EHI’s industry news roundup 29.02.08

E-Health Insider’s industry news round up for the week ending 29 February 2008 featuring supplier news, appointments, awards and events.

Supplier news

Leicester signs managed service deal with Siemens

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust signed a managed service agreement with Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics for the delivery of its test requirements in blood chemistry, haematology, immunoassay and coagulation testing services.

Leeds NHS Trust sends medical equipment to Zambia

A container load of medical aid is on its way to an African hospital thanks to staff at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. With the help of transport firm City Transport and Storage, more than 500 pieces of medical equipment are on their way to Zambia. The equipment includes hospital beds, mattresses, clothes, personal computers and other essentials.

AstraZeneca signs £25m network deal with BT

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has signed a £25m global network agreement with BT to cover 170 managed connections at 131 sites in 60 countries. BT will extend the existing BT-managed global MPLS network in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and Asia Pacific to 33 new sites in the US and South America to provide a single delivery platform.

Runwood implements COA Solutions to support growth strategy

Runwood Homes – a UK care home provider with 28 homes across Essex and Hertfordshire – is implementing new financial and income management systems from COA Solutions (formerly CedarOpenAccounts) to support its growth strategy. With a six-year plan to substantially increase its number of homes and beds, Runwood requires systems which are efficient and flexible enough to support its growth without having to expand its accounts team. 

Appointments

Quicksilva appoint new sales and marketing director

Quicksilva Software Solutions, an independent UK-based supplier of systems integration and messaging services to the public sector, has announced that it has appointed Richard Last to the position of sales and marketing director. Last has been appointed with the specific remit of growing Quicksilva’s revenue by over twice the current value during the next five years. As well as business growth, Last will also be evaluating other areas within the healthcare market that could benefit from Quicksilva’s technologies and services with a view to the company widening its target customer base.

Awards

Frost and Sullivan announce Excellence in Healthcare award winners

Global growth consulting company Frost & Sullivan presented fifteen awards at its 2008 Excellence in Healthcare Awards Banquet held in Berlin last week. Among the awards conferred were those for product innovation, technology leadership, customer service leadership and market leadership. A full list of award winners can be found at http://www.frost.com.

Events

‘Pass the patient’ -4 March – Lakeside Conference Centre, Aston University

Both the morning and afternoon sessions at ‘Pass the patient’ will focus on aspects of patient handover documentation that are currently of paramount concern. The series of case histories and practical sessions will give valuable advice and guidance on the technology solutions available to implement electronic discharge records. There is still time to register for ‘Pass the patient’ by completing the booking form at www.bjhc.co.uk.

"Exploring the value of RFID in Blood Transfusion" – 12 March – RFID Centre

Savant, one of the UK’s suppliers of IT systems to the healthcare sector is driving the implementation of RFID in the Blood transfusion Service by holding a conference at the RFID Centre in Bracknell on 12 March, 2008. The conference plans to demonstrate that RFID is now sufficiently established to be ready for a proof of concept trial across the lifecycle of a bloodbag. Trials in the US and Germany have already shown the technology to be sound and will be fully presented at the session. Please contact Glyn Jones at Savant on 01524 784416, glyn.jones@savant.co.uk for more information.

Joe Fernandez