NHS organisations given flexible route to access the latest shared care record, patient portal and AI technology. Framework allows for direct awards to meet September shared care record deadline and post-Covid reset.


Orion Health has been listed on the latest NHS London Procurement Partnership framework developed to give NHS organisations access to modern digital technology.

The company has been listed on the Clinical Digital Solutions Framework for three solutions critical to the development of integrated care and population health management.

This gives integrated care systems (ICSs) and other health and care organisations a new and flexible route for procuring shared care records, patient portals that can be integrated with workflow tools, care pathways and remote monitoring, and automation and AI.

Contracting authorities can make direct awards from the framework, which has been issued ahead of the September deadline for all ICSs to have shared care records in place, and as the NHS prepares to reset following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nadine Carey-Whitehead, sales director for Orion Health in the UK, said: “This is very different to other frameworks and very forward thinking. Companies apply to be listed in solution areas that are supported by a product catalogue that can be updated as standards change, products are updated, or new concepts are launched.

“That means contracting authorities have access to the very latest technology available. They can also use this framework to make a direct award, so it is very supportive of the rapidly changing policy agenda.”

The NHS London Procurement Partnership is one of four regional procurement hubs for the NHS, with frameworks and specialist procurement services available nationally.

The latest iteration of the Clinical Digital Solutions Framework replaces an earlier version due to expire at the end of the year. Orion Health has been listed for three solutions: Shared Care Records, Patient Portals, and AI.

Ursula Hardwick, category director for Clinical Digital Solutions at NHS London Procurement Partnership, said: “The Clinical Digital Solutions Framework has been developed to support the NHS and social care to facilitate the critical requirement for digitally-enabled care. This need was highlighted by the NHS Long Term Plan and has since been amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic response. The framework provides flexibility for product innovation from suppliers and collaboration across the NHS and wider public sector.”

The current Orion Health products listed in the shared care record category are: Amadeus, its open and highly-scalable platform for aggregating health data, the Engage patient portal, the Coordinate and Care Pathways workflow tools, and Medicines Management, which supports the creation of a complete list of the medications a patient is taking.

In patient portal solutions, its current products are: Engage, Coordinate, Patient Pathways and Remote Patient Management, a monitoring solution that can reduce hospital admissions and help individuals take more control of their own treatment and care.

And in automation and AI, it has been listed for Machine Learning Manager, which gives organisations access to a library of algorithms and makes it easier to deploy, manage and update risk calculators and decision support tools.

Carey-Whitehead added: “This is a very timely framework because Covid has put a rocket under the drive for integrated care and for supporting patients with new ways of working.

“Over the past year, healthcare providers have had to find ways to look after patients outside the traditional hospital and practice environment. Now, they are looking to consolidate these new ways of working and to find ways of making video clinics and remote consultations more effective.

“The only way to do that is to develop a shared care record. You cannot create integrated care services unless the whole team that is caring for the patient is able to access the latest information about them.

“A shared care record is also the foundation for population health management because the data it generates enables organisations to move from reactive to predictive, to preventative healthcare and to create digital front doors for patients.

“Covid has opened eyes to what can be done, but to do it you have to bring all of the relevant data together in one place. That is what this framework and Orion Health’s solutions support.”

The Clinical Digital Solutions Framework is available for organisations to use now and can be accessed through the LPP website (www.lpp.nhs.uk). To find out more about this framework, please contact NHS London Procurement Partnership via: https://www.lpp.nhs.uk/contact-us/.