WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and other unauthorised instant messaging (IM) apps are being used by approximately 500,000 NHS staff at work, as a growing number turn to consumer tools to communicate with colleagues and even patients, a new report has revealed.

Iris.ai, the artificial intelligence tool which helps researchers find relevant scientific papers and journals, today announced the launch of version 4.0. The launch adds the Focus tool, an intelligent mechanism to refine and collate a reading list of research literature cutting out a huge amount of manual effort.

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has laid the foundations for an ambitious digitisation programme, by deploying IMS MAXIMS technology in its emergency department. The go-live is already helping staff to better manage patients over the busy winter period.

Elsevier, the information analytics company specialising in science and health, and HIMSS, the Healthcare Information and Management System Society, jointly announced that nominations are open for the second HIMSS-Elsevier Digital Healthcare Award in Europe.

Novartis has announced an additional strategic alliance with Science 37, a leader in decentralized clinical trial technology and design, to initiate up to 10 new clinical trials over the next three years. The studies will blend virtual and traditional models, with increasing degrees of decentralization towards a mostly "site-less" model.

Novartis has entered into a collaboration with Pear Therapeutics to develop novel prescription digital therapeutics, software applications designed to effectively treat disease and improve clinical outcomes for patients. The collaboration brings together Novartis expertise in biomedical research and clinical development with Pear's leading experience in digital therapeutics design and implementation.

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration permitted marketing of the Viz.AI Contact application, a type of clinical decision support software designed to analyze computed tomography (CT) results that may notify providers of a potential stroke in their patients.