medical software programmes

physio1

Am looking for a company that specialises in setting up computer software programmes for medical and physiotherapy practices. Would need to be tailored to suit a specific multidisciplinary clinic. Any advice or suggestions? Would anyone know how long roughly it takes to get a programme like this up and running, and what the average cost would be?

kayos

It all depends on exactly what you want and if you can buy such a product off the shelf. Is it a client management system, manage stock/supplies, do accounts etc. You might get an out of the box to cover it all or maybe a combination of products to tick all your boxes.

On the other hand you could always go bespoke and engage with a dev house to make the software to tick all the boxes or at least advice you what products with some configuration would meet your needs.

Both ways have their advantages but it really does come down to what exactly you are looking for.

physio1

It will be predominantly for client management-their personal, contact and payment details, as well as diagnosis and treatment. Therapists would hopefully be able to pull up these details at every appointment, and add new info. Would probably have to be something tailored for the clinic as I want to try get some form of standard assessment(s) on the programme as well for clients if that is possible. Have seen something similar in my GP practices and opticians, and these are definitely tailored for them. Can a programme like this also have accounts details on it, as well as be used to monitor stock in the clinic?

pwd

vitalograph makes medical devices and software. The products of theirs I am aware of are for measuring lung capacity and similar. I don't know if they have more generic programs and devices. They are a multinational and have a factory and an r&d dept in Ennis (at least they did in 2002). I don't know if they would offer what you are looking for but they might be worth a look.

BostonB

I have worked on software that was bespoke for dentists, and solicitors, other such specialized business. However those companies only target very large businesses and so were very expensive. Think tens of thousands. They would generally include payment gateways to handle payment not just billing, and also health insurance etc. So big enough projects.

I have seen some people like physio's, dentists, and podiatrists use software for say GP's and bend it to their own use. I've seen that outside the medical sector too. You could ask around, see what people use, and then contact those software developers asking if they would customize their software for you.

Or you could hire someone to write something for you. A junior programmer, or student wouldn't be expensive and you might get exactly what you want. But would take a bit more effort from you to manage the project etc. and there are risks that it could turn expensive and not deliver what you want, unless you've some experience with projects like this.

Saint_Mel

There's a company in Dublin, Torex, who specialised in s/w for GP's and the like as far as I know.

StickyMcGinty

One of the best systems going from what i've heard

Socrates

Sligo based clinical systems company. Making some serious headway in the primary care sector, I've heard nothing but good things about their system and support

daymobrew

I did a tiny bit of work on the open source Care2X Integrated Healthcare Environment project (PHP5 enabling). It is extensive and could be customised for your clinic.

It has 4 subcomponents - maybe the "Practice (GP) Management" might work for you. Here is an image for the workflow. The demo appears to be down at the moment.

There are many other open source projects on sourceforge.net - I searched for hospital management.

physio1

Thanks, will look into some of those companies you suggesting. Only at beginning stages of setting up clinic so initial cost is a def factor to consider, but also want to ensure get best programme for business to keep it streamlined and efficient.

Cantab.

This is more than a "programming" problem.

Professional practices need reliability, security and certification.

I'd shy away from customised solutions unless you're willing to pay a reputable consultant with experience in this area.

Is FreeMed worth looking at?

If anything goes wrong, you're on your own though. Maybe you could hire a consultant to support the open-source solution and get him to certify the system and take on the security/reliability risks.

leahcim

Helix Health also provide software solutions for Irish GPs and Condultants.

GUI

From what i hear Socrates is hands down best system for general and physio practice in Ireland today. http://www.socrates.ie

mgbb60

There is a respectable company in Ireland - DMF Systems - which specialises in the delivery of the Healthcare solutions to Hospitals and Consultants . In their arsenal they have already a Physiotherapy, Social work and Occupational systems application, which might well interest you .. http://dmf.ie/

andrewh5

EMIS is by far the best. They are UK based but have staff here too.

Look here.

Aldango

Not sure if this site is desgned to be a Sales Tool - wouldn't touch Scroties (Socrates) with a barge poll Been there, Done that. Rubbish. Reverted back to original excellent vendor as have most of my colleagues. Beware the Greek bearing gifts. Caveat Emptor!!!! Just look at systems before you buy.

fergalr

I've done a bit of admin work for a sizeable GP practice of a family member.
I'm thus fairly familiar with the Socrates product, and have dealt with some of the support team behind it.

I have to say, like several of the posters commenting above, I was pretty impressed with the system. The user interface, GUI, etc is simple for less technical people to use. This particular installation has been deployed for over a year, and there has been no Socrates related issues. They also provide online and over the phone support, and everyone I've had to deal with has been good.
From what I've seen, the setup was well ahead of the other products I've looked at in this space.


There are, of course, challenges with the whole computerisation process - you'd need a fairly competent admin to manage any computer network - and dealing with computer hardware, failures, backup procedures, security etc is really not trivial, or a small deal, so you need good support from someone. People within the organisation also need to be able to work with, and learn about the software, and security, backup, maintenance processes. The software vendor will provide support, but you need someone else to look after other aspects of your network, and it can be hard to find good people.


But I've been impressed with the Socrates end of things; there seemed to be some really duff software in this space; but Socrates seemed to do a good job.

Aldango wrote: »

Not sure if this site is desgned to be a Sales Tool - wouldn't touch Scroties (Socrates) with a barge poll Been there, Done that. Rubbish. Reverted back to original excellent vendor as have most of my colleagues. Beware the Greek bearing gifts. Caveat Emptor!!!! Just look at systems before you buy.

I'm extremely suspicious of this post.
You've got three posters here with high post counts saying Socrates is good (and I know, for myself, I'm no shill). Then you've got this person with 1 post, urging suspicion.
You initially say that this website isn't a sales tool - there's a little bit of corporate focus there...
I've also quoted something in bold above - can I just ask, if your original vendor was so excellent, why you switched in the first place? Switching a practice from one tool to another is absolutely not something you do lightly, and its hard to imagine someone switching if the first system was indeed excellent.
I have no financial ties of any sort with any vendor in this space - is that true for you, too, Aldango?

Sorry if you are a genuine user, I'm just following your advice and being a little wary of you.
And its absolutely true that everyone should do thorough research on systems before they commit their resources to one.

bellylint

Well I would first state that I do work as a developer for a practice management software provider, but rather than push one product over the other, I would simply state, do look at the products before you buy them. The sales force of any of the companies would be more than happy to show you their products. Plenty of practices are also happy to show their software to other practices too. Aldango does come across with a strongly negative position but he doesn't seem to be pushing any other package, and he does give the very sensible advice of trying before buying.
@Fergalr, the other software providers do provide online support, as far back as Quantum systems which ran from 1996 - 2004. I am not to sure how far you investigated this matter, but I do agree with your advice on being aware that the implications of obtaining a system does not just include the software itself and does involve backups security etc.

The main applications in the primary care market as it stands now are provided by two companies, their products are

Health One (Helix Health)
Practice Manager (Helix Health)
Socrates (Technical Ideas)
GP Mac (Freagra)

The actual set up of any of the applications would depend on existing factors, such as whether you have existing data and existing hardware. Generally with both in place, we would take a day to migrate large sites data (+20000 patients) and the application would be ready to be used the next day. The installation of our software directly itself, to be ready to use, is trivial time wise (< 2 hrs), I would imagine the other software packages are the same.

As to bespoke software I would stay away from it, it would take a lot of time, it would not be certified by the ICGP, talking with other 3rd parties in the country (for downloading of information from hospitals, bloods, A&E letters etc) would be an utter chore to go through, and you would starting through a quality process which the other products have undergone.

Hope that helps.

BostonB

I'm curious what does "certified by the ICGP" actually mean. What does ICGP certification involve and how is it maintained? Ditto the any other non specific certification process'es you refer to.

bellylint

BostonB wrote: »

I'm curious what does "certified by the ICGP" actually mean. What does ICGP certification involve and how is it maintained? Ditto the any other non specific certification process'es you refer to.

