HUML, through its GPAccess After Hours programme, is the first site in Australia to use Odyssey clinical decision support systems.

The project, which will offer after-hours virtual decision support services via tablet and mobile device technology, relies on Odyssey CareAssess migrated to the cloud in partnership with Melbourne-based cloud services company Australian Cloud.

The entire project is hosted on Ninefold, the Australian public cloud compute and cloud storage company.

Avia has said that having Odyssey CareAssess delivered by a cloud hosting partner means that homes that could not afford the initial capital outlay can now access the software through 3G or broadband on a pay as you go and/or monthly subscription basis.

“Odyssey CareAssess, delivered as a solution by Australian Cloud and Ninefold, will mean aged care homes that cannot afford the initial capital outlay can now access Odyssey CareAssess to provide essential clinical care to their residents  through low monthly subscription,” said director of sales at Avia Health Informatics Chris Coyne.

Odyssey CareAssess has been piloted in the UK, where care homes using the product have experienced up to 50% reductions in referrals on to hospital emergency departments or local GPs.

Healthcare software specialist Avia Healthcare (LON:AVIA) has signed the fifth contract for its clinical commission referral software PathfinderRF in the space of eight weeks.

South East Staffs Clinical Commissioning Group will use PathfinderRF to support referrals and clinical communication in the South Staffordshire region.

Avia said its PathfinderRF software enables commissioning groups and other Primary Care Organisations to manage decisions and the movement of clinical information from general practice to specialist and community services.

Barry Giddings, Avia chairman added: "We are very pleased to be working with South East Staffs CCG taking on PathFinderRF and look forward to working with them to take full advantage of PathFinderRF in supporting cost savings through effective referrals. 

We look forward to continuing to grow the expanding list of Commissioning Groups using PathFinderRF," he added.

Shares in Avia have rallied in recent weeks following their return from a lengthy suspension on the contract wins both for PathfinderRF and also Avia’s Odyssey software for receptionist prioritisation and assessment by the clinician.

Avia said it can now supply healthcare organisations across the UK & Ireland clinical 'end-to-end' solutions.

Avia acquired the intellectual property rights to sell and manage development of PathFinderRF from Nene Commissioning Group in Northants in June 2011.

Last month, the group said it reduced the amount it said it wanted to raise to support its product development from £1.5 million to £500,000, citing the strong influx of orders.

It also added that after a strategic review it had decided it no longer needed to sell the business.

Avia Health Informatics (LON:AVIA) today told investors it was no longer up for sale.

The group confirmed that it has now concluded a strategic review of its business. Avia said it is not in talks with any party regarding a potential sale of the company.

Avia confirmed that instead of selling the company it plans to raise at least £500,000 to support the development of the business.

Last month Avia announced that it needed to raise a much smaller sum of money rather than the £1.5 million it previously forecast. It also published restated accounts for the year to March, showing revenues of £2.1 million and an operating loss of £540,000.

The shares resumed trading following the announcements last month. 

At that time it said that it wanted to raise the money for new product development with a portion to be used as a working capital buffer in the event trading turned down again.

Avia added that it did not need new funds “for the sole purpose of securing the business” after recent cost-cutting and sales deals.

Healthcare support software specialist Avia Health Informatics (LON:AVIA) said today it would seek to raise a net £500,000 in new cash, a much smaller sum than the £1.5 million previously forecast.

The group added it wanted the money for new product development with a portion to be used as a working capital buffer in the event trading turned down again.

Avia added that it did not need new funds “for the sole purpose of securing the business” after recent cost-cutting and sales deals.

Cash at end December was £0.22 million, though Avia cautioned that cash headroom levels will remain tight going forward in 2012.

The firm added it is also looking for partners to fund specific products, services and/or market projects.

Avia said: “The company has taken steps to reduce its outgoings and to maintain its sales, marketing and development activity within the company's current cashflow.“ 

“This, together with the encouraging levels of interest in and new orders for PathFinderRF and the levels of renewals in the Odyssey range, have led the Board to seek a lower target fundraising compared to that thought last year,” it added.

Avia today announced a new contract for Pathfinder, its online referral communication system, from NHS Peterborough, which commissions healthcare in Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.

