Analytics

The power of information and digital technology to transform the NHS

I believe passionately in the power of information and digital technology to transform the way we deliver health and care, indeed I consider it essential if we are the meet the growing demands the health and care system faces within the resources likely to be available. We need to mobilise information to help us redesign…

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A Paperless NHS

Given the usual scant regard to the commonly accepted meaning of words that seems to be the norm in the NHS – “Paperless” is something that we now have in the majority of general practices and that many have had for some years and I’m really enthusiastic about the desire from the centre to drag the rest…

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NHS-Life Sciences Partnership

“The NHS should be “opened up” to private healthcare firms under plans which include sharing anonymous patient data, David Cameron is due to announce” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16026827 25 years ago I launched AAH Meditel. My plan was to give GPs free computers in return for anonymised patient data, which I planned to sell, primarily for life-sciences research.…

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Analytics – Whose data is it anyway?

There are a growing number of techniques which might be described by the term “health analytics” which are able to use patient data (generally pseudonymised) for a range of valuable purposes which can help identify opportunities to delver more appropriate, better quality and more cost-effective care. With the challenges healthcare faces using information more intelligently…

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Secondary Uses of Data – A Poachers Tale

Early in my career in health informatics I had plans to make myself fabulously rich by selling pseudonymised patient data from GP for a range of secondary purposes. I managed to spend £15 million of my backers money giving away 1000 GP systems and established a database of 6 million patients records it all ended…

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Beyond the Hawking Horizon

The idea that a single shared electronic health record (SSEHR) operating over a wide geography serving many care settings and diverse professional groups is a good idea is one that has some currency in the NHS. However, evidence seems to be growing that this approach does not lead to more effective care and communication and…

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