Ascribe Ltd, the international health IT company, today announced that it has completed the upgrade and implementation of the PCIS state-wide Remote Health IT system in the Northern Territory ("NT") for the Department of Health and Families ("DHF").

PCIS provides an electronic health record system that allows the Northern Territory Government to provide a wide range of community health programmes, ranging from Antenatal, Postnatal, Immunisation & Healthy Kids programmes, through to Adult Health Checks, PBS Prescriptions, Sexual Health and Chronic Disease Management programmes.

The new upgrade to PCIS will provide improvements to the user interface, streamlined usability and new functionality. These improvements are based on feedback and contributions by PCIS users and the NT Clinical Reference Group. All sites now have been upgraded to the new version of PCIS.

Speaking on behalf of the Department of Health and Families, Stephen Moo, Chief Information Officer said, "I am very pleased to announce the implementation of the PCIS 3.7.01 upgrade. This release represents one of the biggest upgrades of PCIS and will allow us to provide increased levels of care to the community. A significant proportion of our residents are highly mobile and this presents unique problems to providing a continuity of care given the sheer size of the Northern Territory. By using electronic health records and communicating more efficiently, our provision of care services and reporting on care needs has improved, this upgrade will allow us to continue to develop further improvements.

Stephen Critchlow, Executive Chairman of Ascribe said: "Electronic Health Records allow appropriate information to be made available at the point of care. This improves patient safety and allows each clinician to select treatment based on complete information. We are proud to be able to work with Northern Territory Department of Health and Families. This new upgrade to PCIS will streamline and improve workflow within the system and provides new areas of functionality.

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Notes to Editors:

About Ascribe
 
Ascribe Ltd is a leading healthcare company that develops and markets software solutions that support patient, clinical and business processes to Primary & Secondary healthcare providers in the UK and overseas.

Ascribe is committed to providing technologies that improve patient safety standards and the company's solutions directly improve patient care and deliver financial savings to customers. The company sells directly to hospitals and Primary Care Trusts and has also been awarded framework agreements by the ASCC on behalf of Connecting for Health (CfH).

Ascribe provides solutions to health organisations and clinical professionals in all healthcare sectors; customers include Emergency and Minor Injuries Units, Mental Health and Social Care Units, Hospitals requiring patient administration systems (PAS) and medical equipment management, Hospital and Retail Pharmacies, and General Practice surgeries. Offering patient and decision support information to these clinicians in context with their activity is the key to the company's ongoing success.

Ascribe employs 270 personnel through its operating companies in the UK, Kenya, Australia and New Zealand. For more information, please visit www.ascribe.com.

About PCIS

PCIS is the acronym for Primary Care Information System of DHF used in primary care clinics, particularly those in remote communities. It uses the JCC software.

JCC is a client centric system, designed specifically by clinicians in an integrated care environment for the continuity of care across multiple sites and multiple types of service.

JCC enables the provision of high quality care by enabling multiple providers to better integrate patient information, improving individual interactions with patients, and assessing overall care outcomes.

About the Department of Health and Families, Northern Territory, Australia

The Department of Health & Families is the largest Territory Government department and delivers services related to the Ministerial responsibilities of Health, Families & Children and Child Protection. The Department works in partnership with a range of Non-Government Organisations to deliver various services, including ambulance services, drug and alcohol withdrawal, disability services, family support services and other community-related services.

Improving Aboriginal health is the DHF's greatest challenge and they recognise that tackling the underlying causes of poor health and providing health services within a primary care framework is the best approach. Service teams within the Department are playing leading roles in Northern Territory and Australian Government initiatives to address Indigenous disadvantage in the Northern Territory and with extra investment we are improving health and family support services in remote areas. These investments include additional primary care health professionals, additional child protection workers and programs to encourage local employment in a range of new family-related services in remote areas, as well as accelerated treatment of medical conditions in Aboriginal children.

© Ascribe 2009. Ascribe is a registered trademark. All other brands and product names and trademarks are the registered property of their respective companies.