Today's deal follows one announced on 10 January - for the sale of PathFinderRF to the Lincolnshire South West Clinical Commissioning Group.

Avia today also published restated accounts for the year to March, showing revenues of £2.1 million and an operating loss of £540,000.

Shares in the group were suspended last August following concerns about the company’s financial position.

Since then, Avia said it had reduced costs by £350,000 and will cut a further £100,000 in the financial year starting in March.

Salary deferment of £200,000 in 2011 has now reduced to less that £75,000 and is forecast to reduce to zero by March 2012, Avia added.

Avia said that having Odyssey CareAssess delivered by a cloud hosting partner means that homes that could not afford the initial capital outlay can now access the software through 3G or broadband on a pay as you go and/or monthly subscription basis.

It added that the new development will mean care homes do not have to worry about servers, clinical and technical updates, technical knowhow and the concerns of data backup, while workers can move from move from care home to care home and still be able to access records.

Chairman Barry Giddings said: "Being able to access Odyssey CareAssess through the hosted desktop on an Apple iPad, Android slates and Windows tablets will mean that many more users will now be able to access the software to provide essential care to their residents.

"It's so simple to use and able to run on the 3G connections making it available to organisations that have not been able to install Wi-Fi throughout their care homes.”

The Odyssey range is built on a common medical content database which has been developed over the past 16 years and is tailored for prisons, ships, call centres, GP out of hours, walk in centres, care homes, pharmacies and other clinical and non-clinical environments.

Shares in Avia remain suspended at 45p.

Clinical decision support specialist Avia Health Informatics (LON:AVIA) announced this morning that it has signed its first sales contract for its PathFinderRF product.

The deal, with Welland Clincal Commissioning Group, will see Avia’s software be used to support referrals and clinical communication in south Lincolnshire in the UK.

PathFinderRF is an on-line referral decision support and clinical communication system that enables commissioning groups and other primary care organisations to manage referral decision making and the communication of clinical information from general practice to specialist and community services.  Avia acquired the intellectual property rights to sell and manage development of PathFinderRF from Nene Commissioning Group in Northants in June this year.

With its existing Odyssey clinical support systems and now PathFinderRF, Avia said that it can now offer healthcare organisations across the UK and Ireland various clinical end-to-end solutions to help improve the efficiency of their services. The product range for primary care now includes: initial self-assessment using Odyssey SelfAssess; receptionist prioritisation and assessment by the clinician using Odyssey PatientAssess; and the referral by the clinician to community or specialist care using PathFinderRF.

“We are very pleased to be working with Welland Clinical Commissioning Group and look forward to helping them to take full advantage of PathFinderRF in supporting cost savings and improvements in patient care through more effective and better managed referrals,” said Barry Giddings, Avia’s chairman. “We look forward to growing the list of commissioning groups using PathFinderRF.”

On Wednesday, the firm said that it planned to shift its focus away from the UK market and place greater emphasis on gaining business in international growth markets, such as emerging markets in the Far East and the Americas.

As it reported a first-half loss before tax of £484,882 (H1 2010: £255,330 loss) on broadly flat revenues of £1 million, the firm also said that its anticipates growth in both the GP and care homes sector within the UK during this current half-year period.

Avia’s shares remain suspended.

Healthcare software firm Avia Health Informatics (LON:AVIA) said today that its current financial year will see a focus on the company shifting its dependence away from the UK market and placing “greater emphasis” on major international growth markets.

Specifically, the firm plans to focus on emerging markets in the Far East and the Americas.

Reporting interim results for the six months to September 30, Avia confirmed that the anticipated improvement in its business during the first half of the current year did not occur. Growth in the UK, especially in the prison and general practitioner sectors, was well below expectations, mainly due to cost constraints within the UK’s healthcare markets.

Due to this lack of anticipated growth, the company’s cash reserves were compromised and the directors took the decision to request the suspension of its shares from trading on the Alternative Investment Market in early August. Directors and staff have contributed short-term funding support to the business but the directors’ opinion is that the firm is still in need of £1.5 million of funds.

Operationally, Avia has been temporarily restructured so as to focus on short-term sales success. Meanwhile, the firm has undertaken a “root and branch” review, starting with a full revised sales forecast by product – including the newest product: PathFinderRF.

