A digital NHS? An introduction to the digital agenda and plans for implementation (King's Fund)

In recent years, the digital agenda in health care has been the subject of an array of promises and plans, ranging from the Secretary of State’s challenge to the NHS to ‘go paperless’ to the commitment set out in the NHS’s Five Year Forward View to ‘harness the information revolution’. But have expectations been set too high? And is there sufficient clarity about the funding available to achieve this vision?

 

 

 

This report looks at the key commitments made and what we know about progress to date, grouped under three broad themes:

• interoperable electronic health records


• patient-focused digital technology


• secondary use of data, transparency and consent.

It identifies barriers to further progress and opportunities for delivering on the digital agenda.

Key findings

• Digital technology can transform how patients engage with services, drive improvements in efficiency and care co-ordination, and help people manage their health and wellbeing.


• For historical reasons, the acute sector is furthest from achieving the goals set out under this agenda, in contrast to general practice where use of digital clinical systems is near-universal. Delivering large-scale digital transformation involves risks for NHS leaders (particularly in acute trusts); they should receive more support and tolerance from regulators and commissioners.


• To maximise uptake, patients and the public need to be aware of the benefits of digitisation, while being reassured about data security and use.


• Clinicians and frontline staff must be involved in designing and rolling out new technology.

Policy implications

• Achieving the digital vision requires more realistic deadlines, given the backdrop of unprecedented financial and operational pressures facing NHS organisations. The government should adopt the Wachter review’s recommendations about extending the timetable to 2023.


• In doing so, the government needs to take care to preserve the momentum that has been generated towards building local data-sharing arrangements and increasing the uptake of online services for patients.


• Greater clarity is urgently needed about funding to support this agenda, including when the money already announced will be made available and how it can be accessed.


• There is a risk that focusing too narrowly on cost savings and ‘going paperless’ could detract from the ultimate aim – to improve outcomes, efficiency and patient experience.

Source King’s Fund http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/digital-nhs

Matthew Honeyman, Phoebe Dunn, Helen McKenna

A digital NHS? An introduction to the digital agenda and plans for implementation (King's Fund)

Pfizer launches app to help patients manage depression

Hopes the Moodivator app will complement treatment and support care teams

Pfizer has launched a new mobile app for patients suffering from depression that it hopes will enable them to take a more active role in managing their condition.

The firm wants its new Moodivator app to complement treatment and says it can do so in a simple and efficient way.

The free iPhone app allows patients to set goals, track their moods using a simple scale and share their progress with their care team.

It also includes information about one of Pfizer‘s prescription treatments for depression, but the company says the app is not intended to take the place of doctors’ care or advice.

Susan Kornstein, professor of psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, helped consult on the app’s design.

She said: “As awareness of the magnitude and severity of depression continues to mount, technology like the Moodivator app represents a new and exciting frontier for helping people with depression.

“The opportunity for patients to track and export their mood and goal progress in easy-to-read charts is also very useful, because the progress can then be shared with doctors to help inform care decisions.”

Depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the US and it’s estimated that one in 15 adults experiences at least one major depressive episode in any given year.

Source PMLive http://www.pmlive.com/blogs/digital_intelligence/archive/2016/september/pfizer_launches_app_to_help_patients_manage_depression_1131154

Pfizer launches app to help patients manage depression

Apps as medical devices - UK regulator updates its guidance

MHRA moves to help firms’ health apps comply with its rules

The UK’s regulator the MHRA has updated its guidance on whether a health app should be subject to medical device oversight.

A number of apps and pieces of stand-alone software that are already on the market have so far been classified as medical devices and consequently fall within the MHRA’s remit.

They include those that gather data from a person or a diagnostic device, such as diet, heartbeat, or blood glucose levels and then analyse and interpret the data to make a diagnosis, prescribe a medicine or recommend treatment.

John Wilkinson, MHRA’s director of medical devices, said: “We live in an increasingly digital world, both healthcare professionals, patients and the public are using software and stand-alone apps to aid diagnosis and monitor health.

“Where apps or stand-alone software make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment, people should check for CE-marking before using their apps and developers should make sure they are complying with the appropriate medical device regulations.”

In the UK, as in the rest of Europe, software and apps that are defined as medical devices must gain a CE mark (kitemark) in line with the EU medical device directives to show they are ‘regulated and acceptably safe to use and also perform in the way the manufacturer/ developer intends them to’.

The first health app to be classified as a medical device was the Mersey Burns app (pictured above), which was developed by doctors at the Mersey Regional Burns and Plastic Surgery Unit. Other apps that also have a CE mark include OncoAssist and Airstrip’s patient monitoring apps.

The MHRA’s new guidance on health apps as medical devices is available in an interactive pdf that developers through its processes.

Releasing the guidance the MHRA stressed that apps that give incorrect diagnoses or prescribe inappropriate treatments could have severe and potentially life-threatening consequences.

Wilkinson added: “Patient safety is our priority. We continue to encourage people to report any safety or performance issues involving medical devices, including apps, to MHRA via our Yellow Card Scheme online.”

Source PMLive http://www.pmlive.com/blogs/digital_intelligence/archive/2016/august/apps_as_medical_devices_-_uk_regulator_updates_its_guidance_1112214

Apps as medical devices - UK regulator updates its guidance