02/01/2005

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has announced the signing of new agreements with Cognos, EMC Documentum, First DataBank Europe and Informatica to provide technology solutions for the northeast and eastern regions of England, which Accenture serves as a Local Service Provider (LSP) for the National Programme for IT (NPfIT).

The agreement with Cognos will provide Cognos ReportNet, a Web services architecture-based reporting tool, which will offer clinicians, management and administrative staff a range of reports to help them manage performance more effectively. For example, the tool will help users identify disease trends, assess bed availability and examine waiting lists more closely.

EMC Documentum will supply Accenture with its platform of content management services, which will offer medical professionals rapid access to all forms of content and documents – from doctors’ notes and scanned letters to MRI images, X-rays, white papers and research material – in a secure manner.

The agreement with First DataBank Europe will provide Accenture with the Multilex Drug Data File, which offers clinicians prescribing and dispensing guidance and clinical decision support. The software warns of potential adverse events at the point of care, including drug-drug interactions, sensitivities or allergies, drug doubling and contraindications.

Informatica will supply Accenture with its PowerCenter data integration platform to help the NHS manage patient care data analysis through integrated electronic care records. This will ensure that all patient details are accessible and up-to-date wherever patients seek treatment. The software will help Accenture increase productivity by enabling faster and easier access to the various different legacy operational systems that track patient data and by automating the complex data transformations required for enhanced data quality.

“These agreements illustrate our continued advances toward delivering an integrated care records service,” said Ken Lacey, global managing partner of Accenture’s Health & Life Sciences practice. “Ultimately, this means helping professionals across the NHS access their patients' electronic medical histories, which will support them in providing better healthcare for patients.”

Accenture was awarded two long-term contracts in December 2003 to design, deliver and operate integrated local patient record applications and systems for the two regions as part of the NPfIT. Clinicians and patients are beginning to see benefits of the new systems, such as electronic patient information and access to related healthcare services. Other benefits that should follow are the electronic exchange of patient information between primary and in-hospital care providers, electronic order entry and results reporting.