Indra Stars Up in Seville a centre of excellence to promote development and innovation of digital health

Indra, the premier IT company in Spain and a leading IT multinational, has started up a Centre of Excellence in advanced digital health to develop and research future-oriented projects related to knowledge management in terms of health, a sector led by the IT company and Andalusia at national level. We should mention some references in this sector such as Diraya, the support system of the digital medical records in Andalusia which has been exported thanks to its effectiveness and innovative character; and Receta XXI, the electronic prescription system implemented in Andalusia for the benefit of citizens and professionals.

The centre was inaugurated today at an event presided by Mª Jesús Montero, Regional Minister of Health for Andalusia in the presence of Indra’s General Director of Operations, Santiago Roura.

The centre- located at the company’s offices in Parque Industrial Morera&Vallejo- seeks to become an international reference in the health sector in terms of management and development of new programmes and technology projects for further exportation. 

A highly-qualified and experienced team will work in close cooperation with health professionals of the region and scientific centres, from both private and public sectors; universities and regional small and medium size enterprises. The facilities are equipped with cutting edge communications and information capabilities and consist of 190 workstations.

The activity of the centre will be directed at developing and supporting key projects of clients, innovation and R&D&I project coordination mainly regarding personalised medicine. It will also support development, maintenance and evolution of the regional information systems, the electronic prescription and systems for interaction between citizens and the health care system, which do not require presence as they employ virtual channels such as telephone, internet, etc. Methodologies of implementation and support to projects will be developed including a significant transition management component in order to align the health care model with the application of new technologies.

Personalised medicine and telemedicine

One of the priorities of the Centre of Excellence in the subject of innovation consists of the development of technologies applied to personalised medicine and tele assistance for chronic patients and its integration into the citizens’ medical records. It will also promote cooperation with Living Labs, mixed partnerships where citizens, businesses, public authorities and research centres engage in innovation and in the validation of technologies, platforms, products, services and business models in real environments and contexts by promoting information society.

The leap from traditional to personalised medicine requires specialised and data mining systems capable of managing and integrating the information provided by different biotechnology disciplines, for instance: genomics, epigenomics and tissue analysis in order to incorporate it in the patient’s medical records. All this will lead to a new paradigm regarding knowledge management where Indra seeks to play a significant role as a technology provider.

Integration and connectivity standards will continue to be defined so that telemedicine devices can be used for patients’ assistance and self tracking, with special focus on chronic patients. This way, the company gives continuity to its line of investigation started with “Tratamiento 2.0”, an R&D project which integrates applications destined to the management and remote application of medical treatments and which led to the development of a prototype for diabetic patients.

The combination of business intelligence in the health systems to improve assistance and reduce costs, the coordination of R&D projects or the participation in work teams as well as national or international initiatives to promote standards in terms of interoperability in sectors such as medical records or the electronic prescription, are one of the objectives of the centre.

The experience and knowledge gained by the Centre of Excellence will help define more competitive and sustainable health care models. With these goals, Indra aims to continue playing a significant role as a technology ally of Public Health Care.

Leadership in health systems

Nowadays, over 32 million people in more than four continents benefit from Indra’s solutions and systems for the health sector. The company’s solutions are in use by more than 100,000 professionals in over 5,600 health centres and hospitals making 500,000 daily medical appointments possible.

Indra’s technologies and knowledge applied to health are based on its health solutions portfolio which specialises in Telemedicine, digital Imaging, electronic prescription or electronic medical records, among others. This platform is the fruit of cumulative experience in the development of projects for private and public sectors, at both national and international levels.

Regarding the electronic medical records we can mention Diraya, the system which facilitated the implementation of digital health records in Andalusia; IANUS, for the Servizo Galego de Saúde (SERGAS) or Abucasis, for the Valencia community. The company also leads the implementation of the electronic prescription in Spain, where besides the project currently under way in Asturias, it has successfully implemented it in Aragon, Cantabria, Madrid, Murcia, Valencia, Galicia, the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla. In Andalusia, the extent of the implementation and the proved effectiveness of the electronic prescription won Indra international acknowledgment and awards by the European Union. On the other hand, the IT company is technology partner of SESCAM in the development of the YKONOS project, the digital medical imaging system of Castilla-La Mancha.

Indra holds a significant position in the implementation and management of multichannel information services which use internet, mobile technology and access points to the health care services in Andalusia, Madrid and Valencia.

Within the General State Administration, Indra is one of the main service and technology suppliers of the Ministry of Health, Social Policy and Equality, red.es health programme and other organs such as ISCIII, ONT, MUFACE, etc.

Indra is the premier Information Technology company in Spain and a leading IT multinational in Europe and Latin America. It is ranked as the second European company in its sector according to investment in R&D with nearly € 500 M during the last three years. In 2009 revenues reached € 2,513 M of which a 40% came from the international market. The company employs more than 30,000 professionals and has clients in more than 100 countries.