New accessible PILs for visually impaired
A new service, X-PIL, is launched this week offering patient information leaflets (PILs) in Braille and other formats, such as large print and CD-ROM, that enable visually impaired people to access information about their treatment. The service helps pharmaceutical companies comply with new regulations brought in at the end of October which require accessible information […]
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Cameraphones help dieters keep track of meals
Dieters in the US and Canada are photographing their food with camera phones and sending them to dieticians, thanks to a new service that takes advantage of mobile technology to create online meal diaries. MyFoodPhone, which is based in Quebec City, allows the weight-conscious to upload images of each meal to a web-based food journal […]
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New analysis tool helps pinpoint deprivation
Huddersfield’s primary care trusts and global information solutions specialists, Experian, this week claimed a health informatics ‘first’ with the publication of a new type of analysis that helps pinpoint deprivation and its effects on health more closely. They have analysed health service data from primary and secondary care sources according to deprivation and affluence at postcode level […]
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A quarter of all diabetics undiagnosed
A quarter of all people who have diabetes remain undiagnosed, leaving them at serious risk of developing serious complications. The findings come from the largest ever UK clinical audit of diabetes care, carried out by the Health and Social Care Information Centre on behalf of the Healthcare Commission. In one of the largest audits of […]
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National Knowledge Service aims high
Building a centralised electronic National Knowledge Service, that will deliver focused clinical knowledge to clinicians when they need it, has become the key aim of NHS Connecting for Health’s (CfH) new Knowledge, Process and Safety Directorate. The National Knowledge Service (NKS) will seek to ensure "that all decisions are based not only the best current […]
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Improve communication on NPfIT, say researchers
Unrealistic and shifting timetables, lack of consultation and communication with NPfIT managers, and lack of perceived short term benefits have affected staff morale in trusts tackling IT modernisation, according to research published in the British Medical Journal today. The research recommends that National Programme for IT’s (NPfIT) managers should prioritise strategies to improve communication with, and […]
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Call for drug ad ban in Australian prescribing software
A survey of drug advertisements in prescribing software used by Australian doctors found the vast majority of the advertisements broke the industry’s code of conduct and has led to calls for such advertising to be banned. The survey examined the advertisements that appeared on Medical Director software, a package which its suppliers Health Communications Network […]
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E-health and the EU
The UK’s presidency of the EU promises to be a significant one for e-health, Lyn Whitfield reports.
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Patients need reminders for online depression self-help
Websites that only offer self-help for people suffering from depression can be effective as those that also offer external clinical guidance, as long as patients are reminded to use them, according to a new study published this week. Researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research studied a group of 250 people with self-diagnosed […]
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GPs vote against NHS Connecting for Health
Despite improved relationships with the leadership of the BMA, last week’s Local Medical Committees’ (LMC) conference revealed just how far Connecting for Health still has to go to win the confidence and support of grass-roots GPs. NHS Connecting for Health’s (CfH) GP clinical leads last week failed to win over delegates at the BMA’s main family […]
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