UK eHealth Association News

	May 2003
	IN THIS ISSUE UKeHA Update Members News NHS IT News Global Roundup Industry Viewpoint

				Welcome
	Please click on the logos above of the UKeHA's Premier Members			Welcome to the first issue of eHealthcheck, the new bi-monthly email newsletter from the UK eHealth Association. The newsletter, which is designed to be a major source of information on the eHealth marketplace, will be distributed to more than 10,000 eHealth suppliers, healthcare professionals, government organisations, health journalists and industry-related bodies. Its publication marks an exciting period in the development of the Association as the UK's only campaigning organisation for the effective use of technology for health. As you will read in this newsletter, we are expecting a record attendance at our second Networking lunch in May; a new Military Telemedicine and Bioterrorism specialist interest group is being created; and the Association is about to embark on a proactive PR campaign to raise its profile. In the meantime, we look forward to receiving your feedback on our new publication by emailing peter.range@blueyonder.co.uk. Dr R J Richardson, Chairman of the UK eHealth Association

				New National Digital TV channel for NHS Direct The Department of Health has formally invited proposals to develop and run a national digital television (DTV) channel for its NHS Direct healthcare information service. The project forms a key part of a new strategy announced for NHS Direct, which is to receive £182 million in additional funding to enable it to double its capacity over the next three years. More> NPfIT Tender Announcement The National Programme for IT in the NHS (NPfIT) has announced that 31 organisations have been successful in the first stage of the tender process. More>

	News in Brief			UkeHA Update

	A Picture of Health As the UKeHA website continues to evolve and expand, the Association needs members' help in putting together a picture library for journalists to access. Please supply any suitable PR photography to Peter Range by email peter.range@ blueyonder.co.uk saved as jpeg 300 dpi format. Making a Case The UKeHA is compiling a section for best practice case studies on its website, which will highlight the impact of new technologies in the healthcare sector. Submissions by members should be no longer than 300 words and include information on the application, the benefits to the healthcare user and a testimonial from the client. Please email your case studies along with a photo of the application to peter.range@ blueyonder.co.uk. Forthcoming UK events: 12 June 2003: The Southern Institute for Health Informatics 5th Annual Conference, University of Portsmouth www.disco.port.ac.uk/ hcc/ sihi/sihi2003 /index.htm. Email SIHI@port.ac.uk or phone 023 9284 6445. 9-10 September 2003: Clinical Information Systems and Electronic Records Conference 2003, London 16-17 October 2003: eHealth 2003:Implementing Technology in Healthcare: Third Annual Conference and Exhibition, London. www.eHealthexpo.co.uk			Guarding Against Terrorism - the eHealth Way The UKeHA is to establish a Military Telemedicine and Bioterrorism specialist group, which will campaign for eHealth strategies to provide enhanced and fast response healthcare during military combat or following an act of terrorism. The UKeHA will be announcing two new appointments for the Group in the next two months. Says Peter Range, Development Director at the UKeHA: "The American Telemedicine Association has been actively working to explore possible uses of telemedicine in responding to disaster and acts of terrorism and have been successful in securing significant funding from Congress. The Association has proposed a national network linking telemedicine systems together across the nation as part of a national preparedness effort." The new specialist interest group will be featured in the next issue of eHealth Check. 'Defining' Moment for eHealth The UKeHA is in continuing discussions with a number of leading UK and international eHealth organisations, including ASSIST, the Institute of Health Management, the Royal Society of Medicine's Telemedicine Forum and the International eHealth Association, to agree on a common eHealth message to government departments and agencies. In a meeting in April it was also agreed by all those present that their is an urgent need for the appointment of an eHealth Csar in England, who would be based at the Department of Health and drive a strategic plan for eHealth and telemedicine. In addition, it was proposed that eHealth organisations should jointly organise conferences and events. See Viewpoint> Hitting the Headlines Peter Range and Mike McCurry, Development Director and Treasurer & Membership Secretary respectively at the UKeHA, attended a media relations workshop in April run by the Association's new PR advisors, JBP Public Relations. The workshop was designed to equip the Association with the knowledge and skills to identify a potential media opportunity and to make successful approaches to key journalists. As part of the Association's media relations strategy, please could members provide their PR contacts, whether in-house or an external agency, to Sylvie Pender at JBP, so that they can be kept up-to-date regarding any media relations undertaken by the UKeHA. Please send contact details to sylvie@jbp.co.uk.

