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The eight-stage international model allows healthcare providers to measure their technology deployments against those of their peers.

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A new survey of over 2,220 people in England found support for collaborations resulting in access to the discoveries generated at less cost and improvements in the care provided.

A team from the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London published a paper on NHS cybersecurity this week.

The Romanian national cybersecurity and incident response team cautioned that no money should be paid to the ransomware hackers.

Despite a flurry of innovations and technologies for healthcare cropping up on the market, their use and deployment remains fragmented across the world, with barriers around poor access, a lack of interoperability and challenges in embedding these tools into workflows continuing to hinder progress. When looking at citizens’ attitudes, however, new research commissioned by Philips indicates that people would be more likely to use digital health technologies if they were recommended by a healthcare professional and if they had an “assurance” that their data would be kept secure. Furthermore, according to the study, being able to share the information tracked with healthcare professionals also plays an important role in the decision to use digital health tools, as well as their affordability. WHY IT MATTERS The Philips 2019 Future Health Index, published earlier this month, aims to provide an insight on the impact of digital technology based on a survey of 15,000 citizens and over 3,100 healthcare professionals in 15 countries (Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Poland, the UK and the US). Findings indicate that over 75% of the hospitals and practices where the professionals surveyed worked were using digital health records. However, challenges in deploying EHR systems were still reported, and the “common assumption” that digitisation could add more tasks from an administration standpoint to people’s jobs was also quoted in the research.  In addition, survey results show that 80% of professionals were able to share patient information electronically with colleagues in their organisations, but only 32% had the ability to exchange data with professionals from other facilities. This was due to a lack of access to data sharing systems, interoperability, concerns around privacy and security, as well as a preference for using paper or phones instead.  Meanwhile, 36% of citizens said they “regularly” shared health data tracked by using digital tools with the professionals caring for them, and that these provided "convenient" access to services and helped them feel “more in control” of their health.  “Two-way sharing of information is not only essential to deliver the right care at the right time, it also helps to improve the patient and clinician experience,” said Jan Kimpen, Philips chief medical officer. “Informed and empowered patients also take better care of their health, which contributes to the last element of the Quadruple Aim – lower cost of care.” ON THE RECORD Looking at a country breakdown, the researchers said China, Saudi Arabia, India and Russia were leading the pack when looking at the use of emerging technologies to ensure people remained healthy and improve the care delivered to patients.  “We know from the previous three editions of the FHI [Future Health Index] study that it is hard for countries with a developed healthcare system to change, simply because of the legacy,” Kimpen added. “So we should learn from countries with an emerging healthcare system that have leapfrogged in the adoption of digital technologies. Technology is no longer a limiting factor, the important thing for all of us is to be prepared for change.”  WHAT'S THE TREND In the 2018 study from Philips, researchers noted that adoption could be accelerated through education, after findings indicated that only 47% of the healthcare professionals and 24% of individuals surveyed said they felt “knowledgeable about connected care technologies”. They also called for both professionals and patients to be involved at earlier stages when developing solutions in order to help “secure buy-in”.

Progress has been made towards gender equality, but it is clear that much work remains to be done, and the situation is no different in health IT. In a new survey of more than 100 women in the industry in Europe, carried out by HIMSS, owner of Healthcare IT News, more than 80% of respondents said they felt that their contribution to the industry was not recognised, and over 60% that they had encountered gender discrimination in the workplace. This was manifested through lower chances of promotion and lower salaries, as well as fewer opportunities for training.  “You have to work twice as hard to demonstrate the same as a man in your position,” one respondent said.  “Also there are places, specially [sic] when talking to investors that feel like they have to teach you things rather than listen to you. They expect the man in the room to carry the conversation and to deal with him rather than the woman.” Sunjoy Mathieu, founder of Women in Digital Health in Switzerland, told Healthcare IT News the results were worrying. “There is a need for further support within organisations, and in my opinion that can only work if women who have ‘made it’ are mentoring and supporting other women, taking this responsibility and making change sustainable, on a societal level, not only fight for themselves as individuals," Mathieu said. Mentoring programmes were also seen as important by respondents of the survey. However, only 30% said they were currently mentoring someone else, and 17% that they had a mentor. Approximately 50% expressed a willingness to be a mentor or a mentee. Unveiling the results, Angela Velkova, HIMSS EMEA director of communities and strategic relations, said answers to questions about how women tackled gender discrimination in the workplace indicated that a majority of them were now coming forward and discussing the issues with colleagues and management, not letting it be swept under the rug.  Furthermore, around 80% of women said their organisations were promoting and supporting diversity by encouraging open dialogue and having a zero-tolerance policy for disrespectful behaviour. "The percentage of women feeling discriminated at the workplace based on their gender is concerning," Velkova added. "The survey results motivate us to work more through strategic initiatives at the local level - and the HIMSS regional communities can serve as a great platform for that." Last year’s survey saw 94% of women say they felt that their work went unnoticed, and Velkova said that the 11% decrease, compared to the 2019 results, indicated that this was now starting to be addressed. But there is still a long way to go. “We clearly need to urgently move to a situation where the gender discrimination we have at the moment is a thing of the past,” said Charles Alessi, chief clinical officer of HIMSS. "It is not acceptable that such large amounts of women feel that their contributions are not valued. We have to change it," the CCO cautioned. .jumbotron{ background-image: url("https://www.healthcareitnews.com//sites/hitn/files/u2556/HelsinkiJumbotron.jpg"); background-size: cover; color: white; } .jumbotron h2{ color: white; } Full coverage: HIMSS & Health 2.0 Europe 2019 Healthcare decision makers, patients, clinicians, nurses, life science professionals, innovators and many more are set to convene at the HIMSS & Health 2.0 European Conference 2019 in Helsinki on 11-13 June.

