An NHS technology provider that helps GPs to predict when specific patients are at risk of developing chronic diseases, and that allows planners to track disease progression across entire populations, has been acquired by the rapidly growing Clanwilliam Group. The move follows calls from Prime Minister Theresa May for the NHS to use data and artificial intelligence to transform diagnoses.
Informatica Systems Limited, which will now become part of the group’s NHS division, provides predictive analytics technology to every GP practice in Wales, whilst at a national level, has allowed NHS Wales to track major public health issues and clinical issues such as seasonal vaccinations, across the country.
The company’s technology is similarly relied on by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in England, which use the technology to assess and manage the health needs of their populations, and to support England’s national public health screening initiative NHS Health Checks.
Doctors also directly use Informatica Systems’ decision support software, installed locally within their surgery, to analyse patient records and flag when a patient is at risk of developing a chronic condition, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, allowing early interventions. The company’s software is funded centrally through the GP Systems of Choice framework and made available to GPs and CCGs at no direct cost.
Informatica Systems, which has been working with the NHS for 25 years, will now become the 16thhealthcare technology company to join Clanwilliam Group in the last four years. The group has spent more than €130m adding businesses to its portfolio since 2014 and is continuing to expand.
Philip Brown, managing director at Informatica Systems, who first founded the company in 1993, said: “We have become very focussed on prevention as a business, helping NHS organisations and professionals to intervene at the right time to prevent people becoming unwell. Analytics can be a powerful tool in helping to unearth data that can save lives, and which is otherwise locked away in the confines of patient notes.
“Joining Clanwilliam Group means we will be better able to help the NHS, drawing on a much wider pool of expertise to develop our systems, and a wider network of NHS suppliers in the group that will help us to expand the reach of our technology much further across the health service.”
All Informatica Systems customers will continue to receive the same level of support, as well as increased offerings from the wider NHS division of companies, which collectively have been helping to reduce the NHS deficit by £14m annually. This includes Bluespier, which provides NHS trusts with theatre management systems and clinical software, Maxwell Stanley Consulting, a specialist consultancy firm that helps NHS organisations enhance patient information and financial outcomes through tailored services across clinical coding departments, and Medisec Software, which works with a number of high profile foundation trusts to digitise clinical correspondence and dictation.
Other businesses within Clanwilliam Group include Clanwilliam Health, Toniq, Medical Business Systems, Medical Management Services, Claimsure and Epic Solutions, as well as several new acquisitions recently made in New Zealand.
Howard Beggs, CEO of Clanwilliam Group, said: “Informatica Systems is a long-standing and trusted company providing invaluable services to its NHS customers. With very strong leadership, backable founders, and a robust technical stack, the company fits extremely well into Clanwilliam Group as our first technology provider focussed solely on primary care.
“Informatica Systems will retain a dedicated focus on meeting the needs of its established customer base, which we look forward to expanding by committing new resources and fostering collaboration with other companies in our NHS division.”
