08/09/2010
A growing number of British websites are offering physician consultations and medication without requiring patients to meet with doctors in person or speak to them via phone or webcam. Some experts believe the trend will spread to other countries. AP/Washington Post.
07/27/2010
Specialists at Oklahoma State University are providing weekly consultations to physicians at the second largest hospital in Iraq. Doctors at the facility in Iraq have the capability to transmit patient medical information to OSU. Tulsa World, KFSM.
07/23/2010
The World Health Organization is working with a health terminology standards group in an effort to improve the accuracy and reliability of health care classification systems. The plan involves the use of electronic health records. Healthcare IT News, E-Health Europe.
07/21/2010
Intuitive Automata, a Hong Kong-based technology company, has developed a robot designed to help individuals lose weight and prevent chronic conditions. The product interacts with individuals to help them track nutritional goals and is set for launch in the U.S. next year. Wall Street Journal.
07/19/2010
British physicians report that 10% of electronic health records uploaded to the country's national database are inaccurate. The U.K. medical association has urged the government to stop using the system. London Daily Telegraph, London Daily Mail.
06/23/2010
Microsoft recently established UK HealthVault, a version of its personal health record platform, while HIMSS Analytics launched HIMSS Analytics Europe to provide health IT resources and services to European organizations and governments. Health Data Management et al.
06/17/2010
British researchers recently released a report finding that millions of patients in the United Kingdom likely are unaware that their medical records are being uploaded to the National Health Service's online Summary Care Record database. London Telegraph et al.
06/02/2010
About 750 employees of the Canadian telecommunications firm TELUS will be the first to test an online personal health record platform that uses Microsoft's HealthVault. Officials aim to make the system widely available by the end of the year. CNS/National Post.
05/28/2010
The European Commission has proposed large-scale health IT investments to help the European Union's 27 member states tackle rising health care costs and an aging population. The EC's "Digital Agenda" calls for giving European residents online access to their health data by 2015 and widespread deployment of telemedicine services by 2020. E-Health Europe, Government Health IT.
04/27/2010
Today, North Korea launched a medical videoconferencing network that connects smaller, rural medical facilities with specialists in the capital. The World Health Organization is providing cameras, computers and other equipment for the telemedicine system. AP/San Jose Mercury News.
04/19/2010
United Kingdom health officials have halted some pilot projects that were part of an effort to upload electronic health records to a national database. Some physician groups had raised concerns about privacy and security risks in the EHR project. BBC News, Daily Telegraph.
04/05/2010
Privacy advocates are concerned about revelations that the United Kingdom's National Health Service is sending health records to India for transcribing. NHS says that the data are anonymous and that the Indian firm is complying with data protection laws. Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph.
03/19/2010
A report scheduled for publication next month has identified inaccuracies and omissions in patient data contained in the United Kingdom's new Summary Care Records database. Researchers from University College London suggest that physicians uploading the electronic health data could be partially responsible for the errors. ComputerWeekly.
03/10/2010
In a letter to U.K. officials, the British Medical Association said the National Health Service is uploading health records to a central database too quickly and often without patient consent. BMA is calling for the government to suspend elements of the program. Daily Telegraph, BBC News.
03/01/2010
UpToDate, a medical information company, is working with Harvard's Global Health Delivery Project to provide better access to digital medical information for physicians working in remote areas of developing countries. Boston Globe.