With the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic tapering off at least in parts of the world, governments in many countries are working towards providing a framework of infection surveillance and infection control measures that hopefully allow economies to restart and lift most of the lockdown measures that were implemented in March and April. The minimum goal would be to move from an...
Let’s face it, healthcare IT is no longer about having a bunch of clearly defined information systems communicating smoothly with each other. Today, CT and MRI machines, patient monitors, IV and subcutaneous pumps, ventilators, and even implants, are becoming computers, and are increasingly being connected to an ever more complex IT infrastructure. This ‘internet of medical things’ or IoMT, as it...
Finland was among the first countries in Europe to systematically introduce electronic prescriptions in 2010. “By now, all prescriptions in Finland are electronic by law. Paper is only allowed in extraordinary situations like for example a blackout,” according to Dr Konstantin Hyppönen, Chief Architect of the Finnish Kanta Services.
Most recent figures show that around 30 million digital...
In a recent survey by the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, four out of ten Europeans said that a lack of trust towards service providers was preventing them from using some digital services. At the same time, nearly seven out ten European said it should be possible to identify digital services that use data in a fair way.
Surveys like these are among the reasons why a number of stakeholders...
The FDA is taking a new approach to the regulation of digital medicine solutions.
“Digital tools are rapidly evolving, and to keep pace with its promising innovation, the FDA must modernise its approach to regulation,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement at the beginning of the year.
The regulatory framework for the Software Precertification (Pre-Cert) Pilot Program has now been...
There are dozens of PHRs that survived only a couple of years, most famously, of course, Google Health. But PHRs are back now. Many European countries have launched ambitious PHR projects. Mobile access is widely tipped to be a game-changer in terms of acceptance by citizens. Furthermore, the EU General Data Protection Regulation leaves little room to approach lifelong medical data storage in any...