Patients and clinicians in Lincolnshire will soon experience the benefits of an integrated care record through InterSystems HealthShare®. Delivered on the world's leading health informatics platform, the system will allow multiple health and care providers to securely share essential patient information - improving patient outcomes as a result. Effective data sharing is a key factor in improving health outcomes, and is integral to helping LHAC achieve a more "joined-up" service for the circa 730,000 people who make Lincolnshire their home.

LHAC brings together 13 health and social care organisations in the county, including CCGs, acute trusts, and the local authority. Together they have a collective vision for improving local health and care services, achieving better health outcomes, and securing a more sustainable financial position. The key partners in the system are working together to realise the connected future as set out by NHS England's Chief Executive Simon Stevens in his "Five Year Forward View".

HealthShare brings this possibility to life, empowering clinicians and offering the opportunity to access life-saving information region-wide. The end-to-end system will allow clinicians across Lincolnshire to view a shared patient care record, with important health details like current prescriptions, medical history, and details of current and past illnesses.

Currently it can take hours to share this information among organisations. With HealthShare, an A&E consultant, for instance, will be able to access a patient’s clinical records in seconds.

The organisation has secured £1 million in funding to bring the system to life and believes it could help cut down on unnecessary imaging and lab tests, saving up to £4 million per year.

LHAC has been working since 2013 to develop the local health and social care service. The partnership with InterSystems will enable the programme to share patient information safely and securely, empowering clinicians to make the best choices. Improving the flow of data and sharing medical records across the system were key desires for clinicians and the 15,000 members of the public who were involved in the comprehensive engagements programme.

Built with patient safety in mind, the new system will include an online portal that will allow all patients to view all their personal health information across multiple care providers, access test results, and see information about their medications. In time, they will also be able to share their records with friends, family and care givers - putting patients in control of their own care.

Gary James, Accountable Officer at East Lincolnshire CCG, said: "All Lincolnshire Health and Care organisations have joined forces to develop the portal, which will allow care professionals, with the patient's permission, to see all the information relevant to that patient's care. This will improve the quality and safety of care and will also save staff time by providing fingertip access to the information they need to manage that patient's care."

The introduction of HealthShare is the first phase of a long-term partnership with LHAC to help them realise their ambitions. In addition to the shared care record, health providers in Lincolnshire will also benefit from InterSystems' Patient Index software, a shared information system that will help providers identify each patient, and its Spine Mini Services, connecting users to the NHS Data Spine.

Mark Palmer, Country Manager at InterSystems, said, "We are proud to be working in partnership with Lincolnshire Health and Care to support the transformation of the local healthcare system. It's clear having the best information results in the best treatment. The HealthShare platform puts the clinician in control, providing all aspects of patient information that they need, when they need it.

"LHAC shares our view that the secure and seamless transfer of data between providers is essential in supporting a healthcare system that delivers for patients and their families," he added.

Related news articles:

• InterSystems' Profile

About LHAC
Lincolnshire Health and Care is an initiative to design better ways of providing essential health and social care services in the county. Currently health and care services are not working together as effectively as they could and with a growing and ageing population, the current approach will not be sustainable in the long run. Lincolnshire Health and Care will provide residents with access to safe and good quality services, closer to home and avoid, where possible, a lengthy hospital stay.

About InterSystems
InterSystems provides the information engines that power some of the world’s most important applications. In healthcare, finance, government, and other sectors where lives and livelihoods are at stake, InterSystems has been a strategic technology provider since 1978. InterSystems is a privately held company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA), with offices worldwide, and its software products are used daily by millions of people in more than 100 countries.