President Joe Biden has appointed Susan Orsega to serve as acting surgeon general, according to a posting on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website. Orsega, who has served as the director of commissioned corps headquarters at the…
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Israel to share data with Pfizer in exchange for COVID-19 vaccine doses
Israel has committed to send Pfizer statistical data and details in exchange for COVID-19 vaccine doses. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had secured a deal with the pharma company which will enable all citizens of Israel aged over 16…
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UK government reports NHS Test and Trace reaching record number of people
As coronavirus cases continue to rise across the country, a GOV.UK press release has revealed that more than 550,000 contacts were reached by NHS Test and Trace and told to isolate in the week before Christmas. From 17 to 23 December, 181,910…
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NHS England report calls for law to require greater sharing of patient data
A draft NHS England report on overprescribing leaked to HSJ [paywall], proposes that the law should require wider access to healthcare data, in a bid to improve patient safety. The review carried out for health secretary, Matt Hancock, highlights the issue of…
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Veterans Health Administration to 3D print medical devices
The Veterans Health Administration has entered into a contract with South Carolina-based 3D Systems to establish manufacturing facilities within their hospitals for the production of medical devices. 3D Systems announced in a press release this week that the partnership…
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'Focus on the patient and the rest will follow'
Stakeholders at the Evening Keynote virtual session, ‘From Volume to Value – A Paradigm Shift’, at the HIMSS & Health 2.0 European Digital Conference, agreed that striving for quality requires a fundamental shift to value-based care. The session moderator, Jens…
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Saudi Arabian Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Hospital – Al Khobar achieves EMRAM Stage 6
Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Hospital in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia has been awarded Stage 6 on the EMRAM by HIMSS. EMRAM, or the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model, measures the adoption and maturity of a health facility’s inpatient EMR capabilities…
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Patients want to download their own health data, report shows
With the deadline quickly approaching for healthcare providers to implement the new information blocking rules put in place under the 21st Century Cures Act, a new survey suggests that patients are on board with the changes to come. The survey…
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Dubai Health Authority first in UAE to integrate UpToDate CDS resource
The United Arab Emirates’ Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has become the first healthcare authority in the country to integrate Wolters Kluwer’s clinical decision support (CDS) resource, UpToDate with an electronic medical record (EMR), it has been announced. In a statement…
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MedPAC members weigh future of telehealth coverage
In a virtual public meeting this past Friday, members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission discussed how – and whether – to permanently expand telehealth in Medicare. Before the pandemic, Medicare’s physician fee schedule covered a limited set of…
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