Health Telematics (AIM) Final Report


	Updated: Feb 1, 97
MEMPHIS

Measurement & Economic Modelling of the Healthcare Performance Through Information Systems

Project Code: A2022

Project value: 1714 KECU

EC contribution: 1000 KECU

No of partners: 7

No of countries: 3

Duration: 24 months

Contact:
Mrs. Alison J. Kitson
Mari Computer Systems LTD
22 HiTech Village
Boldon Business Park
Witney Way, Boldon Colliery
Tyne and Wear NE35 9PE, U.K.
Tel.: +44-91-519.19.91
Fax: +44-91-519.19.90
E-mail: memphis@mari.co.uk

Overview

MEMPHIS developed economic/econometric models, supported management tools, constructed evaluated telematics prototype models for analysis, forecasted and simulated economic information. This fulfils the needs of the community in assisting health care providers and planners (the users) in the provision of better quality services to the EC population.

Purposes, Goals, Objectives

Within all European countries, economic factors affecting health care continue to be important. A prime concern in the 1990's for health care is that of efficiency - value for money. This project investigated the use of economic modelling approaches and telematics based decision support tools to assess efficiency. Economic and econometric models of particular sectors of health care have been developed and incorporated into a prototype PC tool. The results have also been assessed internally by the project and its sponsors and externally by users. Their feedback has been used to shape future work and subsequent results so as to maximise the potential benefit.

Specific objectives which have been achieved by MEMPHIS are:

development of two models: the "macro" or overall expenditures model, and the "micro" or hospital costs model;
the determination of common data requirements for models (the econometrics);
analysis of user requirements for the initial prototype design;
the development of a set of software prototypes;
the assessment of models and prototype(s) by external users.

In addition, the project has achieved further objectives as a result of user comments on the scope and applicability of the initial work. These objectives are:

development of a more sectoral approach to the modelling of health care, with more models being developed (dental, insurance, manpower);
the extension of the modelling techniques used (from purely statistical to deterministic and linear programming techniques);
the development of a range of prototypes, which maximised the influence of user feedback and usefulness of the project results.

Results

Econometric models were developed covering areas such as national healthcare needs and expenditures, hospital capacities and costs, pharmaceutical expenditures, dental care, health insurance, supply and demand for healthcare personnel, and healthcare programme budgeting. These models describe the relationships between a number of variables for example the number of beds available in a hospital unit in the case of a hospital costs model, or the cost of a given drug in a pharmaceutical usage model. The PC based tool developed in the project allows past resource and expenditure data to be imported from a variety of spreadsheet and database formats, to act as further data for the models. The models can then predict the effect of changes in various healthcare factors, in areas such as bed usage in a hospital, through to the availability of trained nurses on a national scale. The tool can then be used to experiment with 'what if' scenarios, which explore the functional or financial consequences of management decisions in healthcare administration.

Exploitation of results

The MEMPHIS tool has been further developed into a fully featured software product and packaged as the Health Prophet system. This was commercially launched at the UK Healthcare Computing conference and exhibition, the major UK event for products in this area, and demonstrated at he Lisbon 'Healthcare in the Telecommunications Age' conference. Health Prophet is available on a retails basis, and has aroused a high level of interest in hospital administrations, healthcare provider organisations and pharmaceutical companies, both within Europe and world-wide. Discussions are also under way with several Executive Information Systems (EIS) suppliers regarding incorporation of the technology into EIS products on an OEM basis. Meanwhile, development continues in the state-of-the-art of econometric modelling, allowing yet more sophisticated predictive models to be implemented, and tailored to individual customers' healthcare administration and business planning requirements.

List of Deliverables

Year 1

Initial requirements report (3/R/I)
Final Requirements report (6/R/P)
Tool Investigation report (6/R/I)
Economic models of health care in Europe (9/R/P)
Specification of data for econometric models of health care in Europe (12/S/L)

Year 2

Econometric models of health care in Europe (6/R/P)
Initial prototype implementation (6/P/I)
Initial prototype documentation (6/R/I)
Initial assessment report (9/R/I)
Final model (12/R/P)
Final prototype implementation (12/P/L)
Final prototype documentation (12/R/P)
Final assessment report (12/R/P)

List of Participants

Dr. David Parkin University Newcastle Medical School Framlington Place Newcastle Upon Tyne NE2 4HH, U.K. Tel.: +44-91-222.60.00 ext.73.75 Fax: +44-91-222.64.42 E-mail: david.parkin@uk.ac.newcastle	Dr. Alistair McGuire City University London Dept. Social Studies Northampton Square London EC1V 0HB, U.K. Tel.: +44-71-253.43.99 ext.45.35 Fax: +44-71-490.72.04 E-mail: mcguire@uk.ac.oxford.vax
Mrs. Anita Alban Danish Hosp. Institute - Health Economics Nyropsgade 18 DK-1602 Copenhagen, Denmark Tel.: +45-33-11.57.77 Fax: +45-33-93.10.19	Dr. Joan Rovira Soikos Carrer Arizala 1-3 Entl. 1A E-08028 Barcelona, Spain Tel.: +34-3-249.80.70 Fax: +34-3-334.49.35
Dr. Andres De Kelety Alcaide Maternal & Pediatric Hosp. Paseo Valle de Ebron, s-n E-08035 Barcelona, Spain Tel.: +34-3-428.23.01 Fax: +34-3-428.21.71	Miss Anne Coyne BUPA Administrative Services LTD. Provident House Essex Street London WC2R 3AX, U.K. Tel.: +44-71-353.52.12 Fax: +44-71-353.01.34



	Copyright 1997 © EHTO All rights reserved This server is the only official EHTO WWW knowledge repository. Mail suggestions to: webmaster@ehto.org