Laura Hyde |
The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT) in the UK has transferred all of its electronic health record system, called PPM+, onto Microsoft’s cloud platform, Azure.
Following the success of the transfer, which began in early 2022 as part of a wider programme to enhance the technological framework for its operations, LTHT has also started putting its data platform into the cloud too. It hopes this will improve both integrated care and resource allocation, and provide a secure foundation to launch and support other innovations and services on Azure.
“In a modern healthcare environment, the patient record is vital,” said Dr Paul Jones, chief digital information officer at LTHT in an article published on the Microsoft UK website. “The best way of keeping PPM+ available to clinical staff was by moving to Azure. We’re now in the proud position of having a fully cloud-based, properly resilient, totally scalable electronic patient record supporting one of the largest teaching hospitals in the country.”
LTHT, which treats around 1.5 million people every year, is just one of many UK hospital Trusts with electronic health record systems. However, Dr Jones believes the PPM+ system + is notable in its scale and sophistication, despite its beginnings dating back over two decades.
Doctors can consult patient records electronically thanks to the successful migration
“PPM+ is already the bedrock of much of the integration in our region and we are looking to be a key part of the wider integration across the integrated care system and beyond,” said Jones. “There’s huge potential for PPM+ to bring benefits to public sector organisations at a range of levels.”
PPM+ was originally a small-scale, in-house solution for cancer care teams, but it has continued to expand and evolve. On-premises data servers were an expensive option for LTHT, but Azure provided a way for PPM+ to scale safely and more affordably without compromising stability. Azure will also allow PPM+ to scale further in the future.
“Having both the electronic patient record and our data platform running on a robust, resilient Azure platform puts the trust in a really solid position,” said Jones. “It’s running really effectively.”