It is Irish College of General Practitioners certification process, you can find more details on it below.
http://www.icgp.ie/go/in_the_practice/information_technology/software_companies
The standard that was applied to the products in this proccess was sufficient to also obtain the eurorec standard (though I dont know very much about the details/implications of that)


Not entirely sure what you are referring to as other certification processes, but if you are referring to communication with other 3rd parties, I was speaking about downloading of blood work results predominately. All the vendors who wished to integrate the electronic results for their clients had to undergo a Clinical equivelence process with Waterford hosp. when the hospital underwent its ISO accrediation, for example.

If I was completely off the mark on what you were asking, let me know and I will try to answer as best I can.

BostonB

Whats the cost/pricing structure of these packages?

CompleteGP, version 2.1
Health One, version 6
Helix Practice Manager, version 1
Socrates, version 1.5
medtech32, version 4.0

bellylint

BostonB wrote: »

Whats the cost/pricing structure of these packages?

CompleteGP, version 2.1
Health One, version 6
Helix Practice Manager, version 1
Socrates, version 1.5
medtech32, version 4.0

That's a difficult one to pin down (not trying to be evasive). The market is reasonably competitive. So the cost of the software can fluctuate (generally down upon discussion). It is not just as simple as that though, you gotta keep in mind, training costs, possible hardware costs, data migration costs. I could only recommend you would get in touch with the individual companies, but keep in mind they will be hungry for your business .

Medtech I believe is orientated to A&E style clinic, but not very au fait with item. Just something worth clarifying if you are looking.

BostonB

I was curious from a development point of view. The only medical software I've been involved in was approx 100k+ to implement, and something like 30~40k a year maintenance. But that was for a small hospital/large clinic.

I couldn't find prices in these smaller solutions online at all, closest I found was an article they reckon that computerising a practise usually starts about 15k. I've aways wondered about smaller practises though as a lot I've seen, seem to run quite old looking software. You know the type, running on Mac OS9/Windows 98 and backing up to a Zip kinda thing. I can't imagine they'd suddenly go from that to spending 20~30k.

But I guess thats why I'm not in sales.

bellylint

hey, no the costs dont run into anything like that. Well at least for any of the main GP providers (my knowledge is not exact partic with regards to our competitors). The implementation costs if they do run high tend to be predominantly down to infrastructural costs more so than anything. eg broadband with necessary devices for setting for VPNs etc if they want to link in from remote sites. I do think most of the systems have a replication version available mind. At most you would be looking at the greatest cost being from a hardware refresh if on partic old machines.
Re licensing costs I think 1k for the server, and 250, per annum but keep in mind that does cover their support costs too.

I would say the article you are talking about would be a small to med size practice and the 15k would cover the cost of application,hardware (network and printers). With a range practice sizes it would be a diff to put a figure on it.

Not in sales myself so that is why my figures are only ballparkish, but hopefully they will give you are better rough idea

Evil Phil

Aldango wrote: »

Not sure if this site is desgned to be a Sales Tool - wouldn't touch Scroties (Socrates) with a barge poll Been there, Done that. Rubbish. Reverted back to original excellent vendor as have most of my colleagues. Beware the Greek bearing gifts. Caveat Emptor!!!! Just look at systems before you buy.

Aldango, who exactly do you work for? Ever worked for Socrates?

Patsy6546

Hey guys, stumbled across this thread probably 9 years too late, we were changing practice management software from GP mac as its just too old, they narrowed it down between Socrates and helix. We went with Socrates in the end as they've integrated with a company called Swiftqueue they provide online appointment scheduling for Socrates. Working well so far!

Talisman

Emmarobbe wrote: »

Building a healthcare app that’s successful can save lives.

Strange first post and on the eve of a cyber attack on the HSE as well.

L.Jenkins

This thread should have been nuked nearly 4 years ago.