Coming into effect across the EU from 28 June 2025, the regulation has prompted many businesses to rethink their accessibility policies and initiatives. However, while there has been a noticeable increase in demand for accessibility audits and assessments in light of this upcoming legislation, compliance requires more than one-off evaluations and tick-box exercises. True, long-term success depends on embedding accessibility into everyday practices and workflows and putting it front and centre.

This means equipping teams with the right training, building accessibility into the design and development process, and fostering a culture that prioritises inclusive design from the outset, as Léonie Watson, Co-Founder at Tetralogical explains.

Sustainable Accessibility

Around 1.3 billion people, or 1 in 6 (16% of the world population) experience significant disability. While regulation is without doubt an important step in raising awareness and demanding change, the truth is that supporting people with disabilities enables businesses to reach a wider audience, while at the same time driving innovation, and differentiating themselves in an increasingly accessibility-conscious market.

Global accessibility legislation has been in place for decades in different countries, with varying degrees of success. The introduction of the EAA, however, marks a new era of commitment to change. Affecting not only companies based within the EU but also any global businesses selling to EU citizens, the EAA is not just setting down standards for accessibility. This two part regulation demands both conformity to harmonised web content accessibility guidelines and, notably, EN 17161, Design for All, which describes the policies and procedures organisations need to adopt throughout the design and development process.

While many organisations are prioritising their focus on the first requirement, it is the Design for All aspect of the regulation that should drive systemic change. By encouraging organisations to embed accessibility within their DNA, the European Accessibility Act should take businesses far closer to the goal of sustainable accessibility that ensures products and services are designed to meet the needs of everyone.

Top to Bottom Commitment

For many organisations, embedding accessibility throughout the business will require significant change. While theoretically appealing, simply adding a dedicated accessibility team, for example, may not work. When every new product and service has to be checked before launch, it is inevitable that the team – which is always too small – becomes a bottleneck.  Deadlines are missed, morale drops and the value of delivering accessibility to the business gets completely lost.

Furthermore, this approach risks organisations only considering accessibility at product or service launch – but making sure a web site is accessible from day one of product launch is not job done. The web site is continually changing and evolving, and accessibility has to be considered at every stage. Retrofitting after the fact is not only expensive and time consuming; it is rarely as good as design embedded from the beginning.

Long term change requires a top-down approach. Unless individuals at the highest levels of the company decide to take accessibility seriously, there will be no budget, no clarity of responsibility and no mandate to consider products and services with accessibility in mind.

Embedding Change

With C-Suite level buy in, the culture of sustainable accessibility will cascade throughout the business. Department heads will gain the time, space and budget to embed accessibility within their areas of responsibility. They will need training to understand their legal compliance obligations and to identify the business benefits. This understanding and commitment will then filter down through teams, to the people building and designing web sites and apps, who will need to understand how to code accessibly, how to use the right colour palette, for example.

Again, this training is not a one-off push. People leave the business and expertise is lost. Accessibility should be included within the employee onboarding process to ensure everyone from the most senior executive to the newest recruit enjoys the shared vision. Companies need knowledge hubs and clearly documented processes. Accessibility must be core to planning, requirements, design and build. From user researchers to interaction designers, content writers, designers, developers, QA testers, product testers, accessibility must be a core part of the job description and performance KPIs, not an add on.

When every individual is educated and understands the company’s commitment to accessibility, has clearly defined responsibilities and budget, the entire culture changes.  Accessibility becomes front of mind not simply to achieve compliance to new regulations such as the European Accessibility Act but as an opportunity to drive innovation to achieve future business success.

Normalising Accessibility

Change is happening. Growing numbers of organisations recognise that improving accessibility enhances reputation, builds better products and services, generates customer loyalty and, as a result, boosts revenue. But, right now, there are not enough people with the knowledge and understanding required to deliver this next era of accessibility. Accessibility needs to be driven by society at large, not left to a dedicated pool of champions.

For those businesses frustrated by the current lack of staff with the skills, awareness and understanding required to achieve accessible products and services by default, investment in training and education will deliver enormous value. It is, however, now essential to start demanding more input from schools and colleges. Why do computer science degrees fail to focus on accessible coding by default or having accessibility woven in?

Indeed, why are our children – who learn to use technology from an incredibly young age – not automatically taught about, for example, how a blind person uses an iPad or why a neurodivergent individual may find animations distracting to the point where they cannot use the service? Building on this understanding from an early age will transform understanding of accessibility throughout society at large, ensure every business has a workforce with awareness and understanding and, as a result, finally normalise accessibility.

By Léonie Watson, Co-Founder at Tetralogical 

The post Accessibility is Not an Option: What the European Accessibility Act (EAA) Means for You appeared first on .