	News in Brief			Members News

	Telemedicine & eHealth Forum - Modernising Cancer Services The Royal Society of Medicine will be hosting a one-day workshop on 23 May on technology and the modernisation of cancer services. The day is organised by the RSM e-Health Forum and will be focusing on eight working projects from around the country, looking at how they have used technology to change the way they work with particular emphasis on lessons learnt, both good and bad. For further information, including registration details, visit http://www.rsm.ac.uk/ telemedicine. Networking Lunch Record The next UKeHA Networking Lunch at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham on 12 May, has attracted a record attendance of 190 people from 150 organisations, including eHealth suppliers and healthcare providers. Showing Intellect The UKeHA is planning a joint Networking Lunch with Intellect in July, date to be confirmed. Intellect (Information, Technology, Telecommunications and Electronics Association) represents more than 1,000 companies in the IT, telecoms and electronics industries based in the UK.			Major Bed Night Savings As part of West Lothian Council's Health and Care Support Service, telecare from Tunstall has made a significant contribution to reducing delayed discharges and to NHS bed night savings. West Lothian Council's Health and Care Support Service aims to relieve some pressures on NHS and social services by promoting alternative forms of community care. In an innovative partnership arrangement involving a consortium led by Tunstall working closely with several partners from West Lothian Council and local health and social service providers, more than 1,200 SMART housing installations have been implemented in the area. Between October and December 2002, this new healthcare package contributed to saving some 800 NHS bed nights. Delayed discharge in the area's hospitals was also significantly reduced to 2.14 per 1000 over 65 year olds, compared to 4.33 in the rest of the Lothian area and 3.48 in the whole of Scotland. http://www.tunstall.co.uk/3_1latestreleases.asp# Knowledge is Power Pedagog, the only indigenous telemedicine company in Wales, is expanding its work in wireless PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) and remote telecare solutions by setting up the Knowledge Economy Foundation in Wales. Centred around bridging the gap between learning needs in Wales and the provision of best practice from international global players outside Wales, the Knowledge Economy Foundation will address the delivery of e-Learning and e-Training to clinicians and healthcare professions throughout Wales. Presently backed by Sun Microsystems, Oracle and Orange amongst others, the Knowledge Economy Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation set to be the recipient of both public and private funds for the delivery of eHealth solutions, but limited to the provision of trials, templates, pilots and test beds. For further details, contact Simon Cohen on 0207 328 3242 or email: simon@pedagog.com Making a Life Saving difference Surrey Ambulance Service has recently adopted "Paramedix", designed by TeleMedic Systems. Paramedics from the Surrey Ambulance Service are now able to monitor and transmit a casualty's real time vital signs back to the accident and emergency department of the receiving hospital, where the doctors can assess the situation in advance and make preparations that could save precious minutes on their arrival at the hospital. The vital signs can also be stored in an electronic patient record. For further information, contact Pip Bull on 0208 874 2115 or visit: http://www.telemedicsystems.com.

