The NHS NSS invitation to bid for a patient management system framework contract drew a response from Atos Origin with System C’s Medway Sigma product, Perot with Oasis, and InterSystems with Trakcare being shortlisted after expressions of interest from 73 companies in January 2009.

InterSystems will provide its TrakCare product to five NHS health boards including Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Ayrshire and Arran, Lanarkshire, Borders and Grampian.

Initially, the five consortium health boards will place call off contracts to the value of £44m; but the contract would be bigger, up to £120m, depending on which health boards join and which options are taken.

Richard Copland, director of health information and technology at Greater Glasgow and Clyde has gone on record that the contract, likely to be formally signed this week, may contain provisions for a national licence purchased for other boards to call off contracts.

Copland said: “We are tying down the commercials and finalising ideas around the potential for a national system rather than a consortium licence.”

InterSystems will provide a web-based healthcare information system and core administrative functions of a PMS that include general hospitals patient administration including mental health patient administration, complex scheduling and order communications functionality including results reporting.

Optional modules include A&E, clinical support tools, hospital electronic prescribing and medicines administration, pharmacy management, maternity, mental health clinical, neonatal and theatres.

Copeland said “We have collectively decided to set up a Scottish foundation system where we will look at elements of the system which are common to all boards and will be sitting down with InterSystems to discuss that. Work will start on the real deployment getting things up and running towards the back end of 2010.”