OKRA, a Cambridge-based provider of Artificial Intelligence (AI) analytics for Life Sciences, has developed a new AI system to accurately predict the (a) price and (b) 'benefit outcome' of new drug molecules several years before launch. OKRA's system is the first of its kind and uses AI to deliver detailed evidence and reassurance to pharma professionals to aid the submission process, opening doors for more effective drugs to reach the market faster.

Remote patient technology is helping reduce pressure on hospital beds on Merseyside by offering COVID-19 patients the opportunity to be monitored and cared for in their own homes via a new initiative.

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, one of the leading mental health and community health trusts in the country, launched a pilot of the 'COVID Oximetry@Home' service in April and began accepting referrals from primary care last month.

Smart health tech provider Alcidion Group Limited (ASX:ALC) has announced an expansion of its reseller agreement with NextGate to include the UK and Ireland.

In 2018, MKM Health (which was acquired by Alcidion in 2018) signed an agreement to resell NextGate's market leading Enterprise Master Patient Index (EMPI) and Provider Registry solutions in Australia and New Zealand.

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust is to implement an Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (ePMA) solution called OPENeP from Better, working with CGI as implementation partner.

The trust is the second global digital exemplar providing mental health services to choose OPENeP as the result of an initiative to develop a procurement framework for open systems and platform technologies that was led by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, where OPENeP is also currently being deployed.

Bayer will support five new startup companies as part of the company's G4A Digital Health Partnerships Program. Focus will be on fostering the development of a digital health ecosystem, while driving forward integrated healthcare solutions in the fields of cardiometabolic and renal diseases, oncology, and women's health. The participating digital healthcare companies were selected by Bayer from over 400 applications from over 65 countries based upon current and future strategic fit, development stage and assessment.

Leicester's Hospitals have taken another leap forward in their electronic patient record (EPR) journey by deploying a closed-loop mobile electronic prescribing and medicines administration (EPMA) system at Leicester General Hospital.

The EPR programme is a collaboration between clinical and technical teams at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and the Nervecentre software development team, to build a next generation, mobile first digital patient record system.

Industry veteran Jeremy Nettle reflects on a recent debate by the Highland Marketing advisory board on the role of national and local organisations in NHS IT policy, funding and implementation. Twenty-years of switching focus has created confusion and delay, he argues, and it's time for a new model.