	News in Brief			NHS IT News

	National Spine Record Repository Contract The National Programme for IT in the NHS is expected to award a contract to supply a National Spine Record Respository by the end of October. This will provide access to summary patient information including clinical, administrative and demographic details. For more information: hri@nhsia.nhs.uk or contact 01392 251289 UKCHIP Launched The United Kingdom Council for Health Informatics Professions (UKCHIP) is a newly formed body to develop professionalism in Health Informaticians. This includes all those working in ICT, health records, and knowledge-based services such as librarians and clinical informaticians. It has been founded with the support of the British Computer Society (BCS), the NHS Information Authority, ASSIST (the Association of ICT professionals in the NHS) and the UK Institute for Health Informatics. For more information visit: www.ukchip.org.uk. Events: 20 May 2003: e-Care Exchange network forum, Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster, London. www.ecare-exchange.com 17 June 2003: "Dealing with Uncertainty: the Future of IT in Primary Care" Conference, Oxfordshire. administrator@ phcsg.demon.co.uk. 3 July 2003: Telemedicine and Telecare in the NHS VI Conference, London. PHSSMI.training @nhsia.nhs.uk. 9 July 2003: Freedom of Information Act Workshop, Lambeth Hospital. penny.bateman @doh.gsi.gov.uk.			31 in bid for National Programme for IT The National Programme for IT in the NHS (NPfIT) has announced that 31 organisations have been successful in the first stage of the tender process. These 31 organisations will now go forward to a second stage, the purpose of which will be to determine, after further information and evaluation, who will subsequently be selected to receive a formal Preliminary Invitation to Negotiate (PITN). The PITN will invite the submission of outline proposals and lead to a further evaluation process to ascertain which candidates should be invited to enter into detailed negotiations. The qualification process, which has now been concluded, has led to: 27 candidates being qualified for further consideration in the role of Local Service Provider (LSP); 20 candidates being qualified for further consideration in the role of National Application Service Provider (NASP). Said Ricky Richardson, Chairman of the UKeHA: "The industry members of the Association will be delighted with the publication of the candidates for LSPs and NASPs. Our members are active in forming consortia and relationships with the named organisations." For more information visit www.doh.gov.uk/ipu/whatnew/npprocprog.htm. Programme strengthened At the recent Healthcare Computing 2003 conference and exhibition in Harrogate, Richard Granger, Director General NHS IT, announced key appointments to strengthen the National Programme for IT in the NHS and meet the challenging timetable for implementation. They included: Kellogg Brown and Root to provide programme management services including project planning, risk analysis and management, cost modelling, procurement support, implementation and other programme support services; Duncan McNeill to lead the National Design Authority, which will develop and control the standards to which IT systems of the future will be required to adhere to; Professor Martin Severs as Director of Clinical Assurance. www.doh.gov.uk/ipu/whatnew/prognoun.htm New appointment Jeff Smith has been appointed as Director of Business Strategy and Performance at the NHSIA (Deputy Chief Executive).

	News in Brief			Global Roundup

	UK@ATA The American Telemedicine Association's 8th Annual Meeting & Exposition Healthcare Solutions Through Telemedicine in Orlando, Florida at the end of April saw the largest ever number of UK attendees to the event. New Date for Luxembourg Trade Fair The Luxembourg Telemedicine & Telecare International Trade Fair will take place on 21- 23 April, 2004. For further information, visit www.telemedicine.lu Key worldwide events include: 15-16 September 2003: 2003 e-Forum Summit: e-Government: Paving the Way to 2010, Valencia, Spain. Email: eforumreport@ batmedia.com 16-18 September 2003: Association of Telemedicine Service Providers: 7th Annual International Conference: TeleHealth 2003 (held in audio teleconference). www.atsp.org/conference/ homepage.asp 5-7 October 2003: TeleHealth 2003: The 6th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of TeleHealth, Halifax, Nova Scotia. www.cst-sct.org/conference.php. 16-17 October 2003: The International eHealth Association's 3rd annual conference, Olympia Conference Centre, London. Email: events@ihn.info or contact Linda Berkowitz on 0207 828 7777 21-23 October 2003: eHealth 2003 Congress: Integrated Healthcare, Dresden, Germany. Email:j.dolle@gvg-koeln.de.			eHealth Strategy for Acts of Terrorism The eHealth debate around potential acts of terrorism continues unabated in the United States. Director of Business Strategy at Northrop Grumman Information Technology Health and Science Solutions, Lauren Thompson Ph.D., told an HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) meeting how the U.S. needs to use technology effectively to deal with and protect itself against bioterrorism. www.atsp.org/government/advocacy.asp? contentID=1299&FullStory=. In addition Governor George Pataki of New York has announced an initiative that will provide state health officials with instant access to critical information about hospital capacity and medical assets in the event of disaster, disease outbreak or terrorist-related health emergency. The Governor announced funding of $1.8m for eight regional hospitals to prepare for and respond to potential acts of terrorism. For further information, visit Federal Telemedicine News at http://www.cbloch.com. EHealth Flies High bmi, one of the UK's major airlines, made aviation history when one of its passengers became the first to have an electrocardiogram recorded in-flight and transmitted by satellite to physicians on the ground in the United States. Whilst on a bmi flight from Chicago to Manchester, Stephen Clarke from Cheshire benefited from the Tempus 2000 equipment, developed by Remote Diagnostic Technologies Ltd. The ECG was of such good quality that physicians in Phoenix, Arizona, were able to make an immediate diagnosis of a heart attack and under their supervision the chief stewardess was able to administer emergency treatment. The Silver Healthcare Surfers Despite technophobic stereotypes, the over 55 population is becoming an increasingly attractive group for healthcare companies to target with online information. New research from independent market analysts Datamonitor reveals that in the US and UK more than half of all over 55s have accessed the internet, with up to 40% having looked for health information in the past 12 months. For further information, please contact Yasmeen Khan on +44 (0) 207 675 7487 or visit www.datamonitor.com

