MDU warns practices of data transfer privacy risks
Practices must warn patients that electronic transmission of data is not totally secure or foolproof, says a medical defence organisation in its new guidance on confidentiality. The Medical Defence Union has updated its guide to confidentiality and included a revised section on new recording and communication technologies. It says technologies such as mobile phones, video […]
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PCTs urged to move C+B from centres to practices
Primary care trusts are being encouraged to dismantle referral management centres that handle Choose and Book so that the work can be carried out in general practice. Some referral management centres or clinical assessment services (CAS) currently handle the entire Choose and Book process including discussing choice options and generating the password required for Choose […]
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CAS buys Clinical Solutions
CAS Service, the UK-based supplier of access management and clinical decision support systems for the healthcare market, has announced it is to acquire Clinical Solutions LLC, a US developer of clinical content. The price paid for Clinical Solutions was not disclosed. The deal brings together the CAS’s experience as the firm that supplies the software […]
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Telemedicine makes weak impact on outpatient waits
Evidence for the effectiveness of telemedicine in the UK is weak, according to a new report examining strategies for improving outpatient waiting times. Outpatient Services and Primary Care, a study by the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre (NPCRDC) based in Manchester, examines four alternative approaches for improving outpatient efficiency and effectiveness. It concludes […]
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Virtual reality heart failure pod goes on tour
Doctors in the US are being given the opportunity to walk in the shoes of a patient with congestive heart failure, thanks to a mobile virtual reality unit. The Heart FX Pod, developed by pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and marketing firm The RJO Group, invites clinicians to sit in a booth and don a pneumatic […]
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Newcastle goes out to tender for EPR
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust has become the latest trust to break ranks with the NHS Connecting for Health IT programme and go out to tender for a new clinical information system. The large acute trust has this month placed an advert in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) for a new […]
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New guidance for nurses on text messaging
The Royal College of Nursing has issued guidance on the use of text messaging services for nurses working with children and young people. The college says: “Text messaging can provide access and signposting to health and advice services for young or vulnerable people who would not access services by traditional methods.” However, it stresses the […]
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European telecare project reports success
A major project funded by the European Commission into video communications in telecare has concluded that while such systems are well received by older people, to be truly effective the IT needed to be further integrated with other devices such as alarm systems. The IST@HOME project lasted six months and supplied 600 homes in Germany, […]
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Large scale takeup of C+B DES predicted
The majority of GP practices in England are likely to sign up for the choice and booking directed enhanced service, according to Dr Mark Davies, Connecting for Health’s Choose and Book primary care medical director. Dr Davies, a GP in west Yorkshire, says CfH is still waiting for returns from Primary Care Trusts to confirm […]
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Academics call for NPfIT technical assessment
A group of 23 computer science academics from around the UK have written an open letter calling for an “independent technical assessment” of the National Programme for IT. They say in their letter to the House of Commons health select committee: "Concrete, objective information about NPfIT’s [National Programme for IT] progress is not available to external […]
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