HCA International to deploy multidisciplinary imaging software across UK hospitals
Use of Picsara will provide a more streamlined and secure approach to the patient journey
HCA International is to collaborate with Swedish-based medical imaging specialist, Mawell, to transform the delivery of frontline care, enhance services to patients, and improve clinical safety and security.
Launching across all HCA International’s clinical UK sites early next year, Picsara, a unique multidisciplinary imaging software solution, will enable medical staff across various specialities to capture, store, distribute, analyse, annotate and measure all non-radiology medical images and videos efficiently and securely to help improve clinical workflow and strengthen clinical documentation.
The comprehensive CE-accredited class IIa medical device, which works across a wide range of disciplines, including endoscopy and dermatology, can be seamlessly integrated with hospital electronic patient records, image capture modalities and departmental administration systems to make images and video a secure part of clinical documentation workflows.
Kaye Bonython, head of imaging informatics at HCA International, said: “Picsara signifies a breakthrough in the way we will deliver care. We will be able to give patients confidence about the security of their personal data and help us to enhance the patient journey by ensuring that the information is immediately available to clinicians at the point of care. This means we can deliver a high-quality patient service.”
A successful pilot conducted in July last year at HCA International’s Portland Hospital in central London found that the versatile imaging software provided the opportunity for clinical staff to save up to 45 minutes to an hour a day by using video rather than taking notes, allowing valuable time to be reallocated to other patients.
Bonython said: “As part of the pilot, we investigated the use of video capture software to film children during physiotherapy treatment sessions and then storing the video of the treatment in their permanent records. This video could also be taken home and used by parents and patients to ensure they were completing their exercises correctly.”
The vendor-neutral image management software will now be rolled out across a range of HCA International’s departments at the beginning of next year starting with physiotherapy and pathology, with plans for a wider deployment across all levels of clinical staff and services in the future.
Alexander Ryan, international sales director at Mawell UK, said: “Mawell has built up a strong market position over many years in the Scandinavian regions, with over 30,000 clinicians using Picsara. HCA International’s decision to work with us strengthens our belief that Picsara is a strong and safe clinical tool for the UK healthcare market.
“We intend to further engage with the NHS and other healthcare providers to demonstrate how Mawell can improve clinical safety and efficiency, and provide a future-proof investment for organisations around non-radiological image management.”