Despite compelling evidence of the effectiveness of IoT solutions within care settings, such as real-time data collection via home sensors, regulatory fragmentation of the sector continues to impede widespread adoption. This is stalling innovation across the UK and Europe, meaning real collaboration is required to tackle these challenges head on.

The untapped potential of IoT in proactive care

The power of IoT in health and care lies in its ability to turn passive devices into active participants that talk seamlessly with one another under one interconnected sphere of data capture. Rather than being a distant vision, telecare solutions, already present in the homes of many requiring care, can become connected devices via IoT. These can continuously monitor vital signs, medication adherence, movement and even room temperature and humidity levels, creating rich datasets that enable predictive analytics to identify deterioration in residents before clinical symptoms worsen.

This predictive capability represents a fundamental shift in care delivery. Rather than waiting for patients and resident to report symptoms or experience traumatic moments that require hospitalisation, health and care providers can intervene ahead of time to prevent further complications. For health systems such as the NHS, this is crucial and can lead to fewer emergency admissions and shorter hospital stays. For patients, it translates to improved quality of life and increased independence.

Going a step further, predictive analytics, powered by machine learning algorithms and IoT-generated data, can identify subtle patterns invisible to even the most experienced clinicians. For instance, slight changes in gait analysis such as walking patterns detected by smart flooring can predict falls in elderly patients weeks before they occur. Similarly, minor fluctuations in heart rate variability captured by wearable ECG monitors can signal cardiac events days in advance of clinical deterioration.

Learning from success: Leading the way in Spain

Tunstall Spain has been delivering proactive care programmes since 1994, and personalised care since 2016. The IoT-enabled teleassistance service in Spain combines telecare monitoring and response, coordinates social care and third-party services and delivers proactive outbound contact. The model has evolved from providing reactive services – responding to a critical incident, such as a fall, as it happens – to putting proactive measures in place to prevent the event from occurring or reduce its severity and potential impact before it takes place.

By using technology and IoT we are supporting older people to live independently by monitoring the telecare data captured from wearable devices and in-room sensors. This allows personalisation by tailoring how we support an individual based on their specific needs. The data collected over time can be used to predict when incidents are about to happen. By understanding early warning signs, we can intervene to put preventive measures in place. For example, among other physical and mental health issues, we can identify factors such as loneliness —and mitigate the downstream impact it can have—earlier in a person’s journey.

This IoT-enabled telecare service is now an essential preventive programme across several Spanish regions, demonstrating the potential of a more proactive and technology-driven approach.

Navigating the regulatory landscape

Despite these success stories from Europe, wider IoT adoption in care and across much of the region remains fragmented and projects are limited.

IoT in health and care sits in the cross section of multiple regulatory domains: medical device regulations, data protection laws, cyber security requirements, telecommunications standards, and clinical governance frameworks. The challenge is compounded by varying interpretation and implementation of EU regulations across different regions, creating a variety of compliance requirements.

And in the UK, the post-Brexit regulatory landscape has added another layer of complexity for organisations operating across European markets. There needs to be a drive towards standardisation and clearer alignment between UK and EU frameworks to streamline regulation across regions. This could include developing unified cross-domain standards that address the multifaceted nature of using IoT in health and care. In the UK, the MHRA is developing its own regulatory framework for medical devices, while the NHS has separate data security and technology standards.

More widely, many IoT solutions are proving hard to define and confusion can arise on whether they fit into wellness products or medical devices, creating an extra layer of complexity on which regulatory pathway they apply to. This can also be a challenge from an interoperability perspective across regions as different health systems carry specific standards for how devices integrate with existing infrastructure.

From a cyber security perspective, connected devices must meet the growing security standards which can often be a blocker for adoption. In light of recent high- profile cyber-attacks, new and emerging technology is the biggest threat and with this, regulation and compliance standards will be increasingly put under the microscope.

Collaboration is key for effective integration

Moving forward requires coordinated action from all stakeholders across the health and care landscape. It’s key for our industry to continue developing shared standards and best practices for health and care IoT security, data management and interoperability.

Pilot projects are demonstrating what’s possible, when private and public sectors collaborate and test solutions in controlled environments, within regulatory guidance. For example, in relation to projects involving AI, which is essential for interpreting the large amounts of data captured by IoT devices, the NHS AI Lab is a leading example of a successful project. This is a UK government initiative designed to promote the safe and ethical implementation of AI technologies across the health and care system. In practice, it acts like a collaborative hub, bringing together public associations, private companies, academic researchers, and healthcare professionals to collaborate and deploy AI solutions that enhance patient outcomes.

Elsewhere across Europe, Finland is actively pursuing health technology initiatives such as the FinnGenn Sandbox, a secure space that provides researchers and developers with a safe environment to explore health data. With the rise of AI and machine learning-powered solutions, this space creates a safe collaborative environment to test solutions without directly intervening with patient or resident care.

