Virtual Consultations Could Save Unnecessary Tests
A large scale telemedicine trial published in The Lancet demonstrates that virtual outpatient appointments conducted using videoconference technology can reduce unnecessary and duplicated tests and improve patient satisfaction. Unexpectedly, however, the study did not produce a drop in the number of follow up appointments needed after the initial consultation. In fact 52% of patients in […]
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NHS LifeHouse to Test Patient Smart Cards
A study by NHS LifeHouse , a London NHS R&D funded group, is to begin later this year to assess the feasibility of electronic patient smart cards is set to begin in Hillingdon, London. The project, which aims to begin by the autumn, will look at the feasibility of issuing a smart card to all […]
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Instant Medical History Comes to Europe
One of the biggest obstacles to electronic records is getting doctors to enter patient details onto systems electronically. A US company, Primetime Medical Software, believes it has the answer – get patients to enter their own medical history. Instant Medical History (IMH) is based on getting patients to complete a series of simple, yet highly […]
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GPs Get Connected to NHSDirect
Patients registered with a group of practices in South West London have become some of the first to benefit from encrypted clinical messaging to link together out of hours services, NHS Direct and GP practices. The new system enables a record of the details of an NHS Direct out of hours consultation to be securely […]
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Electronic Prescriptions Project Schedule Under Threat
One of the key figures behind the development of electronic transmission of prescriptions (ETP) in the UK has publicly questioned whether the Department of Health (DH) can achieve its target of rolling out ETP nationally by 2006. Ewan Davis, chairman of PharMed, which is leading the Transcript consortium — one of three approved ETP pilots […]
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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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Milburn Pledges New IT Money and Partnerships
Health Secretary Alan Milburn used a Microsoft-sponsored Department of Health (DH) IT conference attended by Bill Gates to pledge an extra £85m for NHS IT in 2002-2003. Health secretary Alan Milburn admitted on 6 December 2001 that hard pressed hospitals had diverted IT allocations last year to meet other priorities. "I should have earmarked it […]
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NDAs Could Reinforce Health Records Security
A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) designed to spell out clearly the duty to maintain the confidentiality of patient records could help to prevent breaches of confidence by staff not already bound by the Hippocratic oath or similar professional codes. Dr Janis L. Huston, electronic patient record facilitator for the North London Cancer Network, showed a model […]
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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 Plus Network Launched
A new NHS network called NHS Plus has been officially launched to market occupational health services to the private sector, generating income for the NHS to invest in health services. The NHS Plus network — backed by a new dedicated NHS Plus Website — is intended to provide the first national forum for people and […]
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