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January 2005 |
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Please click on the logos
above of the UKeHA's
Chairman's Circle Members
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News
in Brief |
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UKeHA Update |
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Avienda Success at Awards Ceremony
 Congratulations to Avienda Director, Ben Stanberry, who has been named Welsh Lawyer of the Year in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the development and implementation of e-health telemedicine. Ben was one of nine lawyers whose achievements were honoured at the recent Welsh Law held at City Hall, Cardiff. The Awards recognise the unique contribution to the legal profession and the economy made by lawyers in Wales in categories such as Law Firm of the Year, Barrister of the Year and Lawyer of the Year in Private Practice. Ben was one of three lawyers nominated for Lawyer of the Year Not in Private Practice, which recognises the achievements of lawyers working within a company, public body of local authority outside of traditional law firms. The award acknowledges Ben’s active and influential contribution to the field of e-health in Wales, the United Kingdom and internationally. Particular praise was made of the communication bridge he has provided between the various stakeholders (e.g. government, healthcare providers and industry) who are involved in supporting healthcare modernisation. For further information, visit www.avienda.co.uk.
Events:
26 January 2005
Telemedicine and ehealth Forum: Videoconferencing – a practical workshop. For further information, visit www.rsm.ac.uk/academ
/fmttelem.htm.
8-9 February 2005
Practical Steps to Implementation of NPfIT, Regents Park Marriott, Westminster, London. For further information, visit www.eyeforhealthcare.
com or email psimms@eyeforhealth
care.com
21-22 February 2005
ASEM 2005. For further information, visit
www.asemec-london.org/
21-22 February 2005
Collaborative Conferencing Summit 2005. For further information, visit www.ccsexpo.com
21 – 23 March 2005
HC2005 Shaping Sands, Shifting Services, Harrogate. For further information visit www.health-informatics.org/hc2005
7 - 9 April 2005
Healthgrid 2005, Oxford. For more information, visit http://oxford2005.
healthgrid.org/ or email tony.solomonides@
uwe.ac.uk
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UKeHA AGM
The UK eHealth Association (UKeHA) Annual General Meeting was held on 17 December 2004 at Microsoft’s campus in Reading, with 15 members attending. Elections took place and the Board membership was ratified as follows:
• Professor Ricky Richardson – Chair
• Mike McCurry – Treasurer
• Alasdair Liddell CBE
• Anne Casey FRCN
• James Shore
• Conor Ward
• Professor Richard Kitney OBE
• Professor Russell Wynn Jones
• Chris Jones
Guest speakers at the AGM were Dr John Powell, Chair, British Medical Association (BMA) Information Technology Committee, who discussed the issue of engaging clinicians in the National Programme for IT (NPfIT); and Professor Russell Wynn Jones who addressed the implications of eHealth in today's health service.
The Board will next meet on 20 January 2005.
For further information, please email UKeHA Treasurer, Mike McCurry at treasurer@ukeha.org.uk
Connected Home Care Conference
 The UK eHealth Association’s Chairman, Ricky Richardson will be speaking at a conference focusing on the government’s aspiration to improve health care service delivery to private homes via new technologies.
Connected Home Care, organised by HSA Conferences and Junction, will take place on 15 June 2005 in London to promote provision of care services to the ill and elderly in private homes by new information communication technologies. The one-day conference will provide an opportunity to bring together all of the key players within the healthcare sector – academic, research, health, social and suppliers – in a push to really drive the market forward and into the mainstream.
The conference will address both the financial and social benefits and demands of adopting these services – in line with the government’s objective that Connected Home Care services will be made available in all homes that require them by 2010.
For further information, visit Connected Home Care at www.connected-home-care.co.uk
Tunstall Enhances Range of DDA Compliant Solutions
 Tunstall, the leading provider of personal and home reassurance solutions, has enhanced its wide range of Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) compliant solutions and introduced a customer support provision to assist service providers in complying with new government legislations.
The final phase of the Disability Discrimination Act, which came into force on 1 October 2004, has placed a legal duty on local authorities and housing associations to make adjustments to the physical features of their property in order to overcome barriers to access for disabled people. Tunstall’s DDA Audit, Implementation and Support Service is designed to help service providers assess their needs and effectively cater for the requirements of the Act.
Access audit assessments of premises can be undertaken by trained Tunstall personnel in order to determine whether adjustments are required to sheltered housing scheme equipment. A full installation and configuration service is also available to ensure that solutions are tailored to the needs of individual users.
For further information, please visit www.tunstall.co.uk or contact Richard Farrell Smith on 01977 661 234.
