EMIS Launches Electronic Mentor Library
Leading UK primary care systems supplier EMIS has announced the launch of an updated version of its Mentor Library, which will be distributed free as a value- added service to the firms’ 5,000 primary care clients later this month. The Mentor Library can be accessed directly vie the EMIS clinical software, to support decision-making and […]
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InferMed Partners with BMJ’s Clinical Evidence
The BMJ Publishing Group has teamed up with InferMed, a leading UK provider of clinical software, to assess the feasibility of developing a system that electronically mimics the process that doctors naturally use to make clinical decisions. The two organisations say their shared objective is to develop an electronic clinical decision ‘support system’ to help […]
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UK Government Warms to Open Source Software
The Cabinet Office has published a consultation paper on use of Open Source Software (OSS) within the UK Government sector –- including the NHS — that concludes the development of OSS represents a fundamental change in the software market. OSS, software whose source code is openly published, is usually available at no charge, and is […]
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WebMD Acquires Medscape Portals
WebMD Corporation, one of the first US e-health firms to rise to prominence during the dotcom boom, has acquired the portal assets of rival MedicaLogic/Medscape, Inc., in a $10 million cash deal to expand services to physicians and other medical professionals. The deal covers the Medscape Medical Professional and Medscape Health for Consumers portals. Medscape’s […]
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Boxing Day Busiest Ever Day for NHS Direct
NHS Direct, the UK national telephone health advice service, had its busiest ever day on Boxing Bay, as the holiday season took its toll. The top enquiries were for vomiting, fever, coughs and diarrhoea. According to figures reported by the Guardian, the 24-hour nurse-led advice service took more than 24,000 calls on Boxing Day – […]
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£2M Investment Pledged for Cancer Information Systems
UK Health Minister Yvette Cooper has announced a new £2.3m package to invest in information systems to improve cancer monitoring and involve patients in developing cancer services in England. Some £2m will be invested in improving technology for collecting cancer data. The new money will be used to strengthen links with cancer networks and will […]
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2001: The Year the Money Disappeared
The NHS has stood at the cusp in 2001, its stark failures were laid bare by the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry and Shipman reports, and yet it was also the year in which a re-elected Labour Government pledged unprecedented investment in the service. Though the IT agenda has attracted few headlines, it has permeated both […]
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Smart Specimen Bag Launched
A new version of the humble pathology specimen bag that can integrate test request information with the electronic patient record is being piloted at NHS hospitals around the country. Speci-Sak II, made by MailmateSPS, is a plain specimen request form with a bag attached which goes through a specially adapted laser printer. Information recorded on […]
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IT Needed to Cut Drug Deaths
A new report by the Audit Commission has highlighted the need to invest in IT systems to cut the increasing number of patients who die after being given the wrong drugs in hospital. Approximately 1,200 people died last year in England and Wales as a result of the medication errors often caused by ineffective information […]
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Fitzpatrick Steps Down From Health Media Group
Tony Fitzpatrick has stepped down as chief executive of Health Media Group PLC, the leading UK online health content firm, following the release of a trading statement last week which said revenue will be below market expectations for the full year resulting in an operating loss. The company said the shortfall is the result of […]
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