The Leeds office of national law firm, Cobbetts LLP, has advised healthcare software provider, EMIS, in the creation of its new joint venture with fellow software business, INPS.

The 50:50 venture, named Healthcare Gateway, will allow real time medical data to be shared between GPs and other healthcare professionals within the NHS, which could significantly increase efficiency and improve patient care.

EMIS and INPS software users in the UK represent ca. 75 per cent of GP practices and together hold approximately 46 million electronic patient health records.

Cobbetts' lead commercial partner, Mark Green, said: "The highly innovative medical interoperability gateway enables different healthcare teams to view patients' detailed care records, exchange electronic discharge summaries and clinical documents, as well as enabling medication records to be viewed in hospital settings.  This should materially increase safety and speed of delivery, as well as saving time and money.  EMIS seem to have another winner on their hands with this new venture".

It is expected that other software providers, both in primary, community and hospital settings will buy services from the Gateway, to further connect electronic systems in the NHS.

Sean Riddell, EMIS CEO, said: "Our partnership with INPS is a landmark collaboration between two leading suppliers that has the potential to deliver more efficient services and improved care to 75 per cent of the UK population. The ability of healthcare professionals to securely share patient data is fundamental to improving the efficiency of NHS frontline services and patient care.

"We were over the moon with the performance of the Cobbetts team, lead by Mark Green, who brought to the negotiations a strong balance of technical skill, patience and commercial experience."

Support of the venture further cements Cobbetts’ relationship with the EMIS Group, following on from May when the firm’s corporate team advised EMIS on its admission to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.