Since the EMIS list is currently inoperative, I thought I would raise
this issue here.

I am not an avid IT wonk, particularly at work. We have been with EMIS
since 1994 and I don't go to any of the conferences. I just sort of
hope that EMIS will provide good reliable software with the features I
need in reasonable time.

They say that LV is extremely powerful for those who want to delve
beneath the surface and do wonderful things with the data, but I just
want to use it as a clinical system. The LV interface no longer cuts
the mustard because it can't display enough information on one screen,
and extracting the required information requires a constant flurry of
button presses and a degree of mental tension to remember exactly
where in the programme you are and calculate the best route to find
the part of the programme you need to reach. The add-on bits like
pop-ups are clunky and unreliable. We can't do scanning because the
link to our second surgery is too small and the PCT won't upgrade it.

Almost all our "old" partners have gone, and many of the new partners
have experience of SystmOne and are chafing under LV. We drastically
need to improve inefficiencies in our practice and our current IT
seems to be a part of the problem.

EMIS Web is "just around the corner". But EMIS software is always just
around the corner. Back in 1994 we were told that a Windows-based
appointment system was just around the corner and we still don't have
it 16 years later. We were given the prospect of a phased move to EMIS
Web, under which data would first be visible and later could be edited
in EMIS Web. This has not happened, and we are now promised complete
conversion "soon". I have doubts about how long "soon" will take. I
also don't know how reliable the new software will be. LV has been
supported for over 20 years yet the word processor component is still
terribly buggy - text starts crumpling up and lines disappear if you
delete too many words, and pasting text is unreliable. When I raised
this with support they told me that pasting text into LV was "not
supported" and I did it at my own risk. With bugs like that still
remaining in LV, you have to wonder what the reliability of EMIS Web
will be in the first few years.

SystmOne on the other hand has been running for 5 years so teething
troubles are likely to have been sorted. Our PCT have a dedicated
conversion team, data conversion is said to be of high quality, and
the PCT are offering all sorts of financial inducements. Moreover,
SystmOne is available now. Whichever system (SystmOne or EMIS Web) we
switch to, there will be training costs and potential problems with
data transfer. Our PCT will pay for training costs if we move to
SystmOne. I understand that with SystmOne scanned documents are stored
remotely, whereas with EMIS Web they are stored on the local server.
With our poor inter-surgery link (basically VPN over N3), scanning
would therefore remain a problem with EMIS Web.

The decision is looking like a no-brainer. What compelling arguments
are there to stay with LV and (eventually) move to EMIS Web?

Mike

-- 
Michael Leuty
Nottingham, UK