Leapfrog Group Extends Reach
The Leapfrog Group, an alliance of US healthcare organisations dedicated to reducing avoidable medical mistakes through introducing technology and best practice standards, has announced that 12 new regions of the US are to adopt the group’s patient safety standards. According to research by the US Institute of Health tens of thousands of Americans die and […]
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MEDLINEplus Awarded URAC Quality Seal
Medlineplus, the online health information database service of the US National Library of Medicine (NLC), has been awarded health web site accreditation by the quality body URAC. The NLC-run website is part of the US National Institute of Health, and is the first government-run website to receive the URAC seal. It is the sixteenth health […]
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Reader’s Feedback – Summary No 1
Though we always say we welcome feedback, E-health Insider has, so far, not published comments from subscribers. Let’s start to put that right this week with some recent comments. Inevitably the Budget and the Wanless Review report published just before it provoked interest. A LIS programme manager e-mailed us in sheer frustration… “Having listened to […]
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E-Purchasing Pioneer Posts Positive Financials
Neoforma Neoforma, one of the first US companies to create an online marketplace for purchasing healthcare supplies has recorded its first positive earnings before interest, dividends, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA). In the last quarter of 2001 the company recorded net revenues of $14.5m and EBITDA totalling $2.3m. The result is a milestone in the […]
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European Mobile Health Takes First Steps
Mobile health aims to do nothing less than turn traditional healthcare on its head. As numerous speakers at Mobile Health Europe pointed out, to describe care provided away from a doctor’s office or hospital clinic as "remote care" misses the point entirely if you’re a patient. The promise of mobile healthcare is to enable care […]
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New Approach on Electronic Records Needed
Despite the investment of tens of billions of Euros in healthcare IT the industry worldwide has failed to deliver on the vision of an integrated computer-based electronic medical record. Instead the industry must now focus on focused web-based electronic health records that deliver immediate benefits to patients and clinicians. Opening Mobile-Health Europe in Maastricht this […]
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Strong Patient Demand for Online Access to Doctors
Ninety percent of adults who are online want some form of electronic communication with their doctors, according to US market researchers, Harris Interactive. A recent poll of just over 2000 people found that, of the 66% of respondents able to access an online connection, 77% wanted to ask questions when a visit to the doctor’s […]
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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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Patient ID Chip Set for Global Launch
A tiny ID microchip that can be implanted in the human body, and then used to identify patients and enable their key medical information to be accessed securely, is to be launched globally at the beginning of May. The VeriChip, is a miniaturised, implantable radio frequency identification device (RFID), about the size of a grain […]
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Lord Hunt – “We Will Meet EPR targets”
Lord Hunt, the health minister with responsibility for IT, has underlined his determination that the NHS will achieve its targets on electronic records and spoken of the damage caused by the previous government’s “awful failures” in technology. Speaking to the British Journal of Health Care Management Lord Hunt said, “We will get there and I […]
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