Roundup: PatientSource solution eliminates manual data collection at Israeli hospital, Florence raises £28.5m to expand social care staff app, and more reports

PatientSource Solution Eliminates Manual Data Collection at Ichilov Hospital

A new Electronic Patient Record (EPR) solution at Ichilov Hospital in Israel has reduced the time it takes for doctors to access patient data from six minutes to six seconds per appointment.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) selected UK-based provider PatientSource to create the cloud-based solution, which integrates with hospital IT systems, enabling the transfer of paper-based medical records to a digital hub.

Anat Loewenstein, Director of Ophthalmology at Ichilov Hospital, said: “With PatientSource, clinicians can make informed decisions in real time, significantly improving the patient experience in the hospital and reducing the risk of human error, which is inevitable when data is handle manually. «

Florence raises £28.5m to expand social care staff app

UK-based social care technology innovator Florence announced a £28.5m raise via a Series B funding round led by Axa Venture Partners with participation from Roo Capital and sponsors SEEK Existing investments.

The free Florence app connects nurses with open shifts and provides care organizations with intuitive eLearning and rotation tools.

The investment will be used to expand the product to support care in the UK and various international markets and to expand Florence’s services beyond elderly care.

Dr. Charles Armitage, co-founder of Florence, said, “With a broader reach, we’re confident we can help revolutionize care at a faster rate than ever before.”

Birmingham Community Healthcare Trust launches new patient portal

Irish health technology company Wellola has been selected by the Birmingham Community Healthcare (BCHC) NHS Foundation Trust to provide its patient portal platform.

The new platform will allow patients to view aspects of their medical records, manage appointments, complete online forms and receive educational resources.

Sonia Neary, CEO and Co-Founder of Wellola, said: “The Wellola portal is already in place across many public and private healthcare organizations in the UK and Ireland, offering patients access to primary and secondary care services via of a single integrated platform, and we are delighted to have gained another trust from the NHS by working in the community setting.

Ransomware attacks on healthcare organizations increased 94% in 2021

A report from global cybersecurity firm Sophos revealed a 94% increase in ransomware attacks on healthcare organizations.

According to The State of Ransomware in Healthcare 2022, 66% of surveyed healthcare organizations were affected in 2021 compared to 34% in 2020.

However, the survey data shows that healthcare organizations are getting better at coping with the fallout from ransomware attacks, with 99% of those affected having recovered at least some data after it was encrypted by cybercriminals.

John Shier, senior security expert at Sophos, said: “The data that healthcare organizations exploit is extremely sensitive and valuable, which makes it very attractive to attackers.”

Lack of information on ethnicity could hamper action on health disparities

Health data that lacks information on ethnicity can make action on inequalities difficult, according to an analysis published in the journal Nature.

He adds that research without data may mean that participants are not representative of those who will receive the interventions being tested, such as in clinical trials for COVID-19 that did not record or report outcomes by ethnicity.

The analysis, by Routen, Akbari, Banerjee et al., establishes that ethnicity data is necessary for planning health, social and health services to ensure that they are “culturally appropriate, allocate resources equitably and assess the impact of policies, with the ultimate goal of reducing variations in outcomes.

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