E-prescribing gets underway at Countess of Chester
A successful pilot for FileTek UK’s Meditech electronic prescribing (EP) system at the Countess of Chester Hospital, Cheshire, has opened the way for a full 12 -18 month roll-out of the system starting in early 2004. FileTek says that the system provides total integration between pharmacy stock system and the other patient-based Meditech modules, […]
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Granger says final LSP contract will come when ‘right’
The final local service provider (LSP) contract for the South of England will be signed in the New Year, when suppliers have "responded to treatment", says NHS IT director-general Richard Granger. In a short interview with E-Health Insider on the day that two of the remaining three LSP contracts were signed Granger said he was […]
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Technology can reduce or create medication errors
Technology has the potential both to reduce and to create new types of medication errors – and should be implemented with care, according to a national report from the US Pharmacopeia. The MEDMARX report analysing medical errors reported in 2002 shows that computer entry problems accounted for 10.3% of all the “causes of […]
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Primary care IT Manhattan style
Andrew Harrison, whose career change took him from computer programming to hospital medicine, continues his occasional series with some notes from a recent trip to the US where he visited a practice renowned for its celebrity patients and dynamic IT. I have often wondered how America medical practices compare to those in the UK with […]
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US Institute Publishes Core Capabilities for EHRs
In a new report the independent Institute of Medicine (IOM), part of the US National Academies, has published a set of eight core functions that electronic health records (EHRs) should be able to offer. The IOM report, ‘Key Capabilities of an Electronic Health Record System’, is intended to provide a basic ‘functional model’ for an […]
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Relief Online for Mental Health Problems
Patients in a trust in north west England will soon be able to try out a new set multimedia programs to combat depression, anxiety, stress and insomnia. The 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust, which covers Halton, Knowsley, St Helens, Warrington and Wigan & Leigh, is to trial the Ultrasis Relief Series a suite of online […]
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IT Vital to Tackle Health Staff Shortages
A major new US health IT survey suggests that new technology has significant potential to help mitigate the serious staff shortages faced by healthcare providers. The same survey also stressed the importance of re-evaluating workflow to realise the benefits from any IT implementation. Electronic medical records, point of care technologies and mobile and wireless communications […]
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Joining Up Is Hard To Do
Technology has an important role to play in the realising the ideal of “joined up” public services, but progress has been slow. SA Mathieson explores the problems and the potential. Specialist IT consultant, Stephen Howes, has encountered offices where staff have two terminals on their desks: one connected to the health network and the other […]
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Kaiser Permanente Aims for E-Health within Three Years
Kaiser Permanente, the second biggest integrated health delivery organisation in the US, has announced that it will invest $1.8 billion in advanced ICT systems including electronic medical records, electronic appointment booking, electronic prescription refills and referral requests. The programme represents one of the largest and most ambitious implementations of electronic medical records yet seen, in […]
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Leeds Leads on E-Commerce
Examples of e-commerce working in NHS purchasing ands supplies were showcased at a conference hosted by Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust this week. The trust has produced one of the first UK examples of e-commerce in NHS purchasing. Head of supplies, Keith Lilley, showed how the system was working in the trust’s cardiac catheter labs. Bar […]
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