FIRST DATABANK SIGNS MAJOR NEW CONTRACT WITH BT

First DataBank, the UK’s leading provider of drug knowledge bases and active clinical decision support, today announced it has been awarded a contract by British Telecom (BT) for its Multilex Drug Data File (Multilex DDF). This will be incorporated into CSE Healthcare Systems’, RiO electronic patient record system which BT is installing at community and mental health trusts in London and the south of England as part of the NHS National Programme for Information Technology. RiO provides an electronic patient clinical and administrative record including performance reporting capability. This latest release of RiO incorporating Multilex DDF will feature e-prescribing functionality integrated into the clinical workflow.

Multilex DDF is the UK’s most comprehensive and widely used drug knowledge base, holding clinical and commercial information on all UK pharmaceutical products, offering the option of patient specific clinical decision support at the point of care. It is currently utilised within a variety of clinical systems across primary care, secondary care and community pharmacy but until now Multilex DDF has not been widely available to clinicians in mental health or certain community care settings.

BT will be looking to implement RiO containing Multilex DDF in London and the South over the next year.

Darren Nichols, Managing Director, First DataBank said: “BT is ideally placed to make a major contribution to the UK healthcare IT landscape. Our contract with BT marks the beginning of an important widening of access to the drug knowledge base that has proven so valuable in increasing patient safety.

Kevin Gee, head of BT’s community and mental health business unit, said: “BT in conjunction with the London Programme for IT has made great strides in rolling out RiO to trusts in London and the south of England, bringing real benefits to staff and patients alike. With the addition of First DataBank’s drug knowledge base, the system has been further enhanced and equips healthcare professionals with a valuable tool which can help provide better, safer patient care.”