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Showing results for tags 'Technology'.
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Content ArticleDuring the Covid-19 pandemic, mental health services had to quickly innovate to ensure that some of the most vulnerable people in society could continue to access mental health support, while protecting service users and staff from the virus. The NHS Confederation’s Mental Health Network and the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership (IIMHL) have worked together to produce these case studies which capture ten innovations from different countries. Key themes in the case studies include: The advantages of digital platforms in improving access The importance of supporting the wellbeing of staff Using data and evaluation to drive improvements and make the financial case for innovations The benefits of co-producing services with service users and staff Lessons about how the availability of innovations is communicated
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Content ArticleThe Guidance for Human Factors Evaluations in the Procurement of Medical Devices, Equipment and Technology document provides comprehensive recommendations on how one may integrate human factors evaluations into procurement processes. While it is a relatively new aspect to consider in healthcare supply management, and may entail robust change management to implement, incorporating human factors evaluation in purchasing will enable best value and outcomes in health care.
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Content ArticleDigital health innovations are often seen as 'ready made' solutions to challenges facing health and care systems but despite their potential, implementing these technologies can be complex. This Nuffield Trust summary highlights ten lessons for those working to integrate technology into health and social care services. The findings are based on a large-scale evaluation of digital technologies being implemented in health and social care in East London.
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Content ArticleIn this opinion piece for BJGP Life, GP Chris Lowe explores potential problems with electronic access to primary care. He describes his own experience of e-consultation and warns of the potential of such technologies to make life harder for staff. He also raises concerns that rather than widen access to GPs, online access makes appointments less accessible for certain populations, and that introducing too many new technologies too quickly may cause experienced GPs to retire early.
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Content ArticleMedication errors can occur at any point in the system for prescribing, dispensing and administering drugs in the NHS – and can often be the result of human errors creeping in as burned out staff misread or miscalculate the amount needed. This article in the Health Services Journal examines how closed loop medication management systems can improve patient safety by ensuring patients are prescribed the right dosage of the right medications. The author speaks to Islam Elkonaissi, former lead pharmacist for cancer services in Cambridge, about the importance of well-planned implementation and bridging the gap between IT specialists and healthcare workers to make sure that potential for communication errors is minimised. They also discuss the value of the huge amounts of data AI systems can collect, which in turn make the systems more precise and accurate.
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EventuntilCardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the UK, yet is largely preventable. It is the single biggest area where the NHS can save lives over the next decade, and as such, is a core priority in the NHS Long Term Plan. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, came an acceleration in adoption of technology as a tool within the NHS - both in clinic and in community - to enhance patient outcomes and professional pathways. These available technologies have a significant role to play, both broadly in alignment with the NHS LTP and also more specifically in the quest to close the atrial fibrillation detection gap. This webinar will highlight the technologies available to the NHS for ambulatory monitoring of CVD and also showcase recent NICE recommendation of the first and only personal ECG to achieve such status. Speaking on this topic will be Trudie Lobban, CEO and Founder of the Arrhythmia Alliance, and Dr Matt Reed, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Edinburgh. Register
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Content ArticleIn this article for The BMJ, Partha Kar, consultant in diabetes and endocrinology, looks at the importance of education and peer support in self-management for people with long-term conditions. He looks at how diabetes peer support and education programmes have adapted to the need for remote access during the pandemic, and suggests that increased access to these elements of diabetes care may have helped reduce diabetic ketoacidosis hospital admissions during the first wave of Covid-19.
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Content ArticleA report from the Institute of Health and Social Care Management Power-House series discusses virtual wards, an innovation due to be implemented at scale in the NHS as a method of addressing patient waiting lists. With the help of remote treatment options and supported by technology, patients are monitored and cared for in their own homes. The report lists the advantages and disadvantages of this approach. In addition to the report, you can watch the 'How to virtual wards Power Hour' video where an expert panel discusses the details around virtual wards. Roy Lilley was joined by Professor Alison Leary, Elaine Strachan-Hall, Steph Lawrence, Alexandra Evans and Dr Elaine Maxwell for an unmissable hour of insight, expertise and guidance.
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Content ArticleAs well as having a significant negative impact on the health and wellbeing of people with dementia, falls increase service costs related to staff time, paramedic visits, and A&E admissions. This study in the Journal of Patient Safety examined whether a remote digital vision-based monitoring and management system had an impact on the prevention of falls. The authors concluded that a contact-free, remote digital vision-based monitoring and management system reduced falls, fall-related injuries, emergency services time, clinician time, and disruptive night time observations. This benefits clinicians by allowing them to undertake other clinical duties and promotes the health and safety of patients who might normally experience injury-related stress and disruption to sleep.