	News in Brief			Industry Viewpoint

	Budget Boost The Government has confirmed that the money raised through this year's increase in the national insurance contributions will be used to fund improvements in the NHS. Among the other announcements made in the budget statement on 9 April, were the largest-ever hospital building programme, additional investment in IT and more funding for buildings and equipment. £6 billion Confirmed Central government will spend in the region of £6 billion on information and communications technology over the next three years up to 2005-06, it has been confirmed. Responding to a parliament question, Paul Boateng, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said the IT expenditure would be directed into "improving public services", but gave no further breakdown of the Government's spending plans. www.egovmonitor. com/newsletter And Finally The proposed NHS Direct DTV service has been set the ambitious target of being available throughout England from early 2004, providing 24/7 access to viewers across all digital platforms, including satellite, cable, terrestrial and DSL, by the end of next year. In addition, a number of stretching "Critical Success Factors" has been stipulated, such as an objective to reach 60 per cent of the digital TV audience within six months of the contract being awarded, extending to 95 per cent in the first year, with one in 20 people using the service at least once a month. The contract is expected to be awarded in December 2003 and will run for three years, with options to extend for two additional two-year periods. www.egovmonitor. com/newsletter			Time To Create A Common eHealth Message One (apparently intended) consequence of the National IT Programme is its exclusive focus on the four elements in the famous "Greek Temple". It is good to see some action at last on the IT front, but one danger is that the wider eHealth agenda - with its enormous potential to play its part in delivering better health and health care - will be sidelined. The champions of eHealth are found in a variety of organisations - UKeHA itself of course, the RSM Telemedicine and eHealth Forum, BCS, IHM and ASSIST, to name but a few. Despite tentative collaboration over conferences and meetings, they give the appearance of a fragmented community. And yet, behind the different words there is a remarkable commonality in what each group understands by "eHealth" - and indeed in the objectives of each, despite their differing constituencies. The case for a "coalition" of these common interests is a strong one, so that there is a single voice advocating the adoption of eHealth developments to policy-makers and planners at national and local level. This Coalition does not yet have an organisational form, and indeed there is no intention to replace the distinctive purposes of the various existing bodies; but there does seem to be a growing consensus about the need for a single more coherent message about the potential for eHealth. This is timely, given the recent announcement from the Department of plans to develop a national "NHS Direct Digital TV" information service, and to pilot transactional and teleHealth services. Alasdair Liddell is an independent consultant in eHealth and elearning. He was Director of Planning for the NHS at the Department of Health for 6 years until 2000, where he had Board-level responsibility for IT and information services and led the development of NHS Direct and NHS Direct Online. At The Double Health Minister, John Hutton, has announced that NHS Direct's call handling capacity will more than double to 16 million calls annually by 2006 backed by a funding increase to £182m. A strategy document, Developing NHS Direct, has been published outlining future expansion plans. These include: providing a single access point to NHS out-of-hours services; handling all low priority 999 ambulance calls; offering the public a personal health organiser on NHS Direct Online; establishing a new national NHS Direct digital TV service by 2004; becoming a distinct national organisation, independent of the Department of Health. The strategy document is available at www.doh.gov.uk/developingnhsdirect.