Case Study: NHS QPoint

QPoint is a quality-assessment scheme provided to leading international Blood Glucose Meter manufacturers by Partnership Pathology Services at Frimley Park Hospital NHS Trust. QPoint ensures the reliability of life-critical blood glucose results essential to the management of diabetes. Thousands of healthcare professionals and individuals submit monthly readings to the scheme, where they are analysed for statistical variance. Each individual participant in the scheme is then sent a personalised report in the post advising on performance of their meter. A small sachet is attached to the report, containing a non-biological test sample ready for the next reading to be taken.

Challenge

Before discovering DCSL, Frimley Park Hospital used a basic database to track their participants’ personal information and results, but were finding it very limited in functionality. To add to their frustration, the existing developer was unable to maintain the database and code as the application became large and more complex. In essence many of the required functions didn’t exist in the software, and were performed manually, taking a great deal of time and effort.

A new multi-user database application was needed to upgrade the current system, provide a wealth of new functions, including a new secure web portal to allow QPoint participants to enter meter readings on line, as well as provide an area for Manufacturers to gain access to reports and to manage participant information.

Selection

In their quest to find a suitable replacement supplier, the Qpoint scheme organisers contacted DCSL, having visited their website.

Consultants at DCSL Software quickly grasped the concepts and, having audited the existing software and carefully analysed all new requirements of QPoint, provided a proposal to solve their needs.

Solution

As requirements were analysed it became clear the task in hand was going to be far more challenging than originally anticipated. Due to regulatory and logistical issues within the hospital, a traditional "client server" solution would not be feasible. A solution architected using Web Technologies was therefore implemented. A Microsoft SQL Server database, hosted on a remote server, holds all application data, and is accessed via Secure Web Services by known client machines over the Internet. The website also connects to the central database in a similar way. Due to the sensitive nature of the data stored, many advanced techniques were implemented to prevent uninvited users from penetrating the system.

When all users have entered their readings, complex mathematical calculations are performed across the set of data to obtain mean and standard deviation, followed by a sophisticated set of rules to determine the "score" of each meter. Quality is assessed by analysing the current and previously submitted results from each participant. Any problems are flagged to the user as soon as performance criteria are breached. Reports are printed and sent out in the post, with the potential for users to receive SMS and email alerts. Users can then log into the website portal to access reports and submit new readings.

The application also contains many functions to automate the day-to-day administration to run the QPoint scheme, including processing of participant data, billing, reporting, printing and maintenance.

Benefits

QPoint are now expanding their operations. With several thousand users, the system is now scalable and capable of serving potentially millions of participants across the world.