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Content ArticleGeneral practice has always been the foundation and gateway to the NHS, but this part of the healthcare system is now under strain due to greater demand from an increasingly complex patient profile, and a stretched workforce. Lack of staff and coherent planning means that the current model is not fit for purpose, and this has resulted in a recent decrease in patient satisfaction. This proposal by the think tank Policy Exchange outlines the reforms that could help the NHS develop a model of general practice to better meet the needs and interests of patients and healthcare workers.
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Content ArticleTo mark Rare Disease Day 2022, the Department of Health and Social Care has published England’s first Rare Diseases Action Plan.
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Content ArticleThis report by the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London highlights the opportunities and barriers for artificial intelligence to improve the health of the UK’s minority ethnic groups. It outlines the urgent need to address issues such as biased algorithms, poor data collection and a lack of diversity in research and development, in order to prevent a worsening of health inequalities experienced by minority ethnic groups.
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EventuntilYorkshire & Humber AHSN are hosting the latest in our Bridging the Gap series that are designed to help healthtech innovators work with the NHS. If you are a healthtech SME, start-up, scale-up or clinical entrepreneur then our Bridging the Gap events are designed with you in mind. We aim to give you a better understanding of how The AHSN Network and our national and regional partners can support your development and growth to ensure that your innovation is market ready and help you navigate the complexities of working with the NHS. This edition of Bridging the Gap will focus on the vital role digital innovation can play in the NHS's post-pandemic recovery. We will bring together experts from across The AHSN Network and health and care system to guide, support and advise you. Attending Bridging the Gap will enable you to: Get an insight from senior system leaders into the current and future challenges and priorities for NHS and social care organisations Understand how the AHSN Network and other national bodies can help and support you with their knowledge and expertise to accelerate the progress of your innovation into practice Learn about some of the common challenges and mistakes innovators make and hear from other companies who have successfully navigated the process There will be extended networking time incorporated into the agenda to give you the chance to meet and talk to some of the individuals and organisations who will be speaking and exhibiting at the event. Due to the limited number of places we have available at this event we are only able to provide one delegate pass per organisation in order to allow as many innovator companies as possible to join us. Register One to One meetings There will be a limited number of places available for delegates to have a one to one meetings with one of The AHSN Network's Commercial Directors. If this is something you would be interested in please let us know when you complete the event registration form. Please be aware that we may need to contact you for more information about your business in order to help us select those who can benefit most from this service.
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Content ArticleIn this interview for Healthcare IT News, Jennifer Ball, Director of Virtual Care at Saint Luke's Health System in Kansas City talks about the benefits of virtual nursing units, and what training and support is needed to set one up.
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News Article
Bionic eyes: Obsolete tech leaves patients in the dark
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Hundreds of people who had retinal implants to improve their sight face an uncertain future as the technology they rely on is now obsolete. Second Sight stopped making its Argus II bionic eyes several years ago to focus on a brain implant instead. According to IEEE Spectrum it is now hoping to merge with a biopharmaceutical firm which does not make eye implants. IEEE Spectrum reports that Second Sight actually discontinued its retinal implants - which effectively take the place of photoreceptors in the eye to create a form of artificial vision - in 2019. Patients contacted by IEEE Spectrum voiced concern. One, Ross Doerr, said Second Sight failed to contact any of its patients after its financial difficulties in 2020. "Those of us with this implant are figuratively and literally in the dark," he said. Another user, Jeroen Perk, had problems when his VPU system broke in November 2020. "I had no vision, no Argus, and no support from Second Sight," he said. Elizabeth M Renieris, professor of technology ethics at the University of Notre Dame, in the US, described the development as a cautionary tale. She told the BBC: "This is a prime example of our increasing vulnerability in the face of high-tech, smart and connected devices which are proliferating in the healthcare and biomedical sectors." "These are not like off-the-shelf products or services that we can actually own or control. Instead we are dependent on software upgrades, proprietary methods and parts, and the commercial drivers and success or failure of for-profit ventures." Ethical considerations around such technology should in future include "autonomy, dignity, and accountability", she added. Read full story Source: BBC News, 17 February 2022 -
Content ArticleThe US Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) list of error-prone abbreviations, symbols, and dose designations contains abbreviations, symbols, and dose designations which have been reported through the ISMP National Medication Errors Reporting Program (ISMP MERP) and have been misinterpreted and involved in harmful or potentially harmful medication errors. These abbreviations, symbols, and dose designations should NEVER be used when communicating medical information verbally, electronically, and/or in handwritten applications. This includes internal communications; verbal, handwritten, or electronic prescriptions; handwritten and computer-generated medication labels; drug storage bin labels; medication administration records; and screens associated with pharmacy and prescriber computer order entry systems, automated dispensing cabinets, smart infusion pumps, and other medication-related technologies.
