Univ Birmingham sells data analysis tool

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has secured seven customers for its own healthcare analysis tool, and is hoping to double that over the coming year.

The trust’s informatics team spent a year collating data and developing the Healthcare Evaluation Data software, which director of informatics, Daniel Ray, described as a “quality analysis and benchmarking tool.”

People are able to use the software to see a detailed analysis of the healthcare market in the UK, for example comparing their trust’s performance against that of others on specific indicators or market share.

Ray told eHealth Insider that developing the tool had started as a hobby, but that it has now been commercialised through a partnership with Price Waterhouse Coopers, which is selling the software on the trust’s behalf.

“The reason we developed it was that we needed to be able to cut the data much faster than we could with the tools currently available. Those on the market don’t allow you to cut the data in the same way and at the same speed that we can,” Ray said.

“We thought we could provide a better product than what is in the market, for cheaper than what they provide it for.”

He added that there are two big commerial players in the same market in the market, one being Dr Foster, “and they don’t like it”.

“For the whole lot, it costs about £35,000 per year, which is half of what they’re charging,” he said.

University Hospitals of Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has clashed with Dr Foster in the past over its annual ranking of hospitals. In 2009, it threatened – but did not take – legal action over the Hospital Guide and in 2010 it refused to fill in a return for it.

Ray said it was not clear to him why private companies selling analysis tools had a monopoly over the market, which did not include the NHS. “Why can’t the NHS take back some of that power?” he asked.

Ray also said that interest in the software had been significant, and he now had around eight staff working to continually develop the tool.

The decision to develop an in-house analysis product is in line with other decisions taken by the trust, which has also built its own prescribing and communication system, clinical portal, patient check-in software and web-based patient portal.