EMEA News

Also: FarGen project initiator wins achievement award in Orlando; Health secretary calls on the NHS to stop using paper and fax machines.

In August last year, health secretary Matt Hancock ordered a review of ongoing plans to replace IT systems at the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, NHS Improvement, the Health Research Authority and the CQC. The IT project, known as the Future Services Programme (FSP), will replace the current contract with French-headquartered Atos, which ends in April 2020. Following Hancock’s review, NHS England confirmed the FSP would now support Google’s G-suite technologies and other cloud-based services, subject to a pilot phase. This represents a significant move away from the mainly Microsoft-based systems, which have traditionally been used by NHS organisations. However, CQC’s board decided to pull out from the FSP in November, amid concerns that it was not appropriate for the needs of the regulator’s staff.  A CQC spokesperson denied the change of heart was related to Hancock’s review of the contract. “CQC will not be procuring services via the FSP due to the diverse and different needs of CQC’s user groups, such as the geographical spread of the workforce and remote working needs for inspection staff,” the spokesperson told Healthcare IT News. He added that CQC’s plans to replace the Atos contract next year were “still in the process of being looked at.” NHS England told Healthcare IT News that the FSP remained focused on transitioning away from the existing Atos agreement by April 2020. “As part of this programme is a technology refresh, alternative technologies and ways of deploying technology are currently being trialled to inform the strategy,” a spokesperson said. They added, that in line with government policy, instead of re-procuring a single provider, the FSP will “be leveraging a range of existing cloud-based contracts, as well as letting a small range of contracts over the next 12 months for the various elements of the service.” Over the last six months, more than half of the devices across the relevant NHS organisations have been upgraded to the latest cloud-based versions of Office 365 and Windows 10. The majority of the remainder are due for completion by the end of this financial year, NHS England said. NHS Improvement and the Health Research Authority declined to comment on the FSP plans.

After introducing the Accelerate-Redesign-Collaborate strategy two years ago, Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Israel’s largest hospital, has become a serial producer of digital innovations.   “This strategy really fuels everything that is happening in Sheba today, and we are seeing that medical centers in other countries, especially in the US, are now trying to copy our model,” Sheba CMO and CIO Eyal Zimlichman recently told HIMSS Insights.   An open innovation campus sits at the heart of the ARC strategy, with five topics of focus, including digital innovations in surgery, VR/AR, personalised medicine, AI/ big data, and telehealth/ mHealth, and a chairman responsible for each of them.   Meanwhile, 30 new innovation projects are being launched every year, receiving $50,000 each over a rapid development cycle of ten months, a “virtual currency” used to obtain access to digital development capabilities, and staff can apply for these grants.   “We have been through three annual cycles of this now, and many of those who have applied for the nearly 100 grants are in fact physicians,” Zimlichman added. The third issue of the HIMSS Insights eBook, launched during the HIMSS19 conference taking place in Orlando this week, puts the spotlight on digital health leaders that have made innovation possible around the world.   It seeks to show that innovation is not as much about management or allocating funding, as it is about overcoming obstacles.   Find out more about Sheba’s approach to bringing innovation into healthcare here.   Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.  

Regional Director for Europe Zsuzsanna Jakab spoke at the WHO Symposium on the Future of Digital Health Systems in the European Region in Copenhagen last week.

Dr Eric Topol led a review looking at the implications of digital technology deployment for the existing and future NHS workforce.

New recommendations aim to advance the sharing and access of health data across borders in the European Union.

Representatives from more than 80 countries will discuss the latest trends, opportunities and roadblocks in healthcare IT.

Also: Sensyne Health announces three-year research alliance with the University of Oxford Big Data Institute; local authorities in England are invited to apply for a share of £1m in funding for digital innovation in social care.

Also: Allscripts introduces new EMEA VP, MD role; NHS App programme director joins NHS trust; England explores the use of predictive analytics in reducing deaths from suicide; Eurostat releases new data on finding health information online.