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News
in Brief |
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UK Healthcare News |
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Making IT Work
Issue 3 of the National Programme for IT’s newsletter, Making IT Work, is now available online at http://www.informatics.
nhs.uk/download/1185/
making_it_work_dec04.pdf.
New Role for NHSU Chief
 Health Minister, John Hutton has announced that, in conjunction with the creation of the new NHS Institute for Learning, Skills and Innovation, Professor Bob Fryer will take up a new post in the Department as National Director for Widening Participation in Learning. Professor Fryer will act as a learning champion, spearheading a major programme to broaden participation in learning for existing NHS staff as well as amongst people seeking to take up professional careers in health and social care. For further information, visit the Department of Health at www.dh.gov.uk
Enterprise Platform for the 21st Century
The National Programme for IT has reached an agreement with EMC Documentum, a leader in enterprise content management software and services, to provide the NHS with software and services to help them manage, protect and share information more widely. The National Programme has negotiated the Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with a series of key subcontractors across the programme. Under the new MOU, EMC Documentum will provide the NHS with an information platform ‘fit for the 21st century’. The new enterprise-wide arrangements (EWAs) with key subcontractors also includes preferential pricing for the NHS. A summary of the new arrangements can be downloaded from the NPfIT website. For further information, visit the National Programme for IT at www.npfit.nhs.uk.
'Brainy' Headphones
A team of scientists at Southampton University have devised a method of checking brain fluid levels using headphones linked to a computer. The new device, called a cerebral and cochlear fluid pressure (CCFP) analyser, monitors the brain pressure activity in a small channel that connects the inner ear with the brain known as the cochlear aqueduct. Pressure waves from the brain are transferred through the ear to the eardrum where they are picked up by headphones. The pressure waves are then displayed on a computer screen for analysis. The scientists claim their research could offer a non-invasive aid to the diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as meningitis, head injury and sleeping disorders. The CCFP technology was first developed in 2000, but it was only this year that the researchers discovered that brain pressure waves, which reveal fluid pressure levels in the brain, can be detected in the ear. For further information, visit the Health Informatics Community at http://www.informatics.
nhs.uk/ or the BBC at www.bbc.co.uk/news
Events:
9 February 2005
Better Information for Better Health, Church House, Westminster, London.
For more information, visit
www.healthcare-events.co.uk/conferences
/confdisplay.asp?id=365
or email info@healthcare-
events.co.uk
9 February 2005
HL7 and its key role in NPfIT and Existing Systems Integration, Union Jack Club, Waterloo, London. For more information visit www.hl7.org.uk/
marketing/
conferences/050209_
HL7_NPfIT.
asp or email philip.firth@wwl.nhs.uk
18 March 2005
E-learning in Health and Social Care, North East Wales Institute, Wrexham.
For further information, visit www.newi.ac.uk/about_
newi/conferences/elearning_
health/index or email j.reynolds@newi.ac.uk
24 - 27 July 2005
AIME 05 – Tenth Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, Aberdeen. For further information, visit www.csd.abdn.ac.uk/
aime05
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New NPfIT Appointment to lead Service Implementation
Health Minister John Hutton recently announced that Alan Burns, chief executive of Trent Strategic Health Authority, has been appointed to a new role leading the service implementation of the National Programme for IT into the NHS. The role is a 15 month secondment combining three days a week at the National Programme with his existing SHA role.
John Hutton said: “Engaging clinicians and NHS management in planning and preparation for the successful implementation of the National Programme continues to be an important priority. Alan will take forward and build on existing work and initiatives. Alan has recruited national clinical champions – hospital doctor leaders, GP leaders and a nurse – as part of a structure being finalised for service implementation in association with the leaders of the professions.” Alan brings a wealth of NHS knowledge and experience to the Programme – he has already made a significant contribution to the Programme as senior responsible owner for the eastern cluster. For further information, visit the National Programme for IT at www.npfit.nhs.uk/news/news251104/view.
NHS in Ground-breaking Deal with Microsoft
 Health Minister John Hutton has also announced that the NHS has reached a landmark agreement with the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential. It will mean improved patient safety as NHS staff will continue to use familiar software reducing the possibility of error. Retraining will be unnecessary and it will mean an estimated cost saving of £330m on the current deal.
