On Monday May 11th Ythos welcomed Mr. David Willetts MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, to the Cambridge Science Park to provide a pre-launch overview of their new technology that is aimed at making a difference to the delivery of health and social care services.

The company has developed a highly innovative software system which makes it possible to automate very complex, information-critical processes, such as those seen in health and social care systems around the world.
Delivering the quality of care we expect from our public services involves people from many different organizations making difficult decisions based on information they get from interactions with tens or perhaps hundreds of people, organizations, computer systems, instruments; not to mention a forest of pieces of paper. Missing out just a single part of any process could mean that someone vulnerable is forgotten.

Imagine if we could take away some of the burden of those processes for millions of people, with thousands of interactions every minute across many different locations, with complete confidence, safety and security.
Ythos’ new product and related services can do just that for the systems vendors and care providers who are looking to deliver higher quality care at lower cost.
CloudBurst takes information from hundreds of different sources and enables us to process it according to relevance, and rules that are laid down by clinical or application specialists. Data is instantly available when and where it’s needed either for real time care, intervention, outcome, planning and research, without requiring expensive and unreliable central repositories, and with better concern over people’s privacy.

The technology makes a huge leap towards our goals that no patient will fall through the gaps; no child will be exposed to unnecessary health or social risk, no critical care patient will receive poor treatment and that no chronic illness will leave a patient in despair or without dignity.

The inventors of the technology are ambitious for its potential. “This technology and process can deliver advanced solutions in pretty much any health or social care setting” said co-founder Gerry Skews. He added “We have taken standard components and built an applications library containing hundreds of connectable services that can link up to existing systems, process information including images and videos, as well as numeric and written data, and pass it between different locations and organizational functions. So, by integrating existing components, automating the workflow and applying logical rules we can actually make information systems work for people - the way they are supposed to.”

The technical expert behind the project is co-founder Matthew Adams. His background is very much on the leading edge of software technology and systems architecture. As well as being an author for leading international publishers O’Reilly, he has been the award-winning CTO of a healthcare company that developed a software system for managing millions of patients over many years to help prevent blindness from diabetes.

“What makes CloudBurst™ different from earlier generations of technology is that we have made the whole system adaptable to the care process, from the ground up. So, the services, rules, user interface, connectivity, messaging and data handling components are all managed by a programmable automated workflow controller that is embedded at the heart of the system.” He added “Coupled with existing investments in communications and applications infrastructure, whole new systems can be developed, tested and deployed in a fraction of the time normally associated with projects like this.”

These principles are not, in themselves, revolutionary, but most software stops well short of delivering a complete connected solution to the frustration of users and system developers.

CloudBurst™ enables Ythos’ partners to change all that, but there is a catch; the company recognizes that the software technology is only part of the picture and that the development process is just as important. Ythos brings together global expertise in software development, process, user experience and design with their partner’s domain expertise to develop a total solution, one step at a time. At every stage of development we build tangible value in the system, and adapt the software to the changing business needs as we explore the specification in more detail. No more throwing a document over to your outsourcing partner, and hoping that what comes back is right - you can see the system evolving week-by-week.

“At least now we can change the specification two weeks before the final code drop and know that the stress level is not going to cause the project managers to head straight for the lawyers!” commented Skews.
The company is already in discussions with several leading healthcare companies and academic institutes in the US and Europe and is actively looking for major partners with projects that could benefit from CloudBurst.

The Shadow Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, David Willetts, today met the owners of a Cambridge-based technology innovation company who have designed revolutionary new software to change the way health and social care is delivered.

Mr Willetts met Gerry Skews and Matthew Adams, co-founders of Ythos, at the Trinity Centre on the Cambridge Science Park for a briefing about technology transfer and reaching new markets with their innovations. They were joined by Conservative candidates standing in the local county council elections on 4th June. 

Ythos is pioneering a new technology system called CloudBurst which will help policy makers implement care systems that can automatically manage millions of patients simultaneously through their individual care or social processes.  As a result of this, Ythos believes that that no patient will fall through the gaps, no child will be exposed to unnecessary health or social risk, no critical care patient will receive poor treatment, and no chronic illness will leave a patient without dignity.

The founders are currently in talks to market this innovative technology in the USA and UK and would very much like an opening with the NHS.

Mr Willetts said companies like Ythos should be supported in reaching new markets:

“It is very important that we open up the procurement process so that it’s easier for small businesses to sell their services to the NHS and other big government departments. Often the best way for small businesses is not to put equity into it, but to give it contracts and buy its products, and the British public sector has been far too reluctant to open up procurement to innovative companies like those here in Cambridge.”

Mr Skews said: “We were delighted to welcome Mr Willetts to the home of great science and technology, with 800 years of innovation for us to build on, and with an ongoing reputation for changing the world.

 “Today we have a real and tangible opportunity to use the tools and technologies that have been developed in recent years to help deliver social and health care reform. We remain extremely optimistic that a future Conservative government will find ways that drive innovation so that it truly benefits the health and wealth of the nation.”

About Ythos

Ythos Ltd is a value added services company providing specialist consulting and information technology solutions.  

The company is based in Cambridge, UK with associate consultants in many countries throughout the world. The company provides both software and business solutions to the public and private sector and provides technology access through both direct sales and technology transfer to end users and clients.

In September 2008 the company was acquired by Gerry Skews and Matthew Adams, two Cambridge based technology entrepreneurs that each have long careers and well documented experience in technology, product, software and business development.

Further information is available from www.ythos.net and blogs.ythos.net

Cambridge, UK - 3rd April 2009

Ythos will be attending HIMSS09 in Chicago this week, and talking about CloudBurst, our new software technology and agile process for rapid clinical and pharmaceutical applications development.

