Digital Health Coffee Time Briefing ☕ 

Your morning summary of digital health news, information and events to know about if you want to be “in the know”. 

???? News 

???? Specialist healthcare ICT provider Bates IT has become part of a group in Aliter Capital’s second fund, alongside ITM Communications, a provider of critical network infrastructure services. The deal was for an undisclosed sum. 

???? Apple Watch’s atrial fibrillation feature has become the first digital health technology to receive approval as a qualified device under the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Medical Device Development Tools programme. The feature helps detect users’ abnormal heart patterns, and the FDA approval means it can be used as a tool within clinical studies. 

????‍???? Access to the One Health and Care shared care record in the Black Country is making it faster and easier to make safeguarding decisions about vulnerable adults and children, according to the region’s multi-agency safeguarding hubs (MASH). Access to the shared care record went live in Walsall Metropolitan Council in April 2023, with Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council and the City of Wolverhampton Council following soon after.  

????‍⚕️ UK-based patient engagement platform supplier DrDoctor has announced an integration partnership with elective care automation and performance improvement organisation MBI Health. The partnership combines DrDoctor’s ‘quick question tool’ with MBI’s waitlist validation capabilities with the aim of better managing patient flow.

???? North West Anglia Foundation Trust has partnered with Inhealthcare to launch an acute virtual ward for patients. The service, which went live in December 2023, offers patients who are recovering but not yet fit for discharge the chance to return home with simple devices for measuring vital signs like blood pressure, temperature, blood oxygen level and weight.

❓ Did you know that? 

The Global Women’s Health Index, published by US med tech firm Hologic in May 2024, has revealed that the UK has dropped from 30th to 37th place in a global league table, which ranks nations’ performance in five key areas of women’s health and wellbeing.

According to the report, the UK’s scores were below the EU average in cancer screening, emotional health, and women’s safety.

???? What we’re reading 

BT has published a five-point plan to help the NHS overcome barriers to digitalisation.

The recommendations are the result of a roundtable conversation hosted by Professor Sultan Mahmud, director of healthcare at BT and Anu Anand, BBC journalist and podcaster, in which business, healthcare and policy leaders debated what’s standing in the way of a digital revolution in the NHS.

???? This week’s events 

28-29 May 2024, London – Digi-Tech Pharma & AI 2024