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EventThis webinar chaired by Dr Jennifer Dixon, Chief Executive of The Health Foundation and featuring Dr Tim Ferris, NHS England’s Director of Transformation, will explore the next steps for service transformation at scale. Against the backdrop of the recent Wade-Gery review, the data strategy, the forthcoming Goldacre review and AI strategy, the new tech fund to support elective recovery, and a renewed focus on delivering the tech ambitions outlined in the Long Term Plan, how can these be linked to support service transformation better in practice? What will be different this time? Register
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Content ArticleThis blog in the Health Services Journal (HSJ) looks at the risk posed to clinical care by cyberattacks. A recent HSJ webinar in association with Sophos argued cybersecurity should be the business of everyone in the NHS, and looked at how NHS organisations can tackle the issue. Cyberattacks can cause delays and compromise patient safety and are therefore something that all healthcare staff need to consider. Using helpful language to explain the implications of cyberattacks is key to getting involvement right across the spectrum of management and frontline staff, so that it is not seen as 'an IT issue'.
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Content ArticleThis article, published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, explores the impact and effectiveness of patient-facing mobile health technology on patient outcomes. It concludes that these technologies can empower patients to play a more active and meaningful role in improving their outcomes, but that there is a need for better understanding of the interactions between patients, technology and health care providers.
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Content ArticleThis white paper documents a roundtable discussion held at the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Health Care in Europe 2021. Participants discussed how smart medication management can be improved to optimise healthcare quality and efficiency. The meeting was chaired by Yu-Chuan (Jack) Li, a researcher of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine and medical informatics, and editor-in-chief of BMJ Health and Care Informatics.
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News Article
Electronic decision support ‘to be the norm for all clinicians’ under NHSE plan
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Electronic systems and clinical decision support software must become “the norm” for all NHS clinicians, under plans being drawn up by NHS England’s new transformation directorate, HSJ has revealed. The massive increase in clinicians’ use of technology forms a major part of the draft plans, seen by HSJ, with the new directorate set to launch ambitious targets for the health service. Other targets include every integrated care system creating virtual wards which are the equivalent size of a district general hospital — around 500 beds each — and installing electronic patient records at every NHS trust. The proposals are led by former US healthcare chief Tim Ferris, NHSE’s new transformation director, who was appointed last year. According to the plans, NHSE’s ambition is to increase the “safe and effective use” of computer assisted processes and clinical decision support so it becomes the “expected norm for all clinicians”. NHS leaders have welcomed the use of virtual wards to improve home care and reduce hospital occupancy, but clinicians have warned of safety issues within virtual wards, with some prominent doctors calling for a careful implementation of the policy. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 2 February 2022 -
Content ArticleThis manual sets out the process for deciding how topics are identified, selected and routed for NICE guidance developed by the Centre for Health Technology Evaluation (CHTE). This includes diagnostics, highly specialised technologies, interventional procedures, medical technologies and technology appraisal guidance. See also NICE health technology evaluations: the manual.
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Content Article
NICE health technology evaluations: the manual (31 January 2022)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in NICE
This guide describes the methods and processes, including expected timescales, that NICE follows when carrying out health technology evaluations. The methods and processes are designed to produce robust guidance for the NHS in an open, transparent and timely way, with appropriate contribution from stakeholders. Organisations invited to contribute to health technology evaluation development should read this manual in conjunction with the NICE health technology evaluation topic selection: the manual. All documents are available on the NICE website. -
Content Article'Patient Safety: The PROACT® Root Cause Analysis Approach' addresses the proactive methodologies and organisational paradigms that must change in order to support and sustain activities that promote patient safety. Written by reliability expert Robert J. Latino, this book provides a perspective on patient care from outside the health industry and culture. It teaches a proven approach that measures its effectiveness based on patient safety results, rather than compliance, and demonstrates the Return-On-Investment for using root cause analysis to reduce and/or eliminate undesirable outcomes. Addressing the contribution of human error to physical consequences, Latino explores ways to identify conditions that are more prone to result in human error.
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Content ArticleThis report looks at research commissioned by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) to understand the varying pandemic experiences of different people affected by type 1 diabetes in the UK. It highlights an enormous withdrawal of NHS services during the pandemic, leading to highly unequal access to type 1 diabetes care.
