Primary Care Organisations at Crossroads on IT
New guidance on information and information systems for primary care organisations produced by the Primary Care Information Modernisation Programme (PCIMP) concludes that the NHS stands at a crossroads in the development of primary and community care information systems The guidance, read alongside a newly published review of the primary care clinical systems market carried out […]
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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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Gates Says NHS Must Deliver in Digital Age
It’s not every day that you get to see the richest man in the world, and the gawp factor must have accounted for a good number of the 150-odd NHS chief executives and directors that attended last week’s Microsoft-sponsored Department of Health IT conference. But the man from Redmond offered them little in way of […]
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PKI Token System Adopted for Australian Health System
The Australian Health Insurance Commission has awarded a contract to Rainbow eSecurity, a provider of transaction security solutions, to provide Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)-based Internet security systems to be deployed across the Australian healthcare system. The introduction of reliable, secure confidential electronic communications will enable confidential patient information and data to be exchanged electronically, providing a […]
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Wanless on Information Technology
The UK health service has a poor record on the use of information and communication technology and spending in this area will need to grow at a faster rate over the next 20 years to catch up and keep up with other countries, according to the Wanless Report on NHS funding. Most of the headlines […]
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IT Standardisation Difficult, but Vital
Achieving the “robust, flexible and standardised” NHS information system envisaged by health secretary, Alan Milburn, will be difficult while the service continues to act as a loose federation. That was a key message from a London conference on IT and the NHS Plan. The argument was made most strongly by BT Health’s general manager, David […]
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NHS Signs Landmark National Software Deal With Microsoft
The NHS has completed a three-year corporate software licensing deal with Microsoft Ltd, which will see all NHS computer users get access to the latest Microsoft software and potentially save the NHS £50m. The new "NHS Enterprise Agreement", which has immediate effect, will dramatically rationalise the NHS’s previously fragmented purchasing of Microsoft products. Senior NHS […]
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Kaiser Hospitals Buys Bankrupt Webvan’s E-commerce Technology
During the dotcom boom, procurement managers in the health sector were told they risked being left behind if they failed to instantly harness the opportunities of e-commerce. But thanks to the continuing dotcom downturn, the more cautious "wait and see" approach adopted by many appears to have paid off, with some healthcare organisations now able […]
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