Revenue during the first half was £1,028,000 compared, with £987,485 in the first half of Avia’s 2011 financial year. The gross profit margin dropped considerably, from 48 per cent in H1 2011 to 14 per cent in H1 2012. Consequently, the firm’s loss before tax increased to £484,882 (H1 2010: £255,330).

Although, Avia plans a greater focus on emerging markets in the Far East and the Americas, it still anticipates growth in both the GP and Care Home sector within the UK during the second half of the current financial year, it said.

Avia’s shares – at 45 pence each – remain suspended.

Healthcare software firm Avia Health Informatics (LON:AVIA) increased turnover to £2.1 million during the year to March 31 2011 from £1.75 million in 2010, according to results released today.

The firm’s results also showed that its operating loss increased to £540,000 (2010: £320,000 loss) as its gross profit margin reduced slightly to 41 per cent from 44 per cent due to the establishment of a US subsidiary during the second half of the year. However, Avia was able to maintain control over its administrative costs, it said.

The firm’s loss before tax increased to £540,000 from £317,000 in the previous year, which translated to a loss per share of 12.25 pence (2010: 6.1 pence).

Avia, which develops and sells clinical decision support software, said that the improvement it anticipated in the first half of the current financial year did not materialise and that expectations of strong growth in the UK, especially in the prisons and GP sectors, was “well below expectations”. This, said the firm, was mainly due to cost constraints within the UK’s healthcare market.

These difficulties led the firm’s directors and staff to provide it with short-term funding in August, while Avia is seeking to attract longer term funding of £1 million net of costs.

Operationally, the company has been temporarily restructured so as to focus on short-term sales success with all the support staff focusing on sales, with weekly updates of sales activity being provided to the board. The firm said that the directors have also reviewed the cost base assumptions and have made significant savings in expenditure planned for the future.

Avia added that the challenging market conditions experienced in its core UK markets during the 2011 financial year have continued through into the current year, restraining UK growth. However, the firm said it anticipates growth from new emerging markets both in the GP and Care Home sector within the UK during the second half of the current year. Meanwhile, the firm believes in the potential for the company in overseas markets.

The shares were suspended on August 5 when it announced that it had experienced a revenue shortfall against market expectations and that it was seeking additional funding. The shares will remain suspended pending the release of the outstanding financial results.

After Friday’s close the group updated investors on the group’s financial situation and revealed that it has received approaches to buy parts of the business.

Avia said that the group’s current cash resources remain tightly constrained, although the recent trading performance and its management of working capital have allowed it to continue trading.  

The company said that based on draft accounts, there is no change to the company's previously announced expectations for the outstanding financial results. It expects revenues in the order of £2.1 million and an operating loss - before any impairment of intangible assets and non-recurring items - of around £500,000.

It is planned that Avia will give investors an update on its expectations for the current year at or shortly before the confirmation of its audited results for FYE March 2011.

Avia believes that it needs to raise £1 million in additional external funding so that it can provide a more stable base for future growth. It said that it continues to seeking this funding and it continues to ‘examine all funding options’.

Furthermore it said that approaches have been received and solicited from potentially interested parties and further talks are expected in this regard.

Aside from funding talks the company also revealed that it has been approached by 

In addition, the Company has been approached by parties interested in acquiring the group’s principal operating business, including its intellectual property. Avia said it plans to evaluate all such approaches, whether oriented towards funding or the purchase of its operating assets, with a view to seeking to maximise shareholder value. 

Avia’s shares have been suspended since August 5, when it announced that it had experienced a revenue shortfall against market expectations and that it was seeking additional funding

Today, the company confirmed that the need for funding arose due to lower-than-anticipated sales of two of the group’s 11 products in the UK public sector market. The firm also announced today that it is working with its auditors towards completing the audit for the financial year to the end of March 2011 and that this should be ready by the end of September.

Based on management accounts, Avia expects to report revenue of around £2.1 million – which would be an increase of approximately 20 per cent compared to the previous year and also broadly in line with expectations.

An operating loss, before impairments and non-recurring items, of £500,000 is also expected by the company; this would compare with market expectations of £300,000.

