INTRODUCTION
Over the last few months you have been treated to a bombardment of information leading up to our annual conference. I am pleased to report that the event was a tremendous success and all the feed back we have had so far has been very positive.
The 260 delegates were treated to an exciting and wide-ranging speaker programme, supported by a well-attended exhibition that provided the opportunity to see eHealth in action. Hopefully the conference was thought provoking and will go some way towards the Association’s aim of kick starting the eHealth industry in the UK. We are enormously grateful to all those involved, who made the event so informative and memorable.
Although, as was said at the conference, the three days represented the consolidation of the UKeHA’s work so far, more importantly it sets the foundation on which to build our future. We all work in a very fast moving industry and the UKeHA must stay at the forefront to represent our members needs. The change of name at the beginning of this year is the most obvious indication of the changes necessary. However much more is planned, not least of all a review of our mission and how we need to map into our members requirements. The review process will start shortly and we will be seeking views from our members to assist in the process. After all, we are here to represent you.
I trust those who attended our conference found it enjoyable and rewarding. For those who could not make it, there is always next year. Our intention is to hold the next event in London at about the same time as this year’s event. Details will be posted here as the programme is developed.
David Greenaway
Chief Executive
Visit http://www.e-health-media.com/news/item.cfm?ID=205
for e-Health insiders report on the UK eHealth Association conference 11-13
June 2002
The UK eHealth Association welcomes:
Birmingham Primary Care Shared Services Agency
SmartSensor telemed Ltd are developing a high-tech device, which could allow people with conditions such as diabetes and high cholesterol to perform blood tests at home. In the future, the technology could even be used to test for prostate cancer or osteoporosis. In addition to the convenience of performing tests at home, patients will receive results more quickly and the data could be fed directly into electronic patient records. jj@smartsensortelemed.com
On 18 June Mr David Hinchliffe MP, Chairman of the House of Commons Health Committee and MP’s paid a visit to Tunstall Group and West Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service (WYMAS) as part of its inquiry into delayed discharge. They were given a demonstration of the range of TeleHealth solutions that monitor the health and well-being of patients in their own homes. Following the demonstration a visit was made to WYMAS, the emergency ambulance and patient transportation service for the West Yorkshire region, where there was a practical demonstration of how TeleHealth contributes towards the safe discharge of patients from hospital to their own homes. The WYMAS infrastructure incorporates NHS Direct West Yorkshire, doctors out of hours and Careline community alarm monitoring services. C.lugar@tunstall.co.uk
NHS Direct Online, the internet-based health advice service, will be offering more interactivity to its users within the next 12 months. New features will include online advice tailored to individual queries and secure personalised pages for users.Visitors to the site will have the option of receiving advice from nurses delivered via email or to a secure, personalised part of the NHS Direct Online site that can only be accessed with a personal password. http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk
Telemedic Systems VitalLink has been purchased by the US Marine Corps (USMC) Warfighting Laboratory in order to evaluate the applicability of the VitalLink to the USMC mission and determine precisely how best to make use of it. This first VitalLink purchased by the USMC will shortly be deployed and the company are expecting future orders based upon this initial evaluation. http://www.telemedicsystems.com
The Scottish Executive is investing in developing data sharing and common data standards to help provide joined up health and social care as part of a £30 million programme of investment in e-government projects. The funding will be used to support the development of smartcards, data sharing, data standards and e-procurement. Source: eHealth Insider June 2002
The Innovative Health Technologies Programme, funded jointly by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Medical Research Council, will examine the role that new technologies now play - and will increasingly playin future - in redefining the way we manage and experience health and medicine. The overall aim of this Programme is to advance our understanding of the interaction between innovative health technologies and wider changesin society. The central question of the Programme is therefore: How will people and society be affected by, and in turn affect, innovative health technologies? http://www.york.ac.uk/res/iht/
An online appointments form that translates into 30 languages from English has been developed by the East of England Consortium, West Norfolk PCT and the University of East London, with support from the Home Office and Department of Health. Future developments will include a multilingual consent form for surgery and vaccinations and multilingual health information leaflets.http://www.harpweb.org.uk
The NHS National Nursing Leadership Project has launched a national e-learning programme for leadership development. The courses have been written by nurses, for nurses. They are free and can be undertaken at work or at home http://www.nursingleadership.co.uk/resourc/r_elearn.htm
A recently published telemedicine trial demonstrates that virtual outpatient appointments conducted using videoconference technology can reduce unnecessary and duplicated tests and improve patient satisfaction. The study involved 2094 patients in London and Shrewsbury and researchers and staff from London, Cambridge and Swansea. Source e-Health Insider June 2002
