eHealth updates - 21 February 2013

New policy, guidance and e-health initiatives from across the UK. For more information about the e-health theme see Quality and Safety e-Bulletin: e-health.

Some of the resources linked to are in PDF format - see how to access PDF files.

2020health: Yorkshire & the Humber Telehealth Hub - Project Evaluation. Results of a telehealth hub pilot in Yorkshire show that telehealth can reduce hospital admissions, provide care at home and improve patient outcomes.

BMC Medical Informatics & Decision Making: Tailored, interactive health communication application for patients with type 2 diabetes: study protocol of a randomised controlled trial. "Type 2 diabetes is an increasingly common chronic condition whose prognosis can be improved by patient involvement and self-management. Patient involvement can be fostered by web-based Interactive Health Communication Applications (IHCAs) combining health information with decision support, social support and/or behaviour change support.” This study aims to test the effectiveness and usage of a tailored IHCA combining health information with decision support and behaviour change support for patients with type 2 diabetes.

BMC Medical Informatics & Decision Making: Why mobile health app overload drives us crazy, and how to restore the sanity. “Smartphones and tablet computers have become an integral part of our lives. One of their key features is the possibility of installing third-party apps. These apps can be very helpful for improving health and healthcare. However, medical professionals and citizens are currently being overloaded with health apps. Consequently, they will have difficulty with finding the right app, and information and features are fragmented over too many apps, thereby limiting their usefulness.”

Deloitte: Primary care: Working differently. Telecare and Telehealth - game changer for health and social care. This report argues that telecare and telehealth can help commissioners and providers respond to rising demand for health care and support patients to manage more effectively by integrating the technology into service redesign.

DH: Informed. An online introduction to the use of informatics in healthcare. This is an e-learning course designed to help meet the NHS’ needs for improved induction into health informatics roles. The course will start from April 2013. There are five 30-minute sessions including introduction to health informatics, improving the quality and safety of care through health informatics and uses of data in health and care.

Guardian: Data sharing in the NHS. “Encouraging a culture of transparency and data sharing in the NHS could improve patient care, but are clinicians ready to embrace collaborative working and what are the barriers to success?" This article reports back on a round-table discussion focussed on data sharing in the NHS.

Guardian: Why one NHS trust experimenting with social media. Leeds and York partnership NHS foundation trust has been using Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. “The incentives, to us, are clear – the ability to enter into conversations with different stakeholders, and getting authentic feedback to create meaningful change and improve services. At the same time, we hope social media can help us become more sociable as an organisation.”

Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR): Web 2.0 chronic disease self-management for older adults: a systematic review. The aim of this American study was to review the planning, implementation, and overall effectiveness of Web 2.0 self-management interventions for older adults (mean age ≥ 50) with one or more chronic disease(s).

JMIR: Misleading health-related information promoted through video-based social media: Anorexia on YouTube. The study found that "pro-anorexia information was identified in 29.3% of anorexia-related videos. Pro-anorexia videos are less common than informative videos; however, in proportional terms, pro-anorexia content is more highly favored and rated by its viewers". It makes a number of recommendations around this finding.

JMIR: Effectiveness of a self-guided web-based cannabis treatment program: randomized controlled trial. The findings of this study conducted in Australia suggest that web-based interventions "may be an effective means of treating uncomplicated cannabis use and related problems and reducing the public health burden of cannabis use disorders".

National Audit Office (NAO): The UK cyber security strategy: landscape review. A National Audit Office review of the Government’s strategy for cyber security indicates that, although it is at an early stage, activities are already beginning to deliver benefits.

NHS Connecting for Health (NHS CFH): Clinical use of the Summary Care Record (PDF 1.2MB).
Almost 23 million people across 50 PCTs in England now have a Summary Care Record (SCR). The SCR is a secure electronic summary of key health information. Authorised healthcare staff can access the record to help with the care they provide to patients in urgent and emergency situations, where access to this information can be difficult to obtain or non-existent. This document provides information about the SCR and how it is being used.

NHS CFH: Training registration open for new service that will support QOF payments in 2013/14. Registration is now well underway for the first phase of training for the Calculating Quality Reporting Service (CQRS). This new service, along with the General Practice Extraction Service (GPES), will replace QMAS (Quality Management and Analysis System) for calculating achievement and payments for quality outcome-related services for GP practices from 2013/14, including the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). The training will be delivered in two phases.

NHS Hack Scotland, Edinburgh, 23rd and 24th of March 2013: This is a free, volunteer run event to get people who work in the NHS together with software developers, designers and anyone else with bright ideas to work together over the course of a weekend to build usable software solutions that improve healthcare.

Scottish Centre for Telehealth & Telecare: Telehealth and Telecare Learning Network: Supporting transition, integration and innovation. This is a learning network activity to showcase telehealth and telecare service developments from across Scotland, promote opportunities for collaboration and shared learning and to explore common issues. The event is free and will be held in Edinburgh. Registration closes 29 May 2013.

London Links Library Information and Knowledge services: Mobile technology workshop. The London Links Library Information and Knowledge services ran a mobile technology workshop. Presentations included introduction to ‘apps’, tips for running mobile services and mobile websites.

Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe): SPICe Briefing – eHealth in Scotland. This briefing outlines the Scottish Government’s strategy for eHealth in Scotland. It provides a background to the programme’s development over recent years, and the key policy drivers for taking it forward. There is also a discussion of some of the key eHealth initiatives that are currently underway.

World Trade Organisation (WTO): Promoting Access to Medical Technologies and Innovation. This report examines the interplay between public health, trade and intellectual property, and how these policy domains affect medical innovation and access to medical technologies. Co-published by the World Health Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade Organization, the study draws together the three Secretariats’ respective areas of expertise.