The arrangement will allow the NHS to use up to 900,000 licences, compared to the current 500,000 with the licences being held on a perpetual basis rather than being renewable annually. The deal is to last for nine years, with break points at three-year intervals, which will allow for renegotiations in the event of unpredicted pricing or product shifts in the market place. There will be initial savings of £112m over the next three years, and in excess of £330m over the length of the contract. The option to use Open Source software in the future remains and continues to be evaluated. The Secretary of State for Health, John Reid, and Richard Granger, Director General NHS IT, met with Microsoft’s Bill Gates earlier this year to discuss Microsoft’s involvement with the NHS. The formal agreement was reached after discussions led by Richard Granger and Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corp. For further information, visit the National Programme for IT at www.npfit.nhs.uk/news/031104/view
NPfIT Responds to Doubts Over Choose and Book
The National Programme for IT has issued a statement in response to GP concerns over Choose and Book, the national electronic appointment booking service. The Choose and Book programme has been the topic of discussion recently with GPs highlighting concerns over confidentiality and security of patient information, workload and resource implications and reliability of the Spine. The Choose and Book statement aims to answer the key questions raised by GPs and eliminate doubts regarding a lack of patient confidentiality. A spokesperson for the NPfIT said that Choose and Book would be a ‘bonus not a burden’, and that ‘extensive consultation has taken place with front-line clinicians to ensure that Choose and Book supports current working patterns and practices among doctors.
A spokesperson said “Those GPs involved so far are positive about the benefits for patients, and satisfied with the measures put in place to ensure confidentiality and security.” To view the statement, visit the National Programme for IT at www.npfit.nhs.uk/news.
NHSU Merges with Modernisation Agency
 The Department of Health has announced the merger of the NHSU, the corporate university of the NHS, and the Modernisation Agency to create a new NHS Institute of Learning, Skills and Innovation (NILSI). Health Secretary, John Reid, announced the move as part of the reform to reduce the number of Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) by 50 per cent by 2007/8. NILSI will promote excellence and innovation across the health system. It will enhance service delivery in the NHS by focusing on innovation, learning and leadership development in an integrated and efficient manner. The Institute will assume a leadership role in the implementation and delivery of change in the NHS and manage the new Innovation Centre recommended in the Healthcare Industries Taskforce Report published on 18th November 2004.
Announcing the details of the reform, John Reid said: “This is a vital step in the NHS’s long term programme of reform to improve efficiency and reduce bureaucracy.”
For further information visit the Department of Health at www.dh.gov.uk
PCTI Launches Electronic Document Transfer Software
 PCTI, the leading provider of document management systems for Primary Care, is launching its electronic document transfer software (EDT) following successful trials throughout the country. Working closely with Hospital Trusts across the UK to develop the system, PCTI has run several pilots in a drive to improve patient communications between hospitals and GPs. Stockport NHS Foundation Trust and two GP practices in the north-west are among those who have tested the web-based document delivery system which will speed up the delivery and collection of letters from consultants to GPs, cutting the time that patients wait for hospital correspondence. The Trust currently produces 40,000 documents a month relating to patients. In the past these would have been posted out to GPs. However, with EDT the letters are typed and saved by hospital secretaries and clinicians then released for overnight delivery.
PCTI director Philip Young said: "When the practice retrieves its documents, the system automatically identifies and distributes them for filing into the patient's clinical record. They can then be sent to everyone who needs to see them, like the GP, and practice nurse for instance.
"There have been other trials around the country which simply provide documents to practices via email. Whilst this is clearly an improvement on post and paper, the impact on the practice is limited because they need to manually process each one in turn. Our solution concentrates on saving practice administrative time by automating the entire capture and data entry process."
For further information visit PCTI Solutions Ltd at http://217.36.15.243/about_news.asp
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News
in Brief |
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Global News |
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Med-e-Tel 2005 Update
Med-e-Tel 2005, the International Trade Event and Conference for ehealth, telemedicine and Health ICT is set to take place on 6-8 April 2005 at Luxexpo, Luxembourg. Director of ehealth Strategy at World Health Organisation (WHO), Jean-Claude Healy, and President of the International Society for Telemedicine (IsfT) Michael Nerlich, are already confirmed as speakers, and will be providing an international perspective on ehealth/telemedicine implementation and development. Other sessions include topics such as ‘ehealth Standardisation and Interoperability’ by the ehealth Standardisation Co-ordination Group; ‘Satellite Applications in ehealth’ by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs; ‘Telemedicine for Developing Countries’ by WHO/ITU; ‘Informatisation of Hospital Logistics and Administration’ by CRP-Sante; and ‘European ehealth Projects’ by the European Commission IST Programme. For more information about the event, visit Med-e-Tel at www.medetel.lu or email info@medetel.lu.