A database of eHealth / teleHealth / telemedicine projects, service provision and solutions throughout all European member states and the states that are currently candidates for accession to the European Union is to be compiled. This will provide an up to date source of reference data. If you would like to include your activities on the database visit www.ehtel.org and click on e-health solutions. peter.range@avienda.co.uk
In the first published study evaluating the clinical impact of handheld drug reference guides, researchers in the USA demonstrated that ePocrates Rx, a popular evidence-based drug reference guide, may help doctors significantly reduce the incidence of medication errors. The Harvard study follows a widely publicised report by the Institute of Medicine that medication errors cause thousands of deaths each year. Source: VMW June 2002
The Rochester Child Care TeleHealth Access Network is supported by the University of Rochester Medical Center and also funded with a $330,000 grant from the Department of Commerce's TOP program. The network aims to develop hardware and software connections to eventually link all paediatric practices in the region. Physicians from Strong Children's Hospital know of only one other telemedicine project similar to the Network. This project is at the University of Kansas Medical Center where physicians interact with school nurses in Kansas City Missouri. Source: Federal Telemedicine News June 2002
The Dutch Electronic-Highway Platform (EPN) has made an inventory of telecare projects in The Netherlands. The use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) tends to reduce the pressure on health care professionals, saves time and delivers better quality for the patient. The research is based on seven projects in which tele-consultation facilities between dermatologists, general practitioners, physiotherapists, ophthalmologists, and radiologists are playing a key role. Source: VMW June 2002
The Australian Government has awarded a research and development contract to use open-source technology to make patient health records available on the internet. The R&D contract has been awarded to the Distributed Systems Technology Centre, and partners, Ocean Informatics, Flinders University and the Open EHR Foundation. Source eHealth Insider June 2002. www.e-health-media.com/sign_up
At the recent Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, attendees could see first-hand what happens inside the mind of a person with schizophrenia. The realistic virtual reality experience puts participants on a city bus and surrounds them with the sights and sounds seen and heard by a person with schizophrenia. Source: VMW June 2002
A new website has been launched to enable people to seek out others who have the same problem so that they can help each other by sharing information and personal experiences. The website covers over 400 diseases and conditions, but does not provide medical advice www.thirdaid.com
The Medicines Control Agency (MCA) has launched an information website on the safety of herbal medicines. It is hoped that the website will increase awareness and understanding that herbal remedies are genuine medicines which should be manufactured to a high standard and used with care. http://www.mca.gov.uk/ourwork/licensingmeds/herbalmeds/herbalsafety.htm.
A new website has been launched to provide on-line nationally accredited CME and CPD educational programmes based around proven best practice and national standards. The programmes and services are free of charge www.medify.com
Systematic review of cost effectiveness studies of telemedicine interventions. Pamela S Whitten, Frances S Mair, Alan Haycox, Carl R May, Tracy L . Williams, and Seth Hellmich. BMJ 2002;324 1434-1437 http://bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/324/7351/1434
Empirical studies assessing the quality of health information for consumers on the world wide web. Systematic review. Eyenbach G. Powell J. Kuss O. Eun-Ryoung SA. JAMA 22/29 May 2002. Vol 287, no 20
*Denotes the first appearance of the date of conferences and meetings
2002 UK Conferences
e-Health 2002. The International e-Health Associations 2nd Annual Conference, 18-20 September 2002 London. Ehealth2002@cs.com www.eHealth2002.org
Healthcare Meets Medical Informatics and Innovation: The Future is Here 20-22 October 2002. Edinburgh International Conference www.hemmii.com
Reshaping Clinical practices and Procedures with Information Flows: The Autumn Forum. 7 November 2002, The Royal College of Surgeons, London. www.bjhc.co.uk
*TEHRE 2002 December, London www.medrecinst.com/conference/conferences.shtml
*5th Annual Filmless Hospitals Conference. 4 December 2002 Hilton, Birmingham Metropole Hotel. Tel: 01932 821723 events@bjhcltd.demon.co.uk
*HC2003 24 – 26 March 2003, Harrogate, Yorkshire Tel: 01886 833843 hc2003-judy@amiconf.demon.co.uk
2002 Overseas Conferences
MIE 2002: The xviith International Conferenceof the European Federation for Medical informatics. 25-29 August 2002. Budapest, Hungary. www.conftours.mtesz.hu/mie2002
EuroPACS2002. 5-7 September 2002 at the Medical Faculty, University of Oulu, Finland. www.mirg.oulu.fi/europacs/general.html
7th International Conference on Telemedicine 22-25 September 2002, Regensburg, Germany http://www.ict2002.org
5th European Health Forum 25-28 September 2002 Bad Hofgastein, Salzburg, Austria http://www.ehfg.org/website02/
4th Nordic Congress in Telemedicine/Nordsk Telemed 2002 30 September – 2 October 2002. University Hospital of Tromso, Norway Torill Berg, Tel: +47 77 754160 or email: torill.berg@telemed.no
*Mobile Healthcare 16-18 October 2002 Sands expo, Las Vegas. www.medrecinst.com/conference/wireless/index/shtml
*TEPR 2003 10-16 May 2003 San Antonio Convention Center, San Antonio. www.medrecinst.com/conferences/tepr/index.shtml
*8th World Conference on Nursing Informatics. EHealth for All: Designing the Nursing Agenda for the Future. 20-25 June 2003 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil www.ni2003.com
Please forward this e-mail to other colleagues who may find it of interest.
Monica Dennis
Administrator
UK eHealth Association
Britannia House, 11 High Street, Cowbridge
Vale of Glamorgan CF71 7AD
Tel and fax: 01446 775189
Mobile: 07811 159800
Email: mdennis@ukeha.org.uk
www.ukeha.org.uk