Wolverhampton CCG to Connect Pharmacies and GPs
Community pharmacists and GPs in Wolverhampton will soon be able to offer joined up healthcare to thousands of patients, using cutting edge record-sharing technology. Wolverhampton clinical commissioning group (CCG) and EMIS Health have reached an agreement to jointly offer funding towards Pharmacy Access, a software package to enable local community pharmacies and GPs to securely share vital patient information and streamline the ordering and auditing of repeat prescriptions. 
Many pharmaceutical companies run beyond-the-pill programmes which support patients toward successful treatments. The goal: improving outcomes by improving adherence. Specially-trained nurses call patients and inform them about their treatment and the specifics of their medication. 
Canterbury and West Coast District Health Boards (DHBs) in New Zealand are set to implement a new digital patient observation and alert response system, aimed at helping clinicians identify deteriorating patients earlier. The Patientrack system will be introduced from November and is designed to make patient observations immediately visible to clinical teams anywhere through hospital information systems. 
Partly due to positive currency effects, Agfa HealthCare posted solid top line growth for the third consecutive quarter. In the Imaging segment's digital radiography business (consisting of Computed Radiography (CR), Direct Radiography (DR) and the hardcopy business), the DR product range's revenue continued to grow strongly, while the hardcopy product range also performed well. 
Mental health disorders are the 'single largest cause of disability in the UK', said life science minister George Freeman when he announced the creation of a £650,000 prize fund to develop new mental health apps. Using technology to support greater self-care is a key part of the NHS' digital vision for both physical and mental health. 
Opinion Article by Robert Dunlop, Clinical Director, Elsevier Clinical Solutions.
Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) and Mackenzie Health, a regional healthcare provider serving Southwest York Region in Ontario, Canada, announced a CAD 300 million (approximately EUR 210 million), 18-year large scale alliance that will advance Mackenzie Health's medical technology procurement and maintenance programs for the existing Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital and the future Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital, which will be completed in 2019.