AAA screening saves lives

An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a swelling of the main blood vessel leading away from the heart. It often causes no symptoms but if not detected can be life-threatening. Identifying the condition early saves lives, so in 2009 the NHS began to screen men from their 65th year.

Public Health England asked us to develop a national IT platform for use by more than 40 local screening programmes across the country. Our software has since helped screen over 300,000 men each year. In 2015, the programme was also rolled out in Northern Ireland.

Continued improvement

We’ve carried on improving the screening process as the programme developed. For example we integrated the software with specialist ultrasound equipment. We also introduced electronic referral to vascular services for those at risk.

These changes have significantly improved efficiency. For example, they’ve removed the need for separate clinic work lists. They also allow AAA images to be embedded within a patient’s record and hundreds of appointments to be created in just a few clicks.