Bringing new products to market traditionally relied upon a team of software developers managing a growing source code base and building new applications from the ground up.

As the volume of code increases, the time necessary to test, bug fix and document soars, leading to massive increases in development costs and time.

Overseas outsourcing of software has not solved the problem with quality of code and communications difficulties being cited as the main reasons for project delay and failure.

Now we are introducing a solution from a company with many years of experience in delivering advanced healthcare solutions in primary, acute and specialist care.

For more information about CloudBurst during the HIMSS conference, call Gerry Skews on +44 7980970326, or email himss-conference@ythos.net

About Ythos

Ythos Ltd is a value added services company providing specialist consulting and information technology solutions.

The company is based in Cambridge, UK with associate consultants in many countries throughout the world. The company provides both software and business solutions to the public and private sector and provides technology access through both direct sales and technology transfer to end users and clients.

In September 2008 the company was acquired by Gerry Skews and Matthew Adams, two Cambridge based technology entrepreneurs that each have long careers and well documented experience in technology, product, software and business development.

Further information is available from www.ythos.net and blogs.ythos.net

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners

Cambridge, UK — 5^th November 2008 — Ythos Ltd, the Cambridge-based Technology and Business Development consultancy, today announced that it has been selected to join the Microsoft BizSpark Program as a Network Partner.

The BizSpark Program is a new global program designed to accelerate the success of early stage Startups by connecting them to Network Partners: active members of the global software ecosystem who can provide mentorship, guidance and resources to BizSpark Startups. BizSpark creates an ongoing, mutually beneficial ecosystem between Microsoft, Startups and Network Partners.

“In a challenging global economic climate, it is even more important to get the best possible marriage of business and technology to help us to deliver value to our customers” said Gerry Skews, a senior partner at Ythos. "A startup faces particular challenges, both in terms of raising capital, and developing the spark of genius into a commercially successful business. Having the right advice and support from experts in their field is invaluable."

Microsoft is committed to helping entrepreneurs to transform their ambitions into sustainable, dynamic businesses and to foster innovation and entrepreneurialism. To this end, the BizSpark Program provides Startups with software, support and visibility at a time when they are most valuable and least affordable—during their first three years, with no upfront costs and minimal requirements.

BizSpark gives Startups fast and easy access to Microsoft’s current full-featured development tools, platform technologies as well as production licenses to bring to market innovative and interoperable solutions for the next generation of user experiences.

To be eligible for the Microsoft BizSpark Program, Startups must be actively engaged in development of a software-based product or service that is a core piece of their business model, have been in business less than three years, and have less than USD$1M in revenue.

Startups may enroll for the program by obtaining sponsorship from a designated BizSpark Network partner.

About Ythos

Ythos Ltd is a value added services company providing specialist consulting and information technology solutions.

The company is based in Cambridge, UK with associate consultants in many countries throughout the world. The company provides both software and business solutions to the public and private sector and provides technology access through both direct sales and technology transfer to end users and clients.

In September 2008 the company was acquired by Gerry Skews and Matthew Adams, two Cambridge based technology entrepreneurs that each have long careers and well documented experience in technology, product, software and business development.

Further information is available from www.ythos.net and blogs.ythos.net

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners

Ythos, the Cambridge based healthcare technology company today announced publication of its latest research into health trends with a discussion paper entitled “Retinal Screening and Blindness Risk Assessment in Ireland” in which it emerges that there are more than 200,000 people requiring a diagnostic test annually to diagnose Diabetic Retinopathy, Glaucoma and Age Related Macular Degeneration.

Blindness is a significantly increasing clinical risk in populations throughout the world as habits and diets change and the worlds’ population ages.

The leading causes of blindness are different according age and demographic risk factors. Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in the working age population according to data published by the International Diabetes Federation, Center for Disease Control and data recently published in the scientific press. Glaucoma is a disease that affects eyesight through increased intra ocular pressure impacting on the neurophysiology of the retina, and Age Related Macular Degeneration affects patients over 50 years old.

The important fact is that each of these conditions is treatable with early clinical intervention and that means detecting the condition as early as possible.

Ythos consultants designed and developed a software technology that manages very large numbers of patients in an automated pathway using a service oriented software workflow technology. In order to develop the technology significant market and epidemiological research was carried out to better understand the scale and scope of the worldwide problem.

Ireland was chosen as one of the countries to research as it was representative of a well developed European economy but had not implemented a nationwide systematic screening program.

Commenting on the research and availability of the report Gerry Skews a General Partner in Ythos said “We conducted the research specifically to assess the effect that this technology could have. If we have clear picture of the economic impact of disease before systematic programs are implemented and then conduct research subsequent to any implementation we have a well documented data set that will help prove how technology can benefit healthcare provision”. He added “The UK has a very well documented system of retinal screening for patients with diabetes but currently no systematic method for Glaucoma or AMD. The UK system predominantly uses the NHS to deliver the service which has proved effective; however in healthcare economies that are mixed we expect to see methods emerging that embrace and integrate both private and public health systems. This research provides a foundation for that hypothesis”

The discussion paper together with the research sources are available as a download from the company’s web site at http://www.ythos.net/casestudy.aspx?CaseStudyId=10.

Ythos Ltd is a value added services company providing specialist consulting and information technology solutions in the medical and scientific area. The company is based in Cambridge, UK with associate consultants in many countries throughout the world. The company provides both software and business solutions to the public and private sector and provides technology access through both direct sales and technology transfer to end users and clients.

In September 2008 the company was acquired by Gerry Skews and Matthew Adams, two Cambridge based technology entrepreneurs that each have long careers and well documented experience in technology, product, software and business development.

Further information is available from www.ythos.net