Towards a single point of truth

Each one of us comes in contact with healthcare at various points in our lives. According to Charles Scatchard, Oracle vice-president for Healthcare and Life Sciences in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the healthcare market is currently in the throes of great change.

This makes it open to the "meaningful use of IT (information technology) at a scale that is going to be a great contributor to the local population", he told The Sunday Times during a recent visit to Malta to address a forum for healthcare executives.

"The holy grail of information management is a single point of truth for clinical information for each citizen," Mr Scatchard said. Oracle's aim in this area is to enable each person to have easy entry access to national healthcare information systems and that healthcare professionals they encounter will have the same view of that person's clinical information in a secure manner.

The latest technology developments in healthcare are affecting citizen access to information and the ability to manage this information. "This technology is available now and Oracle is highly involved in this area," he said. Among the innovations that are filtering through are:

¤ electronic prescribing and prescription management;

¤ wearable sensors; and

¤ the automation of human resource management and financial tools, along with supply chain and procurement solutions. Resultant cost savings should enable money to be directed to better clinical care and create economies of scale.

Among the elements that enable the implementation of large scale healthcare projects are robust database products; enterprise-wide software and software infrastructure products specifically for the healthcare field.

"Oracle is in a position to supply all these products in conjunction with its business partners operating in consortia," Mr Scatchard said. An Australian of British birth, he began his working career in the UK National Health Service (NHS), as a healthcare economist, having graduated with Bachelor's and Master's degrees from University College London and the London School of Economics.

He has spent 22 years in high technology in the healthcare industry and has worked with academic medical centres, health insurers, regulators, pharmaceutical manufacturers, biotechnology companies, bioinformatic companies, medical device manufacturers, retail pharmacies and pharmacy benefits management companies.

After a spell in the British Army, he worked in the US healthcare marketplace, the Far East as well as in Europe, holding a variety of senior sales, marketing and consulting positions at Digital Equipment, EDS, CSC and IBM.

Mr Scatchard dedicated the latter part of his career to being involved with the planning, design, implementation and management of health information networks at the leading edge of e-health - an example of which is the NEHIN network in Massachusetts, US - which he conceived with Partners Healthcare.

He was involved in the creation of an extranet for eligibility, referrals, authorisations and claims for every major provider and payer in the state.

His last position before joining Oracle, the world'slargest enterprise software company, from IBM in September 2002 was managing principal and vice-president for IBM's Healthcare and Life Sciences Systems Integration and Consulting (BIS) division for EMEA. In this capacity he led the IBM Global Services business in the most meteoric phase of its growth in healthcare in EMEA.

Based in Paris, he is currently responsible for Oracle's Healthcare and Life Sciences strategy within the region, for relationships with various medical institutions, for marketing and sales programmes and operations, and Oracle's revenue plan for the sector in EMEA.

Oracle is currently involved in healthcare-related projects in some of the more recent EU enlargement countries including Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia and Poland. "This is something that is of benefit to the citizens and so they want it. We are finding that in these countries, with the technology and standards in place, there is the political will to implement these innovations," he said.