Why go to the EMIS user group conference?

Originally published in GP magazine .

Written for GP magazine around 2005. This is the version I submitted - the published article may have been edited.

Recently I attended the first day of the Emis NUG conference. This is a yearly event currently held at Warwick University, organised by the independent EMIS user group. It is worth discussing why my practice felt it important to attend the conference and what we gained from it, hopefully to give an idea of why attending it or a similar event might be worthwhile for your practice.

We are a large practice and two partners and our practice manager went, which is a considerable investment in time but allows us to see all of the things we wanted to. It was important beforehand to look at the agenda and work out who was going to what.

For some people the conference is a social event, and there is an annual dinner and much socialising in the bar. However, the conference can also be very informative as to what is the current thinking from EMIS. It can be very useful to hear how the senior people are interpreting national guidance and what the plans are for the next year or two.

The main conference consists of four lecture theatres of different sizes, each running a different programme. There are usually a wide range of talks to suit different interests and levels of ability. Over the years our needs as a practice have changed. The first couple of years we attended all the how-to sessions and learnt how to do advanced searches and other things. As we have advanced there are still things we can learn, and it was interesting to attend the talk on how to get the most out of Population Manager, the software for QOF points. As a QOF assessor it was also interesting to get a look at the new software that is coming out for this. Another interesting talk always worth attending if possible is called “5 shorts”, where five different users give personal accounts of tips they have found.

This year, thanks to the M6 toll motorway, we actually managed to arrive in time for the opening talk. The main information from Emis seems to be that PCS web is going to be their main platform to take them into the future. Our PCT has been looking at whether or not we should change from LV to PCS and we have been put off by stories of poor functionality and poor data transfer. It now looks as if this won’t be necessary, as the functionality of the web version is going to be better when ready and data transfer from our existing system to it sounds a lot more promising, in that it appears it can be done on the fly with some users remaining on LV as the upgrade is rolled out. This piece of information was probably worth the trip in itself, as we have had big problems with data conversion in the past and don’t want to go through that again if we can help it. We have therefore made up our minds not to go to PCS but wait for PCS web.

As well as the lectures there is a large exhibition hall, which has an area dedicated to Emis where they have numerous computers showing off their latest software. At break times this can be a very busy area, so it is best to try and go there at a quiet time. There are also ten or more exhibitors who have stands showing off their wares. These include add-on products and other services in the more general IT field.

We use several applications that run side by side with Emis and are always looking for other things that can help us. It was useful to meet face to face with the creator of Frontdesk, which we use but are having some problems with. Other stalls that took our eye include a company that may be able to scan all paper records onto the computer, helping us free up a couple of rooms. Emis were also demonstrating their new billing software, which although not finished looked impressive and may help us with a problem we have identified running our travel clinics.

In summary, there are lots of reasons for going to an event like this. You can gain a lot of insight into what is going on at a national level with the IT programme. You can find out what is going to happen in the next year to your computer system, and there is plenty of opportunity to learn how to get more out of your current system, either from lectures, small groups or one to one with the numerous experts around. The other exhibitors can also be very useful, and several solutions to problems can be found and products that you might not have heard of can be seen and the people talked to.