York, UK, 3rd November 2011: The Department of Health recently reported that IT and business intelligence for Clinical Commissioning Groups are among the commissioning support functions best done “at scale”.

The report says: “Evidence from South Central, West Midlands and East Midlands suggests aspects of business intelligence would be delivered most effectively by operations that cover an average population of around five million”.

With this in mind, CMA Group and Trustmarque Solutions have joined forces to offer Health Intellect – a business intelligence solution built with the NHS, for the NHS. It includes features such as customised engine for budget apportioning (from PCTs to CCGs) and automated contract challenge tools designed to reduce costs and manage budgets. Health Intellect allows clinicians and managers to get a complete view of how services are operating and at what overall cost, including management overheads. The solution connects to the key systems in an organisation, extracts the data and provides information in a single, easily accessible portal.

The partnership between CMA and Trustmarque Solutions brings together the best in Business Intelligence solutions for the NHS from CMA with expertise and experience in large scale managed services from Trustmarque Solutions. The partnership offers a proven solution in response to DH’s challenge to deliver BI ‘at scale’.

Mark Limber, CEO CMA Group, says: “Our system is not only proven at scale but also one of the few systems built in collaboration with the NHS. Health Intellect has been used for 31 London PCTs with a patient population of 8 million and for 17 West Midland PCTs with a population of 5.4 million. It is currently also being implemented at various PCTs across the country and features modules and reports specifically built for PCT’s and CCGs.  Our solution is built on a modular cost model and has no licence fee to NHS customers.”

Mike Cawthorn, Practice Lead – Business Performance Management at Trustmarque, comments: “We have worked with NHS trusts for a number of years, and have a good grasp of just how different this area is from other lines of government and private enterprise, which is why a specific tool was needed to meet its requirements.

The information that the NHS has access to is extremely sensitive, but also very valuable. Health service providers have access to mountains of data about the health of our country. They can provide us with details on mortality rates, the impact certain illnesses have on
different demographics or localities, trends in immunisation, and much more. Having a BI tool which can help to make sense of all this information will be an invaluable aid in helping to improve services in the long-term, supporting research and setting targets and we are excited to be part of a project that could bring about a genuine revolution in the health sector.”