Invest now in electronic health projects, says BCS

Investments must be on a clinical or business basis

Health organisations should not wait for the national NHS IT systems to be put in place before investing in technologies such as telemedicine, say experts.

Some groups are holding off implementing e-health programmes until the infrastructure being developed through the £6bn National Programme for IT (NPfIT) is in place, according to a report published last week by the BCS Health Informatics Group.

However, the report says that investments should be made on a clinical or business basis, using National Programme systems where they exist, or ensuring that they can integrate once they are established.

The positive impact of e-health systems are undeniable, says the BCS. ‘E-health systems will help us look after ourselves better and shift the delivery of care towards the home as well as improving the availability of specialist expertise,’ says the report.

‘It is important to engage clinicians in taking advantage of what technology can offer to them and their patients.

‘Many are not interested in the National Programme as such, but they are much more likely to engage enthusiastically in e-health projects that offer practical ways to help their care for patients on a day-to-day basis,’ it says.

Investment will also help to maintain the UK healthcare supplier market, which has suffered since the announcement of the NPfIT contracts.

‘There are a number of smaller companies which will not survive or be able to develop important export opportunities without a reasonable home market,’ says the report.

Health trusts need to overcome the problem of e-health projects being seen as technology issues, and reliant on IT budgets.

‘The objectives are to provide better healthcare and projects should justify themselves in clinical and business terms with the costs and savings being measured against clinical benefit,’ says the report.