2007

26 September 2007

iSOFT’s Bed Manager agreement to improve patient ‘Access Block’

iSOFT signs Alliance Agreement with MKM Consulting for Bed Management

iSOFT & MKM Consulting have signed an agreement to deliver a browser-based bed management solution to overcome one of the most significant healthcare issues experienced the world over; maximising patient flow while maintaining or improving healthcare outcomes, also known as ‘access block’.

“Partnering with MKM Consulting and piloting the Bed Manager solution while utilising a rapid application development model provides an exciting opportunity for iSOFT customers. This initiative is designed to achieve quick wins by delivering a pragmatic and highly focused tool to improve patient flow processes,” said Nigel Lutton, iSOFT’s Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand.

The solution will complement iSOFT’s Patient Management Systems and provide both information and transactional features to improve patient flow processes. Bed Manager is a practical and innovative communications hub that connects each phase and department within the system of care so that data is available across departments in real time.

healthAlliance NZ is the partner for iSOFT’s Bed Manager analysis and design phase.

“We feel that we have two outstanding partners to develop this application with. MKM Consulting has had a long term relationship with both iSOFT and healthAlliance, and this will assist MKM Consulting and iSOFT to bring a quality product to the market,” states Andy Smallman, Professional Services Director, MKM Consulting. Numerous causes of access block have been identified, with the most simplistic being insufficient beds. Recent research suggests that not adequately matching the supply of beds with predictable emergency demand and sub-optimal management of inpatient flow greatly contribute to the issue. Information systems providing improved visibility and currency of information and efficient transaction processing of patient movement will produce marked improvements in this area. Bed Manager is an effective information tool to support inter-department communication and modern patient flow processes giving hospitals the ability to maximise resource efficiency, which improves patient care outcomes and hospital efficiency. One of the key design considerations is that the solution will provide an intuitive, web-based, graphical user interface allowing drag and drop functionality

The Bed Manager development is one of a number of more pragmatic clinical solutions being progressed by iSOFT to directly target improved Patient Health outcomes.

Laurie Giles

Tel: +61 (0) 3 8633 5705

Fax: +61 (0) 2 8633 5777

Email: laurie.giles@isoftaus.com.au