A&E CLINICAL SUPPORT SYSTEM
Call For Collaboration Announcement
1 INTRODUCTION
This document provides relevant information for potential industry
partners to evaluate the collaboration opportunities for the development
of an Object-Oriented (OO) A&E Clinical Support System. The
project is a joint development effort involving the Singapore
General Hospital (SGH), the Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), the
Institute of Systems Science (ISS) and the National Computer Board
(NCB).
Interested parties, please contact the following person for a
copy of the detailed CFC document :
Mr. Cheong Yeong Chuan
Senior IT Analyst (Healthcare Cluster)
National Computer Board
71 Science Park Drive
National Computer Board Building
Singapore 118253
Tel: (65)7720219
Fax: (65)7770891
Internet Address: yccheong@ncb.gov.sg
Please indicate your name, designation, organisation and contact
information (address, telephone number, fax number and Internet
address ) when you request for the detailed CFC document.
NCB reserves the right not to release the detailed CFC document
to non-commercial organisations which are deemed not to be in
a position to participate in this project.
2 BACKGROUND
This project attempts to validate the merits of OO technology
in the hospital systems environment. A clinical domain is selected
as it offers significant opportunity to validate OO technology
as a means to manage the complex data types and relationships
that are characteristic of patient records. Electronic Medical
Record (EMR) systems have been identified as the basic building
block for ensuring the quality and continuity of care for patients.
The A&E setting offers a suitable domain for the development
of an OO-based EMR system as there is significant potential for
computerisation to enhance patient management and access to patient
information, thereby improving the quality of service and care
given to patients. The A&E clinics are operated independently
from other specialty departments in a hospital; they also maintain
their own records. The A&E thus offers a self-contained mini-hospital
environment with a sufficiently complex scope to test the use
of new technology and development paradigms.
3 CALL FOR COLLABORATION (CFC)
3.1 Objective
This CFC is issued to identify industry partner(s) with the necessary
resources, expertise and commitment to :
(i) Design and develop the A&E Clinical Support System;
(ii) Implement the A&E Clinical Support System at SGH and TTSH; and
(iii) Package, market and support the A&E Clinical Support
System for local and regional markets.
3.2 Evaluation Process
Proposals will be reviewed and evaluated by a team comprising
technical staff and clinicians from the participating organisations.
It is essential that proposals contain sufficient technical details
and be written in good and clear English that is easily understandable
across the range of evaluators.
3.3 Selection and Outcome
Depending on the number and quality of submissions, full or partial
acceptance of the proposals will be considered.
A specific industry partner will be selected to undertake the
design, development, implementation and marketing of the A&E
Clinical Support System.
3.4 Motivation for Collaboration
The industry partner will own the rights to market the product
after its implementation at the two hospitals. The project will
thus provide an opportunity for the industry partner to position
itself favourably to exploit the new and growing market in clinical
systems development. Finally, NCB will consider funding support
for this project.
3.5 Confidentiality
All information received from and by the NCB and the participating
organisations shall be treated with the strictest confidence.
3.6 Disclaimer
NCB shall have the absolute discretion to accept or reject any
submission made without being liable to give any reason thereof.
In addition, NCB further reserves the right to retain the proposals
submitted by all interested parties for future reference without
liability for the costs of such documents.
4 IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS
The following considerations will be used to shortlist the suitable
industry partner. All proposals must address these considerations.
4.1 Multi-Agency Collaboration
Potential industry partners are encouraged to find their own business
partners capable of delivering the total solution, given that
few will have all the tools, methodologies, skills and expertise
in OO technology, and the intent to productise and market the
solution as part of their overall business strategy. For the purpose
of project management, it is desirable that there be a lead agency
to manage the team of partners and the project, and to liaise
with the Technical Project team. In such instances, the roles
and responsibilities of every party must be clearly articulated.
4.2 Specialist Skills and Technologies
We recognise that there are potential industry partners with specific
OO expertise and/or tools, and/or healthcare development expertise,
who may wish to participate in the A&E Clinical Support System.
In such instances, the NCB reserves the right to arrange for the
selected partners to join the lead industry partner.
4.3 Multi-Platform Environment
The A&E Clinical Support System will be integrated with the
existing hospital information systems via an interface engine.
Proposals should address the connectivity and access problems
in integrating the A&E Clinical Support System to the existing
multi-platform environment. Any proposal to replace all systems
with one uniform system will not be accepted.
4.4 Project Organisation and Technology Transfer
It is critical that the A&E Clinical Support System is technically
and operationally sustainable in the long term. A possible project
organisation structure with specific roles and responsibilities
has been outlined in section 7.4. Potential industry partners
are encouraged to review this structure and the roles defined,
and are free to propose other alternatives for manpower resources
and expertise from ISS, the hospitals and NCB to ensure knowledge
and technology transfer, successful implementation, and effective
maintenance of the A&E Clinical Support System. Potential
industry partners are also required to indicate their preferred
mode of operation during the various phases of the project, in
particular, the siting of the Technical Project team and the provision
of development resources (hardware, software and tools) during
the development phase.
4.5 Project Schedule
The A&E Clinical Support System is to be implemented in four
phases as described in section 7.5 of this document. Potential
industry partners are encouraged to review the project schedule
and are free to propose their own overall project schedule and
implementation plan, clearly indicating the required phases and
the timeframe for completing each activity. However, the total
project design, development and implementation timeframe for both
hospitals should not exceed 15 months.
4.6 Technical Considerations
A three tier client/server architecture is preferred. Solutions
must support established and/or emerging industry standards where
appropriate (e.g. HL7, DICOM3 etc.).
Solutions on the following platforms are preferred:
(i) Server
(ii) Client Workstation
(iii) Network Protocol
Potential industry partners are encouraged to propose their preferred
tools, methodologies and databases for this project. This information
must be supplemented by the cost of the hardware and software
required, during the development phase and the implementation
phase in each of the hospitals.
4.7 Design Considerations
The A&E Clinical Support System must be designed with special emphasis on the following:
(i) User Interface
The A&E Clinical Support System will require direct data capture
by the doctors and nurses. It is therefore critical that the
user interface design is both simple and intuitive in order to
facilitate data entry. Industry partners are to highlight their
experiences, if any, in designing user interfaces for specific
professional groups, in particular the medical professionals.
(ii) Response Time
It is critical that the system is designed to cater to the short
consult times within the A&E department. Industry partners
are to take this into consideration when proposing the hardware
and network configurations for the production systems at the two
hospitals.
4.8 Market Plan
The successful development and deployment of the A&E Clinical
Support system at the two hospitals is the primary deliverable
of this project. In addition, it is essential that the solution
developed, be packaged, marketed and supported locally in order
for the healthcare community to benefit from the intellectual
capital and experience accumulated during this project. Potential
industry partners are therefore required to clearly articulate
their marketing and support plans and highlight the business potential
for the A&E Clinical Support System.
5 SUBMISSIONS
Submissions must reach NCB no later than 5 p.m. on 12 April
1996. Late submissions will not be entertained. All submissions
are to be sent to :
Mr. Cheong Yeong Chuan
Senior IT Analyst (Healthcare Cluster)
National Computer Board
71 Science Park Drive
National Computer Board Building
Singapore 118253
Tel: (65)7720219
Fax: (65)7770891
Internet Address: yccheong@ncb.gov.sg
It is preferred that the submissions be sent by courier or by
hand. Mr. Cheong should also be alerted of the submissions via
Internet mail or fax.
