EMIS 'well placed' for white paper world

Healthcare IT supplier EMIS has announced that it is trading is in line with expectations, with a £300,000 rise in turnover for the first six months of the year to £29.02m.

The company said it continues to focus on its next generation system EMIS Web and that ‘first of type’ testing was on track for the start of full rollout in the autumn.

EMIS, which launched on the Alternative Investment Market in March, said spending on hardware and engineering services had been lower than anticipated.

However, it said this had been compensated for by increases in core annually recurring revenues, particularly relating to hosting solutions. Turnover in the six months to 30 June, 21010, was £29.02m compared to £28.9m in the same period last year.

The company said its Canadian subsidiary EMIS Inc, which was responsible for less than 1% of group revenues in 2009, had not made the progress expected during the period and the group was “reviewing certain strategic options regarding this business.”

In a pre-close trading update, the company said the directors welcomed the white paper published this week. It argued EMIS Web was already at the heart of changes being implemented by current GP commissioning groups.

It claimed that EMIS Web , together with its Medical Interoperability Gateway developed with fellow healthcare IT system supplier INPS, would provide the tools to connect NHS systems.

Sean Riddell, EMIS’s chief executive officer, said the group remained well placed to benefit from the anticipated changes in the NHS.

He added: “Healthcare professionals’ ongoing requirement to securely share patient data in a time efficient, cost effective manner is fundamental to improving NHS frontline services.

"We remain on track with our strategy of delivering cross organisational healthcare systems through the implementation of EMIS Web and the formation of Healthcare Gateway Limited.”