Shared-care pilot proposals for Health IT plan

Focus on developing existing software solutions

HealthAlliance, the consortium of District Health Boards from the north of the country, has begun scoping possible approaches for a national shared care programme by requesting proposals for pilot projects. This will be one element of the National Health IT plan, published earlier this year.

“Shared care” is informed cooperation between groups of clinicians and other service providers to handle a client’s needs.

In May the Shared Care Programme Plan (part of the National Health IT plan) retained healthAlliance to coordinate the pilot projects. It has now issued an invitation for expressions of interest (EoI) from potential suppliers.

Two or three selected pilot projects, to be run under a National Shared Care Plan Programme, will be led by clinicians – a constant emphasis in the National Health IT plan. According to the EoI document, the pilot will serve to “refine requirements, candidate solution(s), frameworks for clinical user guidance and learnings in relation to: implementation, security and privacy principles, practice and workflow” for future projects that will fit into the national plan for shared care.

The document emphasises this is not an invitation to develop new software, nor an offer to fund such development. “Shortlisted potential pilot projects will be asked to demonstrate existing software solutions. No response will be considered unless the key components of the required functionality and performance are demonstrably already available. Respondents should describe their readiness to demonstrate operational software.”

HealthAlliance also emphasises scalability and interface with other clinical systems.

Areas of health care initially chosen for the pilot projects will include chronic cardiovascular [heart, arteries and veins] and respiratory diseases, as well as conditions such as diabetes typically found in the same patient.

“Probably two, possibly three” projects will be chosen for the pilot, says programme manager Sarah Thirlwall at healthAlliance.

The pilot will run for up to 12 months.