Speaking to Proactive Investors this afternoon, Avia chairman Barry Giddings, told us he still has high hopes for one of the two products that had experience lower-than-anticipated sales: Avia’s Odyssey FirstAssess decision support software that it the company is targeting at prisons. “This is currently being sold to the UK public sector and internationally,” he said.

Indeed, recent deals by Avia include a sale of Odyssey FirstAssess to HM Prison Swaleside, which Avia expects to lead to further wins in the UK prisons sector. 

Meanwhile, Giddings said that the firm still requires £1 million in order to fund growth at the company, which is continuing to examine all funding options available to it. “We still need that £1 million to sell our products internationally and into UK corporate markets,” he added.

Avia said it will continue to update the market on its financial condition in due course. Meanwhile, the company’s shares remain suspended.

The firm’s board is seeking to determine the appropriate level of funding needed to ensure the business’s continuing development and so the company has requested a temporary suspension of trading in its shares pending clarification of its financial position.

Avia, which currently has no borrowings, added that it is looking at funding options, including further funding from the directors and staff of the business.

In recent months, Avia has issued a flurry of news releases that suggests demand for its clinical decision support software is growing.

Recent contracts by Avia include a sale into the UK’s prison service and an Odyssey TeleAssess sale to a US client.

Avia sold its Odyssey FirstAssess clinical decision support software to HMP Swaleside in a deal that the firm expects will lead to further wins within the UK prison sector

Avia’s one-year contract with US-based GuardiMi is for the supply of multiple licences of its Odyssey TeleAssess product. GuardMi, an Ohio-based company that operates a Medical Call Centre, plans to begin using Odyssey TeleAssess in September.

Yesterday, Avia’s share price closed at 44 pence, the same price at which it started the day.

Avia Health Informatics (LON:AVIA) said its part-time finance director has stood down and is moving to a non-executive role in which he will chair the firm’s audit committee and also be a member of its remuneration committee.

The firm added that Paul Preece will continue in his positions as full-time financial controller and company secretary.

“I wish to extend the board’s and my personal thanks to Nigel for his efforts and commitment to Avia,” said Barry Giddings, Avia’s executive chairman. “Nigel and I started Avia, having devised the health informatics strategy for the company, raised the initial funding and acquired Plain Healthcare and since taken Avia into America, Australia, Europe and are now entering India and the Far East.  The Avia team is pleased that Nigel will continue to serve as a non-executive on the Avia board.”

Avia supplies clinical decision support software to healthcare customers around the world. Its Odyssey pre-diagnostic software is targeted at both clinicians and non-clinicians. 

As well as providing decision support for general healthcare settings, the Odyssey range includes products targeted at specific environments. For example, Odyssey FirstAssess  is designed for use in prisons and other detention centres while Odyssey MarineAssess is designed for the shipping industry.

Recently, Avia announced a £50,000 sale of its software with HMP Swaleside in a deal that the firm expects will lead to further wins within the UK prison sector.

Healthcare software firm Avia Health Informatic (LON:AVIA) has sold its Odyssey FirstAssess clinical decision support software to a UK prison in a deal which the firm expects will lead to further wins within the UK prison sector.

HMP Swaleside is the largest prison within the Kent cluster of three prisons. Avia said that the prison identified the need for a system that would assist it with protocols and that would reduce risk in terms of possible litigation, clinical governance and standardisation of the prison’s services, and chose Avia’s Odyssey FirstAssess product as a result.

Avia has designed Odyssey FirstAssess specifically for prison and secure healthcare environments. As well as supporting clinicians in prison to provide a high standard of care and consultation, the system will also help to reduce risk associated with clinical consultations and provide support in reducing the overall cost of healthcare provision.

The firm said that the contract value with HMP Swaleside is £50,000 but that the deal represents “an important strategic contract win” following a successful trial period at the first of three possible sites. Avia pointed out that the prison is known as a strategic and “vocal” prison within the UK prison service and it expects the contract to facilitate it in selling to other UK prisons.

“We are very pleased to have signed the contract with HMP Swaleside and look forward to working with and supporting them,” said Barry Giddings, Avia’s executive chairman. “We believe that having this important reference site will assist us in securing more business from the UK Prison sector."