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Disease management programs were initially advocated by pharmaceutical companies in the1990s to provide value-added services to differentiate their drugs. When managed care organizations and outsourcing companies realised the potential of these programs to enhance patient management and reduce costs, they expanded the focus on specific diseases.  
 
Software such as Dawn Rheumatology (RH)—which is manufactured by 4S Information Systems Ltd.— is an important resource for clinicians seeking a better way to manage their patients’ medicine and treatment. For example, Anti-TNF drugs for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis are expensive and their effectiveness needs close monitoring. Fulfillment of American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 50–70% improvement and European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) good response or remission  [28-joint disease activity score (DAS28) <2.6] at three months are good outcome measures, according to Stewart.

“Dawn Rheumatology software has an integrated calculator/questionnaire module that can quickly derive these measures,” Stewart said. “The software has reports that permit ready tracking of these outcome measures such that it is easy to determine each patient's response with time."

Dawn RH was specially developed for the management of  patients suffering from rheumatologic disorders relating to the loco-motor system, including joints, muscles, connective tissues, and soft tissues around the joints and bones. With Dawn RH, rheumatologists can implement a safer, more organised way to manage patients and achieve better outcomes.
 
The software is easy to use, yet comprehensive, and it can be integrated with other information systems such as laboratory and patient administration. In addition, Dawn RH includes useful features such as scheduling dietary notes, self assessment forms, results monitoring and audit. Using Dawn RH to electronically monitor patients offers a number of benefits for clinicians and their patients. For instance, physicians can:

• Automate many tasks to handle more patients with less time and effort
• Optimise drug utilisations and recall dates by rapidly assessing disease activity
• Receive trend detection alerts for test results or disease activity scores, improving the ability to monitor the state and progression of disease
• Keep patients safer and healthier by standardising practices and maximising clinical accuracy
• Easily extract data and analyze it to facilitate research, process improvement and disease management

 
While the use of clinical software is a growing trend, Dawn RH has been on the market for almost a decade. It has been used to treat thousands of UK patients at leading healthcare facilities such as St. Mary’s Hospital in London and Newcastle General Hospital in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The software was recently introduced to the North American market.
 
Based in North West England, 4S Information Systems is a leading manufacturer of software for the health care industry. The company also offers anticoagulation management, anaemia patient tracking and hematology patient tracking software. Trading under the name 4S Dawn Clinical Software, the company maintains a staff of 14 and more than 300 customers in almost 20 different countries.
 
To learn more about how 4S Information Systems and Dawn RH are helping physicians leverage technology to improve patient care, please visit www.4s-dawn.com/dmard. Or contact Syd Stewart, managing director of 4S Information Systems Ltd., at 44 15395 63091.