Editorial

Dear Readers, Healthcare IT, like other realms of IT and ‘technology’ in general, is driven by a culture of non-stop innovation. This is undoubtedly good. However, we must also ask ourselves: is innovation the only solution? Such a question is urgent, given the longrunning pressure on healthcare budgets, and the financial crisis, which has gripped the world for the past two years. It is clear...

Industry News

University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG) Purchases Latest RIS From Carestream Health Following a recent European tender process, Carestream Health has been awarded the contract to supply a new Radiology Information System (RIS) for eight departments at the University Medical Centre, Groningen (UMCG), the Netherlands. Installation is scheduled for December 2010 and the CARESTREAM RIS will interface wit...

Zealand Region in Denmark First to Adopt CSC Speech Recognition Solution CSC (NYSE: CSC) announced that the Zealand Region in Denmark has become the first health authority in the country to implement CSC's OPUS Speech Recognition solution. This solution will enable healthcare professionals working within the region's ten hospitals to transition from dictating notes on tape for transcription, to a system...

Wheelchair Users Control an IPhone or IPOD Touch Via Their Wheelchair Joystick A pioneering solution that gives wheelchair users the ability to control an iPhone or iPod touch via their wheelchair joystick will be unveiled for the first time at this year's Rehacare exhibition. The next generation of the iPortal is Dynamic Control's latest solution to help enhance the quality of life of people livin...

iSOFT Developments to Help Re-Shape Primary Care in Wales iSOFT Group Limited (ASX: ISF) has been awarded a contract to work with NHS Wales to roll out the Individual Health Record (IHR) nation-wide. The IHR will make patient information held in iSOFT's GP systems available to local out-of-hours services and in other unscheduled care settings via the Welsh Clinical Portal. Initially, the company will int...

HITM News

Access to Health Information and Care Expanded by Portuguese Health Helpline Saúde 24 (S24), a telephone based service offering clinical assessment, health advice and health information in Portugal, has gained the trust of the Portuguese people by significantly improving direct access to heathcare advice, and is planning further expansion. The national helpline directs callers to the most appropri...

A group of top Dutch health professionals came to look at a Merseyside hospital's innovative IT solutions this week as part of an annual initiative to visit areas of health care excellence in Europe. The group of 23 experts, drawn from hospitals across the Netherlands, visited Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to look at its new electronic patient records system in action at the Uni...

Scientists Find Brain Waves can Predict Epileptic Seizures Scientists from the Bernstein Center at the University in Freiburg in Germany have taken a step forward in the quest to predict epileptic seizures by monitoring the pre-seizure changes in sufferers' brains. The research study was funded in part by the EPILEPSIAE (Evolving platform for improving living expectation of patients suffering from Ictal...

IT @Networking 2011

25 projects from across Europe and beyond will compete in the IT @ Networking Awards 2011 on January 19 – 20 2011. This high-level competition will see candidates go through two rounds of presentations in an effort to persuade the expert audience and panel of judges why their solution deserves to win. If last year is anything to go by, attendees will not hold back in cross-examination of each presenter d...

EU News

“Europe is leading the rest of the world in advancing towards modern eHealth infrastructures and implementations” was the conclusion of Dr. Karl Stroetmann of empirica Consultants at an eHealth Strategies Symposium in Brussels. This is a field where Europe has achieved and even overachieved its Lisbon Strategy goals. Results of the Monitoring National eHealth Strategies study (www.ehealth-strateg...

Pharmacists and patients welcomed the new proposal for a directive on Pharmacovigilance at an event held on Wednesday 15 September 2010 at the European Parliament as an opportunity for pharmacists and patients to work more effectively together to improve medication safety. The new directive was adopted by the European Parliament on 21 September and is expected to enter into force by the end of 2010 o...

Heidi (Health in Europe: Information and Data Interface) is a new website and comprehensive search tool for European health information and data. Launched by the European Commission, DG Health and Consumers on October 6th 2010, it contains information about the public’s state of health, determinants, diseases, health systems, trends, institutional and policy aspects. The site is maintained by the E...

Cover

Author Jim Quiggle Chief Architect and Founder, Altra Concepts Corp. The emergence of Enterprise Architecture may be a refreshing twist to the standard hype cycles because the Enterprise Architect will be the strongest advocate against hype, product or approach. What...

Product Comparison Chart

ECRI Institute Europe Weltech Centre Ridgeway Welwyn Garden City Herts AL7 2AA United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)1707 871511 Fax: +44 (0)1707 393138 [email protected] www.ecri.org.uk ECRI Institute, a non-profit organisation, de - dicates itself to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research in healthcare to uncover the best approaches to improving patient care. As pioneers in this...

Features

Author: Tosh Sheshabalaya HIT In spite of a variety of implementations since the 1980s, the field of healthcare robotics remains experimental and largely nascent. However, the long-term promise that it holds is acknowledged to be immense. This means that not only researchers and healthcare practitioners, but policy makers, too, are involved in bridging the gap between potential and reality. Surgic...

Authors: Dallas Knight University of Otago Sarah Stewart, Otago Polytechnic Dunedin, New Zealand Information and communication technologies (ICT) present midwives with new opportunities. This article reviews how New Zealand midwives currently use technology in their practice, and its implications – both for midwives as well as health consumers and health organisations. It also discusses where m...

Author Roger Lamb Healthcare Sector Manager, GS1 UK Bar codes offer a way around two everyday challenges faced by healthcare professionals: medication errors and quicker access to patient data. In addition, they also provide a proven means for higher efficiency in running a hospital – in terms of stock control and asset tracking. Results from a survey conducted in the UK show that most physician...

Author Maurice Mars Professor and Head of Tele-Health, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa “E-Health has the potential to be of great benefit to Africa if it can be planned and implemented in an appropriate and sustainable manner.” Statements like this are heard at many conferences and meetings around the world, but what is the reality on the ground...

Author: Martin Murphy Technology Manager, HSE Galway University Hospitals Within the Republic of Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE), small teams of dedicated IT professionals face a constant challenge to maintain the systems that enable thousands of different health and social services to be delivered in hospitals and communities all over the country, 24 hours a day. In this environment, in...

Country Focus: Netherlands

Author: Tosh Sheshabalaya HIT Radical healthcare reforms in the Netherlands in January 2006 saw the State replaced as the central player in day-to-day operation of the healthcare system by private health suppliers. Alongside, the difference between public and private health insurance was abolished, and all adult residents were obliged to purchase basic health insurance from a private firm. The bas...

Author: Tosh Sheshabalaya, HIT Healthcare IT in the Netherlands is driven by a combination of political and technological push-pull factors. The political facets in the process are underscored by an explicit commitment to clearing technology barriers astride the pathway to effective and meaningful e-government. The government's landmark Policy Programme for 2007-2011 noted that: 'ICT application...


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