Partner Article

Manchester firm pioneers new ‘health check’ system

A US specialist in hospital access policy enforcement is celebrating the launch of its Manchester-based UK division – the first outside North America - with a landmark contract at one of the country’s biggest NHS trusts.

IntelliCentrics UK Limited, based at Manchester Business Park on Aviator Way, has implemented its Reptrax system for improving patient safety, infection control and procurement, at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust – an internationally renowned centre of excellence that sees around 1.5m patients a year. It is the first Trust in the country to introduce the system.

The online Reptrax system, already the market leader in the US, allows hospitals to control access by healthcare industry representatives (HIRs), by ensuring only those that comply with the hospital’s specific policies gain access to patient sensitive or restricted areas. In Leeds, around 30 representatives from among 500 companies are on Trust premises at any one time.

Entry requirements are decided by individual hospitals but can include an up-to-date DBS (previously CRB) check, relevant immunisations, professional accreditations and compliance with hospital policies.

Rather than hospital staff having to conduct the checks, HIRs pre-register via the Reptrax system, which confirms their compliance status when they arrive on site, ensuring a secure, streamlined process. The system, which is free of charge to the NHS, helps:

· safeguard patients by controlling access to sensitive areas

· improve infection control

· protect patients, staff and the public from unqualified or inappropriate individuals

· quickly and easily implement hospital safety and security access policies, ensuring that industry representatives enter premises on the Trust’s terms

The system also helps with procurement, by making it harder for healthcare industry representatives to circumnavigate central buying policies through unscheduled visits to individual clinicians. It is used by more than 6,000 healthcare facilities in the US.

Following strong interest from a number of NHS Trusts, the company launched its UK arm in Manchester last year – with a service tailored for UK requirements.

Azadar Shah, Managing Director of IntelliCentrics UK, said: “We are very proud to partner with such an innovative and respected Trust as Leeds on this new safety and security initiative for the NHS.

“While as yet a little-known concept in the UK, I believe that healthcare industry representative credentialing will become a widely used technology, as hospitals and other public facilities look to improve the implementation of their safety and security access policies. We have a number of other contracts in the pipeline.”

He added: “IntelliCentrics UK has a full Manchester-based team of software developers, testers and engineers, plus product management, customer service and sales staff.”

George Anderson, senior category manager at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: “Effective monitoring and control of third party visitors is a challenge for any NHS Trust, particularly one as large as ours.

“We’re committed to innovation and so when we discovered IntelliCentrics, and the concept of healthcare industry representative credentialing, it became clear that the Reptrax system was the right solution for us. IntelliCentrics has created a system that is tailored to the particular needs of our Trust.”

He added: “Vendor companies have reacted well to the system since we launched. We are initially introducing it in theatre areas where patients are most vulnerable, and plan to roll it out across other important patient areas in the coming months, including radiology.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .