High-performance database technology developer InterSystems, which recently opened offices in SA, has brought internationally successful healthcare system developer, Trak Health, to this country as part of its VARs (value-added resellers) market expansion programme.
Trak Health`s solution, which is built on and driven by InterSystem`s Cach'e technology, is the single largest integrated healthcare management system outside of the US, and is installed in 19 countries including the UK, Spain, Russia, Brazil, India and Australia.
"Trak has been a VAR development partner of InterSystems for 10 years, and has built its international market through partnering with us," says Trevor Matz, EMEA regional director for InterSystems.
With over 60% of the world`s healthcare systems being driven by Cach'e technology, the secret to Trak`s success has been its ability to provide a totally integrated view of the healthcare process. "Many systems fail because they were designed for the administration department, and have then been artificially extended to include other sections," says Matz.
Trak, on the other hand, has developed a patient-centric management system specifically designed to integrate all parts of a hospital management process, from administration, patient care, clinical records, ICU and conventional equipment management, doctor and nurse costs, right through to medical aid interfacing and billing components.
Using InterSystem`s Cach'e technology, which can be fully integrated with almost any operating system, Trak provides a single healthcare system which integrates with legacy ERP or other data systems, no matter what their format.
"This provides an all-in-one overview of the entire medical operation, from the time that the patient registers till the time he leaves, even calculating individual doctor costs and comparing costs incurred by different medical practitioners under the same circumstances," says Kenny Lim, business development director at Trak Health.
In SA, Trak Health has identified three healthcare solution issues: long developmental cycles, long implementation times and disproportionate costs. "Trak`s global operations and testing means there is no development cycle. Implementation times have been cut to almost nothing and the cost is modest compared to local development," says Lim. "In addition, the cost can be recouped quickly, as has happened at the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil." At that hospital, turnover was increased by 7% in the first year with no running cost increases. Savings like these are achieved through Trak`s ability to analyse all data from a macro viewpoint, identifying unnecessary expenses and even helping with human resource deployment.
Even duplicate testing can be eliminated, a factor vital in an industry where pathology laboratories play such a vital role. "At one of our installations in Bangkok, Thailand, they have reduced the number of HIV tests by 80% without reducing their patient load, using Trak Health`s system," says Andrew Love, senior applications specialist at Trak Health.
"Our ability to leverage off the company`s global presence means that improvements are automatically transmitted through the user base, literally from one side of the world to the other," says Love. "Users benefit from the communal wealth of knowledge which has been built up, driving the solution to maximum efficiency."
"Trak Health is also Web-based, providing 24x7 availability, once again drawing off Cach'e`s flexibility in accommodating any application," says Lim. Fresh from a lb40 million deal at the Royal Edinburgh hospital in the UK, Trak Health is presenting its system to the public and private healthcare industry in this country. The company is careful to stress the scalability of the solution, hitched as it is to InterSystems` Cach'e, designed for use by large and small institutions alike.
As an indication of their commitment to the South African market, both companies have invested in a local skills development programme to raise the support staff locally. "This will also ensure that users will have internationally trained support personnel on hand," concludes Matz.
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