Information contained in this news release is current as of the date of the press announcement, but may be subject to change without prior notice.
September 18, 2013
Tokyo, September 18, 2013 --- The National Health Service (NHS) England (Greater Manchester) ("NHS GM") and Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501) today announced that they have agreed to start Proof of Concept projects (POC) for the use of informatics to improve healthcare.
The NHS GM and Hitachi since April 2013 have been planning activity to leverage IT and Informatics technology in improving the quality of healthcare together with the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, North West e-Health, Hitachi Consulting Co., Ltd. and Eagle Matrix Consulting Co., Ltd.
To realise and deliver the projects planned over the past six months, starting from the 1st of October, Hitachi and the NHS GM will be starting two POC in the Manchester borough of Salford. The first is around developing a federated data platform to facilitate the collaboration of medical information in order to enable the provision of any number of new services that leverage the highest levels of privacy and security. The second is around diabetes care in the form of a lifestyle improvement programme enhancing a programme that is already being tested in the Manchester borough of Salford. The aim is to by way of this POC build upon the current programme more efficient, more effective and more accessible by utilising IT.
Going forward, as part of this project, the NHS GM and Hitachi will be working together in developing an informatics platform that enables security and analytics technologies to deliver several new high quality healthcare services, including lifestyle improving programmes targeted towards tackling Diabetes, further enhancing the quality of life and population health in Manchester.
Furthermore, by providing comprehensive solutions to healthcare problems within Greater Manchester, Hitachi will be looking to leverage this partnership into developing a new informatics ecosystem by expanding similar services to other regions around Greater Manchester and eventually to the rest of England.
Representatives from the parties involved had the following to say:
Dr. Mike Burrows, Director, the National Health Service England (Greater Manchester), explained "In Greater Manchester we share many of the healthcare challenges face in Japan and other parts of the world, namely, an ageing population and an increase in lifestyle & poverty associated healthcare problems such as obesity leading to increase in diabetes. This is against a backdrop of increasing demand, increasing costs of provision, finite resources and a system of providing healthcare that is reactive to healthcare problems when they emerge rather than pre-empting them. Generally, this is combined with disparate healthcare records, lots and lots of data with limited integration and imperfect information and patients who are disempowered from the healthcare processes. By working with Hitachi, which has world class technology and a track record of innovation, we can accelerate and expand our work for the benefit of our patients and population."
Dr. David Dalton, Chief Executive, Salford Royal Foundation Trust, remarked "In Greater Manchester we have the potential and the commitment to address our healthcare challenges most notably because we have a cohesive healthcare system and, in North West e-Health (a collaboration between Salford Royal, Salford Clinical Commissioning Group and Manchester University, all part of the larger Manchester Academic Health Science Centre), we have in place a proof of concept integrated record that now has the potential to extend further. The benefits are improved clinical decision making, planning information and research tools. In our work with Hitachi to-date we have seen a great willingness to collaborate and gain extensive understanding of the health ecosystem as well as a significant commitment already demonstrated to Greater Manchester. Our complementary skills and knowledge augur well for future partnership."
Masaya Watanabe, Vice President and Executive Officer of Hitachi, Ltd., who is also the Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Innovation Officer of Hitachi's Information and Telecommunication Systems Company, said, "Thanks to the cooperation of the NHS GM and all related organisations in Manchester, we have been able to successfully take this positive leap forward, from planning projects over the past six months to entering this new phase of real action in the form of POCs. Moving forward we want to continue to focus on the needs of the patients and staff alike within the NHS and continue to deliver successes through our invaluable partnerships. Through these POC projects we want to further explore the impact that innovative technologies and services can have on the improvement of quality in healthcare and eventually expand the model to other regions within England and even bring what we learn and develop back to Japan. It's about consolidating the strengths of the Hitachi Group and directly contributing to the advancement and improvement of healthcare and people's quality of life in both England and Japan."
Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 326,000 employees worldwide. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal 2012 (ended March 31, 2013) totaled 9,041 billion yen ($96.1 billion). Hitachi is focusing more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes infrastructure systems, information & telecommunication systems, power systems, construction machinery, high functional material & components, automotive systems and others.
For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.
NHS England (Greater Manchester) commissions primary care and specialist care in the region. The Greater Manchester Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) commission health services from the providers including the MAHSC NHS members (Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, The Christie Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospital South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust, and Salford CCG). The newly formed Greater Manchester Academic Health Science Network ('GM AHSN) includes all MAHSC members, all other NHS organisations in Greater Manchester plus part of East Cheshire and Lancashire in addition to three other Higher Education Institutions - The University of Salford, The Manchester Metropolitan University and The University of Bolton.
For more information on MAHSC, please visit their website at www.mahsc.ac.uk
For more information on GM AHSN, please visit their website at www.gmahsn.org
For more information on NWeH, please visit their website at www.nweh.org.uk
