Allscripts has appointed a new leader for its business in the UK while strengthening its focus on Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Richard Strong, who was vice president of international services, is taking up the new role of vice president and managing director of EMEA territories.
Strong said his first priorities for the coming year would be to increase the number of NHS trusts signed-up to deploy the Sunrise electronic patient record and to raise awareness of the capabilities of its dbMotion population health management solution.
He will also be looking to bring new clinical and departmental systems to the UK, while taking elements of the UK approach to the Middle East, where there is keen interest in population health management, as well as in administrative and clinical systems.
“Allscripts is well-established in the UK and popular with our customers,” he said.
“I am looking forward to building on the excellent work we have already achieved within the region with the Global Digital Exemplar programme in the UK and with customers that have benefited from our clinical wrap approach.”
“I want more people to hear about what Allscripts has delivered at some of the top performing trusts in the UK, which use dbMotion to share information with GPs and explore population health management.
“As we develop our strategy for EMEA, I want more organisations to benefit from the solutions that we are already deploying across the UK.”
Strong started his career in the NHS in London, where his work as a biomedical scientist drew him into the implementation of laboratory information systems. He went on to work for Siemens Healthcare Systems and Cerner UK, where he played a key role in the implementation of electronic patient record systems in the capital, before becoming its director of European services.
He also worked in both UK and international roles for Dell, before joining Allscripts in 2016 to help grow its global ambitions.
Alan Fowles, president of Allscripts International, said: “The creation of the new role of vice president and managing director, EMEA, shows our commitment to growing Allscripts as a global company.”
“Richard’s background in the health tech industry, and his deep understanding of the requirements of health and care organisations in the UK, across Europe, and in the Middle East, makes him the ideal choice for the role and we are confident that this will enable more organisations to benefit from Allscripts’ sector-leading solutions, knowledge and experience.”
The company is currently running a clinical wrap campaign to support trusts that want to digitise without the cost and disruption caused by scrapping their existing patient administration systems and other IT investments.
This is in line with the NHS Long-Term Plan’s recognition to complete the digitisation of hospitals through an extension of the GDE programme and an accelerated roll-out of EPRs. The plan also gave strong support to the development and deployment of population health management.