Ascribe Expands in Asia Pacific

As part of Ascribe's commitment to the Asia Pacific healthcare market, the company has heavily invested in an expanded operation of its existing successful business in Australia, New Zealand and the rest of the Asia Pacific region. As part of this expansion process, Ascribe purchased the Jade health business from the Jade Software Corporation; the acquisition included the Jade health application software, and the transfer of a number of Jade health development, support and sales staff. In addition to acquiring the intellectual property of all the Jade health software, Ascribe also purchased a 5 year contract for Jade to continue to provide additional technical support and development for the application systems, ensuring that existing customers would continue to receive the highest levels of service.

Ascribe has already established itself at the forefront of the provision of clinical IT systems, as a leading supplier of Pharmacy departmental IT systems in the Asia Pacific region since the mid 1990s. Hospital pharmacies that use Ascribe systems include the state health services of Western Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia and Tasmania, some 25% of district health boards in New Zealand, and some public hospitals in Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Recent Growth in UK

Ascribe has also expanded its clinical operations in the UK and Ireland and today the company has become a leading supplier of a broad range of clinical systems, including patient administration, emergency and unscheduled care, operating theatre, pharmacies (both hospital and retail), community health, mental health, GPs and primary care ‘super-surgeries’.

Ascribe’s growth has been both organic, with over 60% of annual revenue coming from existing customers, and a number of key acquisitions of profitable clinical software suppliers. In 2004, Ascribe plc was floated on the London Stock Exchange, and in an aggressive marketplace, has continued to meet all the Market’s expectations. In February 2009, the company re-registered and returned to private ownership as Ascribe Ltd.

Ascribe’s software of various types is estimated to be used in more than 60% of NHS hospitals, and more than 100 Community and Mental Health Trusts. Over 100 Emergency Departments use the company's Emergency Care clinical system, Ascribe Symphony.

Ascribe has continued to deliver working and robust IT systems at time when the UK NHS national program, Connecting for Health (CfH), has experienced difficulties and delays. By moving quickly to anticipate & fulfill customer needs, Ascribe has provided key services to healthcare providers and benefited commercially.

In addition to our commitment to improving patient safety by using IT systems and process change to reduce risks, Ascribe also strives to ensure that healthcare resources are used with increased efficiency.

Electronic Prescribing seen as a key to Integration

As a leader in eHealth initiatives,  Ascribe already provides an electronic prescribing module (ePrescribing) based upon Web services with medication management and decision support  that can be deployed in any healthcare setting. Two leading healthcare sites in the UK that have implemented the electronic prescribing software are the NHS Trusts of Christie Hospital, and Tameside General Hospital.

Ascribe sees ePrescribing as a means to accelerate the integration of customers’ disparate IT systems, whether this is done using an existing legacy system or the implementation of an Ascribe system. The philosophy is based upon the fact that almost every patient in any care setting is given prescribed medication. Once ePrescribing has been implemented, it can be easily modified to provide electronic orders and results to tie into other systems; for example by using Ascribe’s Integrated Clinical Workstation (ICW) for the user interface. Over time, the roll out of ePrescribing will be ubiquitous, either as a forerunner or as part of the electronic health record (EHR).

Since the Jade Acquisition

A key business driver behind the acquisition of Jade healthcare, has been its strength in meeting clinical users’ needs in community and mental health. It is Ascribe’s view that a major growth area for better clinical information systems will be in the areas outside of the acute care setting, such as community and mental health services, primary care, home nursing and residential care.

Ascribe adds value to the Jade software by being a dedicated clinical software supplier, with a wealth of experience and knowledge of the business needs in the health sector. This has already borne fruit since the acquisition in May. In the UK Ascribe’s Jade healthcare solution has been selected by the Central North West London (CNWL) Trust, one of the largest mental health trusts in the country. This decision was made following a rigorous evaluation and comparison program with other suppliers.

In the Asia Pacific region, Jade software has been implemented by the Partnership for Aboriginal Care (PAC), in the first of a number of medical clinics in northern NSW. In New Zealand Jade software has been implemented for community health by Whanganui District Health Board.

Future Directions

The expansion of Ascribe in the Asia Pacific region is helping the company to position itself for growth and consolidation in its services and fulfill clinical healthcare requirements in the coming years. From a relatively small base this investment provides the foundation for transitioning the company into a major systems supplier to the health sector over the next 3 - 5 years in Asia Pacific.

Ascribe Asia Pacific

Ascribe office - Sydney
Level 11, 20 Berry Street
North Sydney NSW, Australia
Sales:    +61 (0) 2 8081 5555
Email:    infoasc@ascribe.com