Healthcare providers watch IT spending

According to a survey of US healthcare organisations conducted by Healthcare Informatics Research, the recent economic downturn has care providers looking for ways to reduce IT spending and increase revenue, reports The Earth Times.

The study, commissioned by NCR, indicates that one in three healthcare organisations are either postponing all non-essential projects or imposing longer IT project implementation timeframes in an effort to curb spending.

One of the single biggest challenges providers participating in the study face is ensuring the overall accuracy of medical claims that are filed.

A robot scientist that makes informed guesses about how effective different chemical compounds will be at fighting various diseases could revolutionise the pharmaceutical industry by developing more effective treatments in a faster, more affordable way, writes MTBeurope.

The robot, known as Eve, uses advanced artificial intelligence combined with innovative data mining and knowledge discovery techniques to analyse the results of pharmacological experiments it conducts itself. Eve is being developed under the EU-funded IQ project.

By relating the chemical structure of different compounds to their pharmacological activity, Eve is able to learn which chemical compounds should be tested next, bringing a degree of predictability to drug screening procedures that, until now, have tended to be a bit hit-and-miss.

A new device for patients to carry out their own health checks and send the information to a doctor has been developed in a bid to cut hospital admissions, according to the Deadline Press & Picture Agency.

The Telehealth system allows sufferers of long-term conditions to have their health monitored daily without needing to visit their GP surgery. The personal healthcare system works by installing a small computer in the patient's home with high-speed broadband Internet connection.

Now, health chiefs are aiming to roll the service out to more patients in an effort to prevent unplanned hospital visits.

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