Avoca offer a range of data management solutions covering managed services that leverage Avoca's specialist software, methodology and processes; consultancy support, to assist in a wide range of data management projects including reporting, data structuring, migration, warehousing, extraction, data audits etc; and licensed software tools.

NHS Data Migration:

The Avoca migration service offering ranges from a fully managed service to the provision of specialist tools for clients who wish to be more self-sufficient. NHS Data Migration - Managed Service

(DPMS) is a fully managed service devised by Avoca to support large scale, complex NHS Data Migration.  The service takes advantage of purpose built software tools developed by Avoca together with proven methodology and processes that ensure information governance and full auditability. The DPMS is the service offered by Fujitsu and BT as prime contractors to the NHS’ NPfIT.

The Avoca migration service produces a set of files that are guaranteed to be ready for upload to the target system. We deal with all intricacies of the target system specifications and data quality rules specified by the NHS, provide identity management, manage data mapping, and provide transformation and cleaning rules that have been used in hundreds of prior projects. The service is repeatable, fixed price and flexible enough to work over a wide range of source and target systems. The migration service draws on our unparalleled experience and expertise, offers predictability of timescale as part of a project’s deployment schedule and provides control over the considerable risks associated with this workstream. No other company has as much experience and expertise in delivering successful migration projects within NPfIT as Avoca.

NHS Data Migration - Software Tools

The specially designed software tools used by Avoca as part of the DPMS are available separately for clients with in-house data management skills who wish to perform some or all of the Data Migration.

Software Solutions and Tools include:

Identity Management matching and merging duplicate/fragmented personal records
Data Migration Engine data management solution for mapping, cleaning & transformation
Historic Data Repository person/patient centric storage and online retrieval of historic data

Data Management Consultancy Services

Avoca have unparalleled skills and experience in the field of NHS data management. Consultancy services can be provided on an ad-hoc or block contract basis to suit the specific needs of our clients.

Clients using our software tools can be as self sufficient as they wish, but with the comfort of a team of highly skilled and experienced data consultants to support them as and when required.

Identity Management

Avoca’s identity management tool is used to identify fragmented or duplicate records within a single PMI(Patient Master Index) , or across multiple PMIs, and to enable users to merge the matched records to create a single identity or patient demographic entry for each person. It is used by the NHS to resolve duplicate patient records within their local data and across large scale shared domains - where the same people/patients are common to multiple organisations within a geographical boundary and these records need to be combined into a single master person index. Patient identity management is extremely sensitive and the need for accuracy and information governance is critical. No other company has as much knowledge of the complex processes involved or can offer the wealth of expertise Avoca has gained in this mission critical area. Our pioneering work for Fujitsu Services and Connecting for Health in the delivery of a cluster wide solution for intra domain de-duping of patient data is a first for any company operating within the NHS.

This toolset is available for clients to buy directly from Avoca to create a de-duplicated demographic dataset within their local or enterprise wide environment.

For a preview of how Avoca’s identity management software can be used easily and affordably, to create a clean master patient index of demographic data, click on the link below
Identity Management Demonstration (coming soon)


Data Extraction

It may sound obvious that a migration project needs to access source system data but this can be a difficult exercise. Lack of system expertise, processing constraints and legacy provider reluctance are common problems. However, failure to extract data as quickly as possible, leads to projects experiencing delays later as poor data integrity is corrected at considerable expense (measured in time and resource) for the Trust. We have extensive experience of how to overcome the difficulties associated with extracting the source data which minimizes this risk and facilitates receipt of a timely and reliable extract ready to be used for migration.

Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing

This solution provided the initial product set that Avoca delivered to the NHS market back in 1996 when the company was founded and remains a key strength of the Avoca approach to NHS data management. The reporting and analysis suite of software has evolved to encompass data management tools to populate reporting databases, with front-end tools for analysis and reporting. This led in 2002 to Avoca being selected to deliver the largest online analysis service the NHS has seen, known as OSCAR, involving data from every hospital in England and 2000 users from PCTs, Health Authorities and Hospital Trusts. When NPfIT was born, Avoca customised the OSCAR tools to create a back office heavily automated, data driven, NHS Data Migration engine.

Healthcare Data Repository (Data Archive Solution)

The Healthcare Data Repository is a powerful data storage and retrieval solution. It is a solution to the need to retain valuable historic or archive data once legacy systems are decommissioned. Typically, when new systems are implemented current and recent data is migrated from the legacy systems, but a large amount of less frequently accesses, yet still vitally important data, must continue to be available on line to users. The HDR maintains reporting capability through powerful search functions. Legacy data structures can be retained to allow existing reporting processes to be run if required.

Data Security

Underpinning the work Avoca undertakes is the need to protect the patient level data involved. This data can be highly sensitive; clinically relevant and as such must be handled with great care. Avoca uses unique technology to enable data to be stored in a highly confidential form without affecting the functionality or performance of the applications that access it. The raw data is completely protected and sensitive information cannot be viewed, extracted or derived when accessed by any means other than approved, certificated access.