EHI’s industry news roundup 02.05.08

E-Health Insider’s industry news round up for the week ending 2 May 2008 featuring supplier news, product launches, events and awards.

Supplier news

Ntl:Telewest Business say public sector unsure of 21CN benefits

Research by ntl:Telewest Business with health trust telecoms managers has found that the majority are in the dark about BT’s £10 billion plans for its nationwide next generation network, the company claims. 21CN is due to be rolled out by 2011. However, the survey found that only 43% of managers were aware of 21CN, and of these, just 30% believed that BT would deliver the project on schedule. Most were also not sure of the benefits that 21CN would bring beyond speed.

Which? magazine reveals bacteria problems in keyboards

Consumer group Which? has revealed tests at its London offices found office keyboards tend to carry bugs that could cause food poisoning. Out of 33 keyboards swabbed, four were regarded as a potential health hazard and one harboured five times more germs than one of the office’s toilet seats. Users eating lunch at their desk and poor personal hygiene, such as not washing hands after going to the toilet, were the key reasons for this, the magazine found.

Siemens reveal lack of awareness of hearing tests

A survey conducted for Siemens Hearing Instruments has revealed that 68% of UK workers have never had a hearing test. A further 21% hadn’t had a test in the last five to ten years. When quizzed over their hearing health, three out of four UK adults believed they didn’t have a hearing problem or were unsure. Of those that didn’t think they had a hearing problem, one in ten failed the hearing check.

Derbyshire Health Informatics Service selects Touchpaper ITBM solution

Derbyshire Health Informatics Service (DHIS) has selected Touchpaper’s IT Business Management (ITBM) solution to further enhance their service management framework based on IT Infrastructure Library best practice principles. Scheduled to go live this summer, the new software from Touchpaper will facilitate automated, more effective communication between the central service desk of DHIS and other IT stakeholders including DHIS staff, two PCTs, Derbyshire Mental Health Services and East Midlands Strategic Health Authority.

South Tyneside extend document management system

South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust is extending the usage of its Canon ADOS document management system for capturing, storing, indexing and sharing data. The system will be extended to the radiology, finance, invoicing and contracts register departments all documents are printed with a barcode on them, with the scanning system uses to file and manage electronic versions.

Product Launches

Honeywell launches new public sector barcode scanners

Honeywell has announced the new 3200 Linear Image Scanner, an entry-level scanner designed for use in a wide variety of linear scanning applications in healthcare. The 3200 is designed for basic linear barcode scanning applications, including point-of-sale, manufacturing work-in-process and document processing.

Devlin launches new infection control keyboard

Devlin Electronics has announced the full release of a new infection control keyboard in its healthcare range. The KCR-106-6XX is specifically designed to help health services tackle the problems of hospital acquired infections. The new keyboard is the result of an intensive programme to develop a product specifically for medical applications, which completely removes potential infection traps found in standard keyboards and can withstand rigorous cleaning procedures.

Events

Event to be hosted on SNOMED CT and interoperable healthcare

NHS Connecting for Health is to host a conference looking at the importance to patient care of using the standard clinical terminology – ‘SNOMED Clinical Terms’ (SNOMED CT) – as part of an overall technical solution to support the delivery of health care. The event at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham on Wednesday 2 July 2008 will provide a forum for users to consider the impacts and benefits of moving from note-taking for local use, to that required for a national shared electronic record and to help share with the wider community some of the early experiences.

Awards

N3 lands innovation award

The NHS Connecting for Health N3 team is celebrating after winning a 2008 Government Computing Award for Innovation. The team were successful in the ‘Government to Government’ category at the awards ceremony, which was held at Madame Tussauds in London on Thursday 24 April. N3 beat off strong opposition from The Cabinet Office, Kent Connects and the Scottish Criminal Justice Board to take the trophy.

Irish geographic health system wins award

Health Atlas Ireland – an open source Geographical Information System (GIS) which enables both health services planning and health data analysis, has received a Public Service Excellence Award 2008 from Ireland’s Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. The project is led by the Ireland’s Health Service Executive in partnership with two universities. It is grant aided by the Health Research Board as well as the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, Ireland’s specialist agency for the surveillance of communicable diseases.

Entries open for BT e-Health Insider Awards 2008

New categories in the BT e-Health Insider Awards 2008 launched today will reward excellent work by healthcare information and communications technology professionals in vital areas such as patient safety, security and wireless working. Details of the awards and online entry forms are at: www.ehealthawards.com.