutions provide the foundation to optimize the healthcare experience, deliver safe, effective, and timely patient care, expand community reach, and transform the delivery of healthcare with predictive and personalised medicine.