Key worldwide events include:
7 - 9 April 2005
5th European Conference of ACENDIO, Festival Hall, Bled, Slovenia. Visit www.acendio.net/
english/english.htm
or email oudnico@netscape.net for more information
14 - 17 April 2005
Using Emerging Healthcare Technologies in Nursing Education and Practice, JW Marriott, Lennox, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. For more information, visit http://nursing.
rutgers.edu/cpd/
or email gaylep@andromeda.
rutgers.edu
17 – 20 April 2005
ATA 2005: 10th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Telemedicine Association, Denver, USA. For further information, visit http://atmeda.
org/conf/annualmeet
21 – 24 July 2005
15th Summer Institute in Nursing Informatics, University of Maryland School of Nursing, USA. For further information, visit http://nursing.
umaryland.edu/
informatics/
or email informatics@son.
umaryland.edu
28 August – 1 September 2005
MIE 2005: 19th International Congress of the European Federation of Medical Informatics, Geneva, Switzerland. For further information visit www.mie2005.net
22 – 26 October 2005
AMIA 2005 Annual Symposium, Washington Hilton, Washington DC, USA. For further information, visit www.amia.or
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Connecting Homes
 The Boston University Institute for Leading in a Dynamic Economy (BUILDE) recently announced the creation of the ‘Technologically Connected Home Project’ (TCHP) which will be led by a team of researchers from the School of Management at Boston University, and funded by major grants from the US Army and Nielsen Media Research. This three-year project will carefully study 450 military houses that will be connected as nodes within an interactive network of homes, facilities, and service capabilities linked together through the latest technologies. The houses will have telemedicine, security, distance learning, and the Internet integrated into all areas of the home. Houses will be equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, including voice-over IP, both wired and wireless nodes, high-speed Network Access, and remote sensor technologies such as RFID tags. A major objective of TCHP is to explore how enhanced connection of the home with the health care system, particularly a hospital, can improve both the quality and costs of delivering health care services to the soldier and family. This study will also measure the impact of the technologically connected home on the training and education of soldiers; job skills and vocational training for spouses; enhanced educational opportunities for children; and family/deployed soldier connectivity. Source: PR Newswire via the Telemedicine Information Exchange What’s New in Telemedicine and Telehealth (http://tie.telemed.org/news).
Leg Up for Remote Assessment
 A pilot study has shown that leg wounds can be accurately assessed using photographs taken at a patient's home, adding one more example to a growing list of medical conditions that can be successfully monitored remotely. The study, which was published in the December 7 issue of the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, involved 34 home health patients with a leg wound as their primary diagnosis. Visiting nurses, who are not experts in wound care, took digital photographs of the wounds, then sent the images and other patient health information to an enterostomal therapy nurse (ETN), a specialist in wound care. Using a quantitative survey instrument, the Medicare Outcome and Assessment Information Set or OASIS, investigators found that the home health care nurses and the ETN generally agreed in their assessments of the wounds, signifying that the digital images were accurately representing the wounds. However opinions about treatment options often diverged between the home health nurses and the ETN, suggesting that access to specialty wound care could ultimately improve clinical outcomes. Lower extremity wounds are common among patients receiving home health care. ETNs already have trouble keeping pace with the demand for their services, and that demand will only increase as the population ages. For further information, visit ATSP Online at http://www.atsp.org/news/research.asp?
ContentID=1725
Telecardiology Set to Overtake Teleradiology
Telecardiology is set to overtake teleradiology as the main application of telemedicine in European hospitals in the next five years, according to a new market research report from Frost & Sullivan. At present, the two disciplines each account for just under half of the European telemedicine market. Other applications are barely off the ground and will remain as tiny niche businesses, but by 2010, about 71% of European telemedicine budgets will be spent on telecardiology, and only about 28% on teleradiology, says the report. The company predicts that both disciplines will participate in a massive growth in the total expenditure on telemedicine, which it estimates will jump from a mere £50m last year to around £1bn in 2010. The report dismisses patient-carried smartcards as unlikely to succeed in the near term because, as yet, there are no agreed standards. Source: The British Journal of Healthcare Computing and Information Management via the Telemedicine Information Exchange What’s New in Telemedicine and Telehealth (http://tie.telemed.org/news).
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Industry Interview |
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 Simon Gallant is a Consultant with Mishcon de Reya, solicitors. An IP and Media lawyer by background, in 1998 Simon approached the Department of Health through his company Eden Communications, and proposed the delivery of citizen focused health information and services through digital interactive television. Three years later, Living Health – a Consortium between Eden and Telewest – won £4 million from the DoH and ran a highly successful digital TV service for cable subscribers in Birmingham. The service was the precursor to NHS Direct Digital TV which will launch some time next year. Here Simon talks about his work with Mishcon de Reya and his thoughts on the future for e-health.
