2007

iSOFT partners with Healthcare Software to deliver next generation of integrated medication management for hospitals

iSOFT and Healthcare Software have joined forces to provide an application that will improve clinical workflow processes, provide better health outcomes for patients and reduce the high number of fatalities resulting from medication error each year.

The Australian Government continues to refine costs of its Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) providing subsidies for medicines to ensure and maintain public affordability of health care, at a cost of approximately $A6 billion. The cost and adverse health care impacts associated with the current state of managing prescribed pharmaceuticals are well documented and understood by governments and are deemed to warrant significant information systems expenditure.

Inadequate medical information and record keeping result in the death of 3,000 Australians every year, with a large proportion due to avoidable error in the application of medicines. 

iSOFT’s i.Pharmacy application, which is the leader in the hospital pharmacy market, can now incorporate Healthcare Software’s PharmCare application for clinicians to document patient information. It makes critical information relating to patient treatment available at the point of care, allowing clinicians to generate a comprehensive understanding of a patient’s capacity to receive and administer medication.

Nigel Lutton, iSOFT’s Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, said: “i.Pharmacy has an extensive footprint of over 260 sites worldwide in the core dispensing and manufacturing area and provides a solid basis on which to provide the extended ePharmacy functionality being sought in our region. The exclusive partnership with Healthcare Software is a valuable and natural extension to our current medication management capabilities – making the critical medication history available to the clinical pharmacist at the patient bedside or anywhere within the hospital.”

The combined functionality provides direct safety benefits for patients with the potential to reduce the number of medication errors. And, there are direct advantages for hospitals with the reduction of hospitalisation costs and increased pharmacy efficiencies. 

“We feel that we have formed a perfect partnership,” said John Elkerton, CEO, Healthcare Software. “The PharmCare application is considered to be ‘best of breed’ and now will be marketed with the leading application in the hospital pharmacy market in this region.”.

The iSOFT and Healthcare Software partnership is one of a number of more pragmatic clinical solutions being progressed by iSOFT to directly target improved patient health outcomes.