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EMIS installs electronic patient record system to remote island of St Helena

Edmonton, November 16, 2006

EMIS has installed an electronic patient record system into Jamestown Hospital and Clinic on the remote island of St Helena.

EMIS's vast experience and capabilities in installing and supporting overseas systems, coupled with a functionally rich remotely accessed clinical system and first class technical support secured the contract with the government of St Helena, the sole source of medical care on the island. The contract has been funded by the UK Department for International Development and its 'Healthlink' programme with the Island

RMS St Helena with the island in the distance

RMS St Helena with the island in the distance

The EMIS system will provide a full electronic recording and retention patient record system for the entire 4,000 population of the island. The island, which was once the exiled home of Napoleon, is remotely situated more than one thousand miles off the coast of Africa and two thousand miles from South America. Without an airport, the main method of transport to the island is the RMS St Helena, which visits the island only 25 times a year.

The absence of a public transport system on the island means its outlying medical clinics are essential in the provision of patient care. Portable EMIS, combined with a server-based EMIS clinical system installed at Jamestown Hospital, enables healthcare professionals to remotely access patient records from any of the island's six outlying districts.

Portable EMIS is an ideal solution for the island because it facilitates secure off-line access to the electronic patient record from remote outpatient and community clinics. Updated medical records are later synchronised with the main clinical database held at Jamestown.

Specific contract conditions required EMIS to provide a single health record, which will include dental and optometric functions in addition to community health, family planning records and other care records. The EMIS system also facilitates information sharing between the hospital, laboratory, pharmacy and outclinics.

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About EMIS Inc.

EMIS Inc. is the Canadian operation of EMIS, the UK's leading IT supplier in primary healthcare, hosting over 33 million electronic medical records within its systems. Approximately 55 per cent of doctors in the UK currently use EMIS software each day. For more information please go to www.emis.ca.

For More Information Please Contact:

Erik Van Drunen
Ketchum Public Relations Canada
4160 544-4904
Erik.VanDrunen@ketchum.com