1. With a legal background, how did you get involved in a successful digital TV service?
What we were proposing was a radical new channel for delivering health information and services - digital interactive television. So it was clear from day one that a grasp of the possible legal implications of this new form of public service broadcasting would be needed. I'd spent many years advising media clients on regulatory and legal issues, and at the time was a member of the Committee of Advertising Practice and the Independent Television Commission's Advertising Advisory Committee. In that context I had been closely involved in policy developments associated with the emergence of pharmaceutical advertising and patient information on the web.
2. What lessons have you learnt from your experiences with Living Health?
Placing thecitizen or patient at the heart of e-health is critical to any large scale e-health project. This seems to have been forgotten somewhat in the IT hothouse that is the National Programme.
Living Health featured NHS Direct in Vision, a service that allowed callers to NHS Direct to see their nurse on screen whilst consultations were supported by video and photographic aids. The patients loved it and, quite literally, made them see the NHS in a completely different light.
A key challenge was recognising that the focus on the patient – rather than the technology or the medical staff - was disruptive to traditional healthcare systems processes, creating new, more enriching relationships, between patients and their health providers.
On a more mundane level, I've learnt that working on large e-health projects with the NHS requires a healthy constitution and huge reserves of stamina and patience!
3. Why have Mishcon de Reya joined the UK eHealth Association Chairman's Circle?
With no axe to grind, other than a passionate belief in the transforming power of e-health, we believe the UKeHA is uniquely placed to act as trusted broker between the business community, patient groups, clinicians, government and the NHS. On behalf of our existing client base, particularly overseas companies from the various telehealth hubs, we are keen to help set the legal, business and policy agenda for the e-health sector at this still early phase of growth.
4. Most recent piece of business?
Pearl Medical, a company with backing from some of the most trusted names in the business, is shortly to roll out a novel communication channel for clinicians in primary care. The business will facilitate an innovative form of e-detailing that its pharmaceutical partners hope will meet the challenges of reaching busy GPs.
5. What do you see as the biggest legal issues in ehealth?
The NPfIT has failed to reach the public's consciousness, yet important decisions have already been taken about the treatment of patient records and confidentiality. There is the potential for a nasty backlash, though the clamour for respect of privacy will no doubt be dimmed by the overwhelming public benefits of electronic records. Either way, our citizens deserve to be informed about what is going on and a mature discussion of the issues is much needed in the media.
From a business point of view, the ownership of intellectual property rights will become an ever-increasing point of tension between the NHS and its cascade of suppliers. I'm not convinced that the NHS's zealous efforts to own everything down to the kitchen sink will necessarily be in its best interests.
Looking at IP generated within the NHS itself, I'd love to see the NHS Innovations initiative generate some real wealth for the service and the innovators working within it.
6. Where do you see the industry in 10 years time?
For all its faults and teething problems, NPfIT will have helped position the UK as a global leader in the delivery of citizen-centred health care.
The NHS will be primarily focused on healthy living and disease prevention, not just managing people once they are in the system. We will have fewer hospitals but many thousands of patients remotely monitored in their homes.
OFCOM will have encouraged a new paradigm in public service broadcasting, creating a citizenry of expert patients with access to first class health information and services through the web and interactive TV.
We can look forward to healthy times ahead!
You can write to Simon at simon.gallant@mishcon.co.uk
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Simon Gallant is a Consultant with Mishcon de Reya, solicitors. An IP and Media lawyer by background, in 1998 Simon approached the Department of Health through his company Eden Communications, proposing the delivery of citizen focused health information and services through digital interactive television. Three years later, Living Health – a Consortium between Eden and Telewest – won £4 million from the DoH and ran a highly successful digital TV service for cable subscribers in Birmingham. The service was the precursor to NHS Direct Digital TV which will launch some time next year. Here Simon talks about his work with Mishcon de Reya and his thoughts on the future for e-health. 
The UK eHealth Association’s Chairman, Ricky Richardson will be speaking at a conference focusing on the government’s aspiration to improve health care service delivery to private homes via new technologies. 
Health Minister John Hutton has announced that the NHS has reached a landmark agreement with Microsoft on the renewal of the licensing of its desktop products in line with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) framework agreement with the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential. It will mean improved patient safety as NHS staff will continue to use familiar software reducing the possibility of error. Retraining will be unnecessary and it will mean an estimated cost saving of £330m on the current deal. 
A pilot study has shown that leg wounds can be accurately assessed using photographs taken at a patient's home, adding one more example to a growing list of medical conditions that can be successfully monitored remotely.