The EC2VC pitch competition saw startups and SMEs pitch their solutions in front of a jury of digital health investors from Europe and beyond.

Erik Gerritsen, vice minister of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport in the Netherlands, had a simple message for delegates on the second day of the HIMSS & Health 2.0 European conference in Helsinki this evening: there is an urgent need to address the “global interoperability crisis” facing healthcare. Governments need to step up, Gerritsen said, and move away from the approach adopted in the past, where the health IT industry was left alone to try and "fix" the interoperability challenge. “What I see is a global market failure in achieving meaningful interoperability. "What I see now is that, with all our technological advancements, people are still dying because we are not able to get the right electronic information in the right place at the right time," he said. "And I see hospitals being forced to select a specific EHR system because their data is locked into their vendor’s closed ecosystem. "I see nurses and doctors burning out and leaving healthcare behind because the technology doesn’t work for, but against them," he added. "I see desperate patients starting lawsuits to be able to get their own medical data because healthcare organisations are not willing or not able to provide their data to them." His comments echoed the remarks of patient advocates at the event, as well as governmental figures from other European countries calling on all stakeholders to work together and ensure healthcare does not, as Gerritsen put it, continue to miss out on the “digital revolution”, with fax machines and paper still common in many organisations - and "extinct everywhere but healthcare".  Empowered citizens and healthcare professionals The problem, however, is not the lack of having a vision in place or the lack of usable technology; it's implementing and scaling good solutions, Gerritsen said. The vice minister emphasised that health innovation needed to be "accelerated" to ensure that the right care is delivered at the right time. For this to happen, there is a need for empowered citizens, with access to the tools needed to be in control of their own health, and empowered healthcare professionals.  The vice minister acknowledged, however, that government is often seen as “the opposite of inspiration, slowing down innovation with needless red tape and bureauracy”. But he added: "As governments, we have a responsibility to serve the interests of all our citizens, to ensure that everyone is able to participate in today’s society, no matter their background. “People don’t do whatever you say, but they will follow what they see you do." Norway health tech CEO receives achievement award The evening keynote also saw Kathrine Myhre, chief executive of Norway Health Tech, receive the HIMSS Future 50 European Achievement Award. Myhre is the founder of Norway Health Tech, previously known as the Oslo Medtech Cluster, which brings together over 200 members from the digital health industry, providers, local authorities, R&D organisations and investors. “To ensure the growth of digital health into its full potential, we need leaders who can constantly push to improve the quality in treatment and care by developing and industrialising world-class health solutions through members and ecosystems,” said Sean Roberts, HIMSS EMEA vice president. “Kathrine Myhre is one such thought leader and a role model.” HIMSS launches nursing informatics community HIMSS, owner of Healthcare IT News, also launched today its European Nursing Informatics Community, in collaboration with the Finnish Nurses Association, the International Council of Nurses and the European Health Management Association. "Throughout our ongoing engagement with healthcare providers and the broader European community membership, we have recognised that nurses are the closest to the gaps in care representing the human link between technology and patients," said Angela Velkova, HIMSS director of communities and strategic relations. "Therefore, digitally empowered nurses will directly translate in improved delivery of care to the benefit of citizens and entire communities."

Chase Farm Hospital (CFH), part of the Royal Free London (RFL) group, has been validated at Stage 6 of the HIMSS – owner of Healthcare IT News - Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) after an on-site assessment last week. Over 2,500 hospitals in Europe have been assessed on the EMRAM, an eight-stage model measuring EMR capabilities and tracking the progress of healthcare organisations against others around the world. The standards were updated at the beginning of January 2018 to reflect advances in the healthcare technology space, according to John Rayner, HIMSS Analytics regional director for Europe and Latin America.The Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) requirement, for example, is now part of the Stage 1 criteria, as opposed to Stage 5. “In addition, areas of compliance have been increased to raise the bar and to acknowledge the importance of having these critical services hospital-wide, rather than in a single clinical area. As a result of these changes, some hospitals are likely to find achieving the higher stages of the model more challenging than they did prior to January 2018,” Rayner told Healthcare IT News in November last year. In England, only two other NHS organisations are currently validated at Stage 6, Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust and Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and none at Stage 7. CUH was revalidated against the new Stage 6 standards last year. Like Cambridge, RFL is part of the flagship NHS global digital exemplar scheme, through which it says that it has received £10m in matched funding – with the trust also putting in £10m – for new technology. It is one of four NHS trusts selected to develop a so-called group model and help "share services and resources more effectively across hospitals", according to information provided by the trust.  “This digital approach is what the future of healthcare looks like and means a better experience for our patients and our staff. Now our aim is to further advance our use of technology so CFH can become a stage 7 hospital,” said in a statement Dr Chris Streather, chief medical officer of the RFL group. Rayner said the HIMSS Analytics team was “particularly impressed with the amount of progress that has been in such a short time” after the Cerner Millennium go-live in November 2018. The new hospital opened to patients in September last year following a £200m redevelopment. “I was particularly impressed with the degree of device integration within the operating theatres and the anaesthetic facilities. All the clinicians that we spoke with on the day maintained that the benefits of using electronic patient records far outweighed any benefits of working with paper systems. I left with the impression that there is commitment at all levels within this organisation to use technology to improve patient safety and the overall quality of clinical care,” Rayner added. Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication. .jumbotron{ background-image: url("https://www.healthcareitnews.com//sites/hitn/files/u2556/HelsinkiJumbotron.jpg"); background-size: cover; color: white; } .jumbotron h2{ color: white; } Full coverage: HIMSS & Health 2.0 Europe 2019 Healthcare decision makers, patients, clinicians, nurses, life science professionals, innovators and many more are set to convene at the HIMSS & Health 2.0 European Conference 2019 in Helsinki on 11-13 June.