A new generation of advanced, but affordable, software from Ardentia has been welcomed by experts as smoothing the path to GP commissioning. The Activity Flow Analysis (AFA) patient workflow solution provides easy access to vital information about the availability and outcomes of services offered by healthcare providers. This will be essential as PCTs are abolished and the bulk of the hugely complex NHS commissioning process passes to brand new organisations. Many GPs and PCTs are concerned to do all they can to minimise the risk of disruption to services by preparing for the changeover as early as possible.
Gary Luke, Ardentia MD, said: "The government's plans to replace PCTs with GP consortia will take an enormous amount of work to implement. We are offering commissioners cutting-edge software, which will allow them to be sure that patients are getting the best treatment from the best provider. Having a system which provides all the information they need to make the right decisions, will make their lives much easier and bring peace of mind that they are providing a top quality service for patients."
Dr Marcus Griffiths, a GP from Newcastle-under-Lyme, agreed that access to high-quality technology of the kind supplied by Ardentia could be highly valuable. He said: "If GPs involved in commissioning had access to the type of information provided by AFA, then that would be a good thing."
AFA was developed last year but is undergoing further improvement through the introduction of Ardentia's Cassius Vision technology. This will make the system even quicker to use, while sharper graphics will mean even better and bolder presentation of on-screen information.
Ian Rogerson, formerly the chief executive of a Staffordshire PCT and now an independent consultant, believes that Ardentia's patient workflow solution is a key tool for the commissioners of today and the future. AFA was launched last year and has been under constant development to meet the rapidly changing situation in the NHS.
Rogerson commented: "One of the key features of AFA is it meets the needs of PCTs and GP consortia alike. It gives commissioners the ability to compare services and outcomes, in a variety of ways, so they can make fully-informed choices based on quality and value for money. AFA can help provide continuity during the changeover and will help smooth some areas of a transition that many fear could be highly challenging."
Benefits of AFA to commissioners include the ability to:
- get a clear picture of the volumes and types of patients for who you are commissioning
- compare providers, both locally and nationally, across a wide range of measures to evidence contract negotiations
- monitor non-attendance (DNAs) and understand the reasons in order to improve attendance rates
- ensure that GP referrals are in line with service level agreements.
AFA will also provide consortia with the data they need to negotiate good terms with providers.
About Ardentia
Since 1990, Ardentia has been providing world-class business intelligence solutions to healthcare organisations to support them in the delivery of high quality, clinically effective care to patients and health service users.
Ardentia specialises in helping healthcare organisations, using its business intelligence platform, to identify areas of clinical and financial under-performance, enabling them to reinvest resources to deliver a better, more cost effective service.
Ardentia is also responsible for the user interface of the Secondary Uses Service in England, to which all healthcare providers must submit data. This means that thousands of NHS employees make use of Ardentia's software each year, in addition to staff in the 80 plus NHS trusts that make-up its client base.
In use at all levels of the NHS, Ardentia's specialist capability delivers information to the right people at the right time, enabling decision making supported by the best available data - called 'Evidence Based Management' it is the foundation of everything the company delivers.
About AFA
For further information visit www.ardentia.co.uk.