EMIS has appointed GP, Dr. Krishna Vakharia, as its Chief Medical Officer for Health after 18 months with the business.
Dr. Vakharia joined the connected healthcare software and systems company in 2022 as the Clinical Director responsible for Patient and Patient Access App.
In her new role, which will run alongside her stewardship of Patient and Patient Access, as well as her position as locum NHS GP in the North-East of England, Dr. Vakharia will be clinically accountable for all health aspects within product development at EMIS, including the phased roll-out of EMIS-X.
Commenting on the appointment, she said: “I feel privileged to be able to wear two important hats. In my role at EMIS I can influence innovation to improve health outcomes and make the lives of my primary care colleagues easier. And as a GP, I can see it in action within my community and among my peers.”
Shaun O’Hanlon, Chief Medical Officer at EMIS Group, added: “We are delighted to appoint Krishna as our Chief Medical Officer for Health.
“As a working GP she is perfectly placed, she understands all too well the current climate and issues affecting GPs. She also has a deep understanding and passion towards driving transformation within the health tech industry.
“With Krishna, we have every confidence we are in very safe and capable hands.”
As well as the online medical library Patient, and the Patient Access app, which allows GP appointments to be booked and repeat prescriptions requests to be made, Dr. Vakharia will continue to oversee FourteenFish, an appraisal and CPD platform which is used by thousands of clinicians.
Dr. Vakharia also works as a regular examiner for the postgraduate Diploma in Practical Dermatology for Cardiff University.
Her medical interests lie in women’s health, mental health, child health, dermatology and preventive medicine.
She added: “I’m very proud to work at EMIS. Its company ethos, culture and inclusivity make me genuinely want to turn up every morning in a truly supportive and innovative atmosphere. Everyone here wants to make patients and clinicians lives safer and easier - and that’s a great basis to do some really transformative things in healthcare. I’m excited to start 2024 in this new role.”
Dr. Vakharia’s appointment comes at the beginning of an exciting year for EMIS, which will see new features added to EMIS-X. It will also include the advancement of Recruit, a platform which uses advanced analytics and algorithms to identify potentially eligible patients from primary care data to participate in clinical trials, and Pathway, which enables healthcare teams to identify cohorts of at-risk patients for intervention and care.