New project looks to create European AI-on-demand platform. A new AI4EU project aims to support the development of the “first European on-demand AI platform” with a €20m budget over the next three years. French company Thales is coordinating the roll-out, with a view to expand membership of the project, which is currently bringing together 79 organisations from 21 countries. According to Thales, this will include the creation of a Europe-wide ethics observatory to drive discussions and development of “explainable, verifiable AI”.  Partners will reportedly make AI tools, algorithms and use cases available on the platform, providing help to SMEs, start-ups, entrepreneurs, venture capital firms and others, as the European Commission unveiled the plan to launch the initiative in an AI strategy released in April last year.  “We are very proud that the European Commission has placed its confidence in Thales to coordinate the AI4EU project, which will help Europe to build recognition as a player in the global race to develop the best digital technologies and AI in service of society,” said Thales Chief Technology Officer Marko Erman. ... Scottish NHS board rolls out Orion Health Medicines. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, the largest NHS organisation in Scotland, has implemented Orion Health Medicines at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow,  and is now using it across 11 hospital sites, aggregating data from multiple IT systems to provide a list of medicines patients are prescribed across care settings. “Because Orion Health Medicines captures the medications the patient had at admission, and the medications they have at discharge, the system can automatically highlight to the GP what has changed. Previously, stopped medication might be omitted from the discharge letter, meaning it wasn’t clear to the GP whether this medication had been deliberately stopped. “The GP might phone the hospital to seek clarification, which took time for both the GP practice and the hospital staff. With the Orion Health system, the immediate discharge letter clearly states that a medication has been stopped, including the reason for this,” said Alaistar Bishop, Programme Lead at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, one of Scotland’s 14 regional NHS Boards. The system was reportedly piloted at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in November last year and Inverclyde Royal Hospital in January. … Researchers create online calculator to predict risk of breast cancer. According to a study by Cancer Research UK, published in Genetics in Medicine, researchers have developed an online calculator to predict risk of breast cancer by combining information on family history and genetics with weight, alcohol consumption and other factors. They have taken into account 300 genetic indicators for breast cancer. Some GPs are reportedly testing the tool, and researchers say it could in the future help tailor breast cancer screening according to a person’s risk, and help them make decisions regarding preventative therapy. University of Cambridge Professor Antonis Antoniou, lead author of the study, said: “This is the first time that anyone has combined so many elements into one breast cancer prediction tool. It could be a game changer for breast cancer because now we can identify large numbers of women with different levels of risk – not just women who are at high risk. “This should help doctors to tailor the care they provide depending on their patients’ level of risk. For example, some women may need additional appointments with their doctor to discuss screening or prevention options and others may just need advice on their lifestyle and diet. “We hope this means more people can be diagnosed early and survive their disease for longer, but more research and trials are needed before we will fully understand how this could be used.” ... Boots UK buys health tech company Wiggly-Amps. Boots, the largest pharmacy health and beauty chain in the UK, has acquired Norfolk-based health tech company Wiggly-Amps. The company has created a digital solution to enable patients and their GPs to better manage prescription requirements, which Boots UK intends to use to strengthen its digital offerings. “It’s an exciting time for the future of pharmacy and today’s announcement is just one of the ways we are strengthening the development of our digital healthcare ambitions,” said Richard Bradley, Boots UK Pharmacy Director. Wiggly Amps has developed hardware and software solutions for healthcare, and its existing team will now operate as a separate entity to Boots UK under a new name, Engage Health Systems.Their Engage Touch patient check-in touch screens, Engage Consult online consultation platform, Engage Web GP websites, DORIS and Encompass will be delivered through this company, while their panic alarm system will be delivered through Little Green Button, also operating as a separate entity. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Yesterday, the Walgreens Boots Aliance also announced a new partnership with Microsoft for a cloud-based consumer health initiative.