Mobile phones: the new tool to combat AIDS in Africa
Mobile phones will be used to help fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa, it was announced at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona. A public-private partnership between five member groups of the mobile phone industry and the US government has formed the Phones for Health initiative. Phones for Health is a $10m scheme aimed at […]
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Call to use Spine to find drug trial patients
The BioIndustry Association has expressed an interest in tapping into the NHS’s Spine database and using patient information to identify potentially willing drug test subjects. Speaking to the Scotsman, the association’s chief executive, Aisling Burnand said: “The UK has a real opportunity because the NHS’s patient records make this a unique place in the world […]
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Online doctor faces GMC over internet prescribing
A GP who prescribed betablockers for a 16-year-old boy over the internet thwarted attempts by other doctors to keep the youngster off medication, the General Medical Council heard. Julian Eden, a GP who ran online service e-med, prescribed the drugs to the boy, who had a history of mental illness, without discussing it with his […]
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Potential purchase of iSoft said to be nearing end-game
Newspaper reports today say that troubled software supplier iSoft is in talks with three final-stage bidders, naming US healthcare firms Cerner and McKesson, together with private equity firm General Atlantic Partners. According to the report in The Times discussions are at a late stage for the sale of the health software firm, which is at the […]
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Wider engagement with pharmacists could yield benefits
Wider engagement with community pharmacists which could deliver a range of new services with the appropriate IT support and access to electronic records is being ignored by the NHS IT programme in England, according to a pharmacy body. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) has told an inquiry into the future of pharmacy […]
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Proposals for wider data sharing to be unveiled
The government is to make it easier for different department systems to share information about individuals currently held on separate databases. The move is expected to be presented as a pragmatic way to improve the delivery of public services and follows a government policy review of public services, headed by Work and Pensions secretary John […]
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SystmOne to be offered in NWWM
TPP’s SystmOne is now being offered as an integrated primary care solution to users in the NHS Connecting for Health North West and West Midlands (NWWM) cluster with local service provider, CSC. The move was announced by TPP, the Leeds-based supplier that already supplies SystmOne in the North-east and Eastern clusters formerly managed by Accenture and taken over […]
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New oncology system goes live at Arden Cancer Centre
A new oncology-specific, image-enabled electronic medical record system has gone live in the Arden Cancer Centre, part of the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust. The new system from oncology system specialists, IMPAC, has been designed to improve overall workflow and practice management and to enhance care for cancer patients at the centre. IMPAC […]
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ScriptSwitch helps PCTs meet statin targets
Prescribing software can help to remind GPs to opt for cheaper generic drugs when they treat patients with high cholesterol, according to a new survey. The software supplier, ScriptSwitch, surveyed its 62 clients following the publication of national prescribing indication results for statins, drugs to lower cholesterol levels in people with or at risk of […]
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Health IT administrator charged with planting ‘logic bomb’
A former systems administrator in the US has been arrested by the FBI and charged after placing a ‘logic bomb’ on a computer network that held patient prescription information. Yung-Hsun Lin, 50, of Montville, New Jersey was last month charged with two counts of computer fraud after it was discovered he had placed the malware […]
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