Open Access Government | February 2021| Covid-19 leads to surge in the use of NHS tech in 2020
Ben Davison, NHS Digital’s Executive Director for Product Development, explains how NHS Digital saw an ‘unprecedented demand’ in people’s usage of NHS tech services due tothe pandemic.
Ben outlines how usage of the NHS website, NHS App, NHS login, NHS Pathways, NHS 111 Online and the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) increased exponentially.
Full story from Open Access Government
Department of Health and Social Care | February 2021 | New technology to help identify those at high risk from COVID-19
The Department of Health and Social Care announce how new technology is helping the NHS to identify those individuals at particularly high risk from COVID-19.
This new technology is able to utilise several health and personal factors, such as age, ethnicity and body mass index (BMI), as well as certain medical conditions and treatments, which, when combined, could mean someone is at a higher risk from COVID-19. Experts at the University of Oxford were able to translate this data using a risk-prediction model called QCovid®, which his thought to be the only COVID-19 risk prediction model in the world to meet the highest standards of evidence and assurance.
Folowing this NHS Digital used QCovid® to develop a population risk assessment. The risk assessment uses the model to predict on a population basis whether adults with a combination of risk factors may be at more serious risk from COVID-19, enabling them to be flagged to clinicians for priority access to vaccination, alongside appropriate advice and support. These individuals will be added to the Shielded Patient List on a precautionary basis and to enable rapid vaccination (Source: Department of Health and Social Care).
Further details are available from the Department of Health and Social Care
More information about the risk prediction tool QCovid®
NHS Confederation | February 2021 | Hospital at Home- Sussex Community NHS
Patients who are recovering from COVID-19 and need ongoing oxygen therapy can now be cared for at home rather than in hospital, thanks to remote health monitoring and use of special devices via the Hospital at Home initiative.
A partnership between two organisations in Sussex- Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust (BSUH) and Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust (SCFT)- has led to the development of a new standard operating procedure for patients convalescing from COVID-19.
Patients in Sussex who are recovering from COVID-19 are discharged to the care of specialist community services with an electronic device- Current Health which measures their vital signs 24 hours a day, providing trends data to help support decision making. This enabled patients to return home faster and recover with their families, rather than remaining in a hospital setting.
The app used by the Hospital at Home team also enables them to monitor patients using video calls on a tablet.
Yeung, A.W.K. et al | 2021 | Virtual and Augmented Reality Applications in Medicine: Analysis of the Scientific Literature | J Med Internet Res | 23| 2| e25499 | DOI: 10.2196/25499 | PMID: 33565986
The Journal of Medical Internet Research has published the first total-scale bibliometric analysis examining overall VR and AR applications in medicine in the scientific literature.
Background: Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have recently become popular research themes. However, there are no published bibliometric reports that have analyzed the corresponding scientific literature in relation to the application of these technologies in medicine.
Objective: We used a bibliometric approach to identify and analyze the scientific literature on VR and AR research in medicine, revealing the popular research topics, key authors, scientific institutions, countries, and journals. We further aimed to capture and describe the themes and medical conditions most commonly investigated by VR and AR research.
Methods: The Web of Science electronic database was searched to identify relevant papers on VR research in medicine. Basic publication and citation data were acquired using the “Analyze” and “Create Citation Report” functions of the database. Complete bibliographic data were exported to VOSviewer and Bibliometrix, dedicated bibliometric software packages, for further analyses. Visualization maps were generated to illustrate the recurring keywords and words mentioned in the titles and abstracts.
Results: The analysis was based on data from 8399 papers. Major research themes were diagnostic and surgical procedures, as well as rehabilitation. Commonly studied medical conditions were pain, stroke, anxiety, depression, fear, cancer, and neurodegenerative disorders. Overall, contributions to the literature were globally distributed with heaviest contributions from the United States and United Kingdom. Studies from more clinically related research areas such as surgery, psychology, neurosciences, and rehabilitation had higher average numbers of citations than studies from computer sciences and engineering.
Conclusions: The conducted bibliometric analysis unequivocally reveals the versatile emerging applications of VR and AR in medicine. With the further maturation of the technology and improved accessibility in countries where VR and AR research is strong, we expect it to have a marked impact on clinical practice and in the life of patients.
Full paper available to read from Journal of Medical Internet Research
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