30th hospital goes live with Ireland\'s National Integrated Medical Imaging System
MRH Portlaoise General Hospital latest to roll out McKesson solution as part of Health Service Executive’s Transformation Programme
McKesson recently announced the successful go-live of the 30th hospital in Ireland, MRH Portlaoise General Hospital, on the National Integrated Medical Imaging System (NIMIS).
NIMIS, part of the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) Transformation Programme, is a national project that is currently transforming the delivery of radiology services across Ireland by implementing advanced medical technology within hospitals to ensure patients receive the best diagnostic solutions available in their treatment.
NIMIS was initiated by HSE in 2008 with the objective of making Ireland’s hospitals paperless and filmless in radiology. Following a competitive tender process, the contract was awarded to international imaging technology solutions provider, the Imaging & Workflow Solutions Group of McKesson. The project involves the implementation of a fully-integrated picture archiving and communication system (PACS) and radiology information system (RIS) across public hospitals in Ireland. Also being implemented is a fully-integrated speech recognition system for the rapid production of radiology reports.
“NIMIS today is enabling Ireland’s health professionals to collaborate and seamlessly and securely share this patient imaging data electronically,” said Professor Neil O’Hare, NIMIS project lead for HSE.
“We have improved the quality of imaging as well as the speed and accuracy of clinical decisions. We also have better visibility to what is happening across the country and have enabled the data to follow the patient through the care pathway. As a result, the right data is available at the right time. All these benefits are now being recognised, and we are now starting to look at the next steps.”
Currently, 30 sites are live on NIMIS, including Sligo General Hospital – the first site to go live in June 2011 - with a further nine scheduled to go live within the next year. In total, the project accounts for nearly 80% of the public hospitals across Ireland.
With NIMIS, Ireland has one of the most-advanced and integrated radiology IT infrastructures in the world
“With NIMIS, Ireland has one of the most-advanced and integrated radiology IT infrastructures in the world,” said O’Hare.
“We are excited about the next phase in the project, which will be about truly making the system the end users’ own. It will be about ownership, recognition, stability and integration with other systems all working together to form an integral component of the wider electronic patient record.”
“NIMIS is a very exciting project to be involved in,” added Ray Cahill, executive director of international operations at McKesson.
“The foresight of the HSE in supporting a system of this kind – and the commitment we have seen from the healthcare professionals involved in the rollouts to date – is testament to the commitment of the medical professionals in Ireland to the current and future health and wellbeing of their patients. McKesson is proud to work closely with so many stakeholders within Irish healthcare and facilitate their success in the implementation of this transformational programme.”
