ID cards may become healthcare ‘entitlement’ cards
The National Programme for IT has begun initial conversations with the Home Office to examine how the IT infrastructure being put in place in the NHS can be made compatible with national ID cards, production of which may eventually determine a patient’s ‘entitlement’ to receive free healthcare services. The ID card bill introduced in the […]
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Regional healthcare innovation agency begins work
The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) has made the final appointments to their new healthcare innovation agency, Health Enterprise East (HEE), which was set up to encourage and spread new ideas throughout the area and the whole NHS. The new director, Alan Barrell (right), said at the launch of HEE at Newmarket racecourse: "Many […]
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BMS UK takes over healthcare biometrics firm
Healthcare IT vendor Business Management Solutions UK has taken over ISL, from which it purchased biometric authentication software and hardware for the NHS. The company, ISL, manufactured Secure-IT and SentriNET, security systems that revolve around using fingerprints for logon and identity verification, but went into liquidation. The new company formed will be called BMS Biometrics Ltd. […]
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Siemens wins Frost & Sullivan healthcare IT award
Frost & Sullivan have given this year’s Healthcare Information Technology Company of the Year Award to Siemens Medical Solutions, which is judged under criteria including technological innovation, market growth and penetration and customer service. The award was conferred after Frost & Sullivan analysed and researched the European healthcare IT market for the company most deserving […]
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ID cards: discretion will be needed on healthcare access
If national ID cards are used to control access to NHS care, doctors will need some discretion to treat people who fall outside the eligibility criteria, two authors warn this week. Writing in the British Medical Journal, Julian Sheather, ethics adviser at the British Medical Association, and north London GP, Iona Heath, say: “If identity […]
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IBM invests $250m in healthcare initiative
IBM today announced a $250m (£132m) global initiative over three years to boost its presence in healthcare. The money will be used for solutions development, research and development, IBM Business Partner collaborations and to hire new specialists. Dr. Caroline Kovac, general manager of IBM Healthcare and Life Sciences said: “"The healthcare industry is under tremendous […]
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Europe’s largest healthcare e-market created
D.Logistics AG of Germany and Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC have announced that they are to merge their respective European operations, PLC GmbH (PLC) and Global Healthcare Exchange BVBA, to create a single electronic marketplace for European healthcare. D. Logistics and GHX LLC will each own 50 percent of the newly formed company, which will be […]
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US healthcare IT looks kinda familiar
In a second article on healthcare IT systems in America, Andrew Harrison reports from the 650-bed Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, a teaching hospital affiliated with New York University, where he finds that pizza plays an important role in clinical engagement… We tend to think of the US as being more advanced in […]
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ID cards on the way for healthcare entitlement
The government published plans published this week making clear that it wants to introduce identity cards which will be used eventually to establish entitlement to free healthcare and deter so-called health tourists. The Home Office plan, Identity Cards: the next steps, foresees the introduction of the health entitlement element of the scheme in the second phase […]
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Misys Healthcare Systems extends UK operations
Clinical software firm, Misys Healthcare Systems has announced today the opening of its UK headquarters office in Sussex and the appointment of Duane Lawrence as general manager and head of UK International Sales. Misys says its new UK HQ will enable it to better serve NHS customers. Lawrence, who will lead the new Misys Sussex […]
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