Opinion Article: How IT Systems can Help Address the Key Findings of the Francis Report
Many of the issues identified at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust could be seen at any hospital in the NHS. The overwhelming message of Francis was the need for 'cultural change' in the NHS. However, this is a tall order since the NHS doesn't so much have a culture, it is a culture and it's the individuals within the organisation that make up that culture.
Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) announced the results of an extensive new scientific study into sleep apnea, conducted over the last two years by Philips in collaboration with University of Twente (Enschede, the Netherlands), Medisch Spectrum Twente Hospital (Enschede, the Netherlands), and patients' organization ApneuVereniging.				
Agfa HealthCare was able to achieve year-on-year revenue growth in 2012. The revenue increase by 3.0 percent to 1,212 million Euro reflects the performance of the growth initiatives on the one hand, and the effect of the relative weakness of the Euro on the other hand.				
By offering new upgrade options for hard- and software, Siemens Healthcare supports hospitals and practitioners operating under tight budgets. Thus, customers in different modalities can bring their existing systems up to date. Moreover, Siemens Healthcare offers systems that can be extended to additional functionalities when needed. One example is to enlarge the group of patients in the field of mammography.				
EMIS - the UK's leading supplier of GP clinical systems - has announced discussions on a landmark record-sharing agreement with another supplier in a further move to make the vision of 'joined up' NHS care a reality. The company is planning to join forces with TPP to deliver one-to-one local health community data-sharing for clinical commissioning group (CCG) areas using both EMIS and TPP systems.