CSAM's view of eHealth

Healthcare innovation

Innovation depends on the use of information across hospital and sector borders to reshape the healthcare delivery infrastructure. This will require interoperability within and across organisations and innovation based on intelligent information services.

This can only be achieved by liberating information from within legacy systems, allowing it to be reused across all departmental functions.

Organisational solutions

The production of departmental information is the key driver. Existing solutions and requirements are not the solution for the challenges of tomorrow. Instead solutions and implementation practice need to be adaptable for the new and evolving demands in the future. Innovation will arise from the opportunities offered by the ability to reuse information in new (and possibly unanticipated) contexts.

To achieve this, IT systems will need to change and adapt as the demands made from them evolve. Every systems withing an organization is part of an ‘IT eco-system’. The health of that system will depend, as it does with biological ecosystems, on its capacity for change in response to new pressures. This is best achieved through a multiple vendor approach (widening the ‘gene pool’) allowing 'best of breed' systems to work together and prosper. Integration and reusability are the key words.

CSAM Plexus

CSAM’s solutions have been developed specifically for this approach. By connecting and integrating all legacy systems through Plexus Brainware, organisations can achieve seamless integration of all legacy systems. Additionally using Plexus Portal provides users with a context-sensitive means of making the wealth of information available through one view.

The development of the Plexus clinical portal was the result of the vision to be able to collect and present all relevant information to the healthcare provider, the single individual, at the point of care. It delivers:  

• The architecture and solution to support a multi-vendor and multi-application environment.
• Support for a single user interface.
• A coherent presentation of information from many sources.
• The ability to alter the information to fit into the context in which it is used.
• A patient-centred information flow across all departments.
• Leveraging of business processes and IT

The Plexus Brainware and Portal provide all the facilities required to create a twenty-first century clinical IT system. Consolidated information can be accessed across boundaries within and between organisations. Best of breed systems can be developed through smooth and incremental replacement of existing systems.

Substantial efficiency gains and benefits can be achieved from the unified data availability, distribution and sharing which is achieved. Data migration and conversion, which cause so many problems in ‘big-bang’ approaches, can be managed smoothly and effectively. This facilitates changes to the systems, such as may occur during large mergers or re-organisations.

The “Brainware” application development platform includes the extendable clinical data repository and related services. The solution enables customers or partners to develop new solutions based on existing information within the integrated systems of the organisation and the different legacy systems. Leveraging on enhancements in existing products from CSAM, customers can gain even more from using the core technology in Plexus developing tailored application and solutions to different local needs.

In conclusion, CSAM Health is at the forefront of the eHealth evolution, supporting a best-of-breed strategy that enables specialties to choose systems that best fit their needs, while organising information and service sharing using a Service Orientated Architecture approach. It enables an evolutionary approach to change, extending the life of legacy systems through interoperability and avoiding the rip and replace approach.