LONDON — (Marketwired) — 05/07/13 — East Cheshire NHS Trust is to partner with HCS, to help drive forward the development of integrated care across Eastern Cheshire-s Health and Social Care system. The HCS Care Coordination service will provide expert assistance to the Trust to support the delivery of integrated care as a key partner in Eastern Cheshire-s Caring Together Program, which aims to commission and deliver patient-centered joined up, pro-active care services.

Samantha Nicol, Caring Together Program Director at NHS Eastern Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group, commented: “Our aim is for improved care for our local population in all areas: clinical, the care pathway and the experience for patients. In addition, we wish to improve the experience for the professional staff delivering that care. Working with HCS provides an opportunity for us to take advantage of a significant amount of expertise and resource that aligns completely with our Caring Together vision and which will help us deliver the success we are looking for.”

The HCS Care Coordination service will focus specifically on work at East Cheshire NHS Trust aimed at reducing the number of preventable hospital readmissions. This focus will involve project support to help the Trust develop appropriate clinical leadership and governance arrangements, as well as assistance in implementing two HCS Care Coordination service modules, Re-admissions Manager and MobileCare. These modules will be enabled by Net.Orange-s clinical Operating System (cOS), a real-time cloud-based big data platform, which forms part of the HCS Care Coordination solution.

The first module, Re-admissions Manager, will allow East Cheshire NHS Trust to significantly reduce preventable hospital readmissions by identifying high-risk patients, enhancing the management of discharge planning, and supporting more effective transitions of these patients to non-acute care settings. The second module, MobileCare, will support pro-active management of patients across boundaries in all care settings — primary, acute and community — through applications running on handheld devices that can be used by clinicians, practitioners and members of multi-disciplinary teams both within the acute setting and when visiting patients at home.

With Eastern Cheshire having one of the fastest growing populations of over-65s in the North West, the Trust hopes to achieve some of the typical benefits that can result from implementing these two HCS Care Coordination modules together. These include a reduction of more than 30% in readmissions, a reduction of over 20% in overall hospital admissions, and a reduction of more than 30% in the costs resulting from hospital admissions. East Cheshire NHS Trust will also benefit from improved compliance with care pathways throughout the patient journey and a significant reduction in the number of patients transitioning to higher severity levels for their chronic conditions.

Martin Walsh, director of HCS, said, “The project with East Cheshire NHS Trust is an excellent example of how the HCS Care Coordination service can not only provide expert assistance to accelerate integrated care delivery but also provide the necessary technology to sustain improved care coordination over the long term.”

Rob Beardall, Chief Medical Officer of Net.Orange, said: “We are proud that the East Cheshire NHS Trust selected our system to be the foundation for their integrated care model as they work collaboratively with their GPs and other providers to better serve the health needs of their community. Having an integrated view of clinical, financial and operating data across organizational boundaries will support their goal to set the highest standards for clinical quality and value at a time of unprecedented financial pressure within the NHS. We expect them to expand their exemplary reputation for high quality inpatient care and become a showcase for clinical integration and excellence across the entire health economy.”

East Cheshire NHS Trust was established in 2002 and on 1 April 2011 became an integrated organization providing healthcare across central and eastern Cheshire and surrounding areas. The Trust provides health services in its three hospitals, in people-s homes and in community locations. With over 3,500 dedicated staff, the trust serves a local population of around 470,000 people.

HFMA is the professional financial voice of healthcare in the UK. HFMA-s aim is to maintain and develop the financial management contribution to healthcare in the UK. Supported by a strong branch network, it promotes the highest professional standards in financial management and governance in healthcare. The organization furthers personal and professional development by providing access to tailored education and training, offering a professional network for members and a greater contribution to national policy. For more information, visit . HCS is the trading arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of HFMA.

The Net.Orange solution, which forms part of the HCS Care Coordination service, enables the rapid deployment of virtually integrated care delivery models that include role-based workflows for all stakeholders including physician practices, specialty networks, hospitals, community providers, commissioners and payers, employers and patients. The patented clinical operating system (cOS) leverages existing legacy systems, and prepares the stakeholders to thrive in a value-driven accountable healthcare environment, regardless of the payment model. For more information, visit ndorange.com

Contact Info for Net.Orange and HFMA:
For Net.Orange:
Kevin Freeman

For HCS:
Martin Walsh

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