British R&D Director presents lessons of COVID-19 in health data research

Healthcare needs to address workforce management and rising costs. To resolve such issues, health systems will need to adopt big data approaches, according to Dr Chris Bates, Director of Research and Analytics at UK-based clinical software company TPP. During his presentation at HIMSS22 APAC, Dr Bates shared some of the latest applications of machine learning and data analytics.

TPP developed algorithms based on millions of patient EMRs to predict ovarian cancer tumours and to identify patients who are most at risk of developing cancer. On the operational side, TPP developed ML algorithms to optimize nurses’ work in rural communities. It increased nurse-patient contact time by 40% and raised nurse-patient satisfaction.

TPP worked on an analytics platform for COVID-19 research during the pandemic. It is an open-source platform that allows epidemiologists and public health analysts to run analytics on “tens of millions of records,” including primary and secondary care data, immunization records, and testing data. The researchers were able to conduct this safely at home due to tight security layers in the platform.

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UK NHS opens tender for electronic patient records to ambulance trusts

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Profiteering impedes innovation in healthcare

In the profile at The Herald Scotland, Allan Aikman, a product manager at Pinpoint, who provides staff safety systems to the British National Health Service (NHS), writes about current perils of profiteering in healthcare: “As the cost of raw materials in the healthcare sector soars, manufacturers across the UK struggle to build much-needed products. Caused by the war in Ukraine coinciding with the aftermath of the pandemic and challenging market forces, the current inflation is to some extent beyond our control. However, it has become clear that some suppliers are taking advantage of the current climate by charging extortionate prices for basic raw materials. In so doing, these businesses are crippling an already-stressed market, stifling innovation, harming businesses, and devastating the sector.” “When it comes to building new products, little can be done to protect against extortionate costs. Unable to anticipate the needs of future goods, and therefore unable to action the steps outlined above, manufacturers are held at ransom should they seek to design new products. The overt practice of profiteering in the sector is strangling the supply chain, impeding innovation, and consequently limiting the resources available to healthcare professionals – now and in the future. New hospital equipment, life-saving technology and protective systems are all placed on pause as costs multiply”. Full text here

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CIFS ran an all-day session at the Week of Health and Innovation (WHINN) in Odense

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New HIMSS book out on blockchain in healthcare

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