These pilots tell us that in order for all patients and healthcare environments to benefit from technology integration and use of IoT, a joined-up approach is essential. Particularly one that engages all relevant stakeholders, organisations and decision makers from across the health and care sector.

All of this combined thinking will bring together health and care providers, technology companies, and regulators to develop evidence-based frameworks for assessing IoT solutions for the sector. The potential of IoT to transform health and care from reactive to proactive is clear for all to see. However, realising this potential across the UK and wider Europe requires coordinated action to address regulatory fragmentation and implementation barriers.

By working together across industry boundaries, sharing best practice, and engaging constructively with regulators, we can create an environment where innovative IoT solutions can increase outcomes for those living in care. The result will be healthcare systems that are more sustainable, more effective, and better aligned with the needs of patients and their caregivers.

By Patti Wynn, Chief Health and Care Strategy Officer at Tunstall Healthcare

The post From Reactive to Proactive: Harnessing IoT and Telecare to Transform Patient Outcomes appeared first on .

Highland Marketing has been named, for the second year running, the official communications partner for HETT Show 2025, the UK’s leading digital health conference and exhibition. Taking place 7–8 October 2025 at ExCeL London, HETT will welcome thousands of healthcare professionals, policy makers, and technology leaders for two days of insights, collaboration, and sector-shaping conversations.

As a specialist health tech PR, marketing, and communications agency, Highland Marketing will bring its deep industry expertise to the event, supporting content development, speaker engagement, and media relations to amplify the voices of the people shaping the future of health and care. This collaboration supports HETT’s mission to unite the health and care community and accelerate digital innovation across the sector.

This year’s HETT show will spotlight emerging trends and real-world digital innovation with highlights including:

• AI Spotlight – exploring the practical application of artificial intelligence.
• Women’s Health Focus – showcasing innovation that addresses gender disparities.
• Workshops & Insights Zone – a dedicated corner of collaboration.
• Start-Up Hub – featuring disruptive early-stage companies.
• Digital Estates Trail – focused on infrastructure optimisation and sustainability and how to maximise the impact of digital tools on buildings and the teams supporting them.
• Roundtable Area – confidential conversations that will cause transformational ideas.

In addition to these dedicated zones, HETT 2025 will offer thought-provoking roundtable discussions, hands-on workshops in the HETT Workshops and Insights Zone, and curated networking opportunities – including a VIP drinks reception and informal end-of-day meetups.

Cyber security will also take centre stage, with the launch of HETT’s new Cyber Security Working Group. This programme will deliver expert-led content designed to help healthcare organisations build long-term resilience and respond to evolving digital threats.

Finally, a fan favourite returns the night before the show: the “Rockaoke” charity event on 6 October – combining live band karaoke and fundraising for The Brain Tumour Charity, it’s set to be a feel-good kick-off to an unmissable week of digital health.

Rikki Bhachu, head of marketing, HETT said: “HETT is built on collaboration, and we’re pleased to be once again working with a communications partner that understands the health tech landscape. With so many important voices and innovations coming together at this year’s show, we’re focused on creating the space – and the momentum – for those conversations to have a lasting impact.”

Highland Marketing will help ensure the ideas, breakthroughs, and people at the heart of HETT 2025 don’t just reach the room – but resonate far beyond it.

Mark Venables, CEO, Highland Marketing said: “We’re proud that Highland Marketing has been named official communications partner for HETT London 2025. As a specialist agency dedicated to the health and care sector, we’re pleased to be returning for a second successive year to support a platform that consistently champions innovation and sparks meaningful progress in health tech. Our role is to ensure the sector’s most exciting ideas, initiatives, and innovators are not only heard at HETT, but recognised and remembered beyond it.”

The agency’s team – supported by an advisory board of respected NHS digital leaders including CIOs, CCIOs, and CNIOs – will also be on-site for one-to-one sessions with companies seeking effective strategies for health tech marketing, communications, and market positioning.

To explore these opportunities, contact the Highland Marketing team or you can register here: https://hubs.la/Q03kQpPY0

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What Are Telehealth Scams?

Telemedicine scams misuse virtual health care platforms to defraud patients, providers and government programs. These schemes often appear legitimate, only to exploit sensitive data or commit fraud for money.

The financial consequences can be significant. Within the last few years, the Justice Department has focused more on these digital health platforms, as they have become more embedded in everyday care delivery. In 2024, its National Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action pursued felony charges against 193 defendants across the United States.

Thirty-six of those were directly tied to telemedicine-related fraud schemes, which involved over $1.1 billion in fraudulent claims submitted to Medicare. The federal government has begun to crack down on virtual health care because the distance and deployment of technology are exacerbating the potential for fraud.

Common Types of Telehealth Scams

Online health care scams involve various tactics, including:

• Fake telehealth providers: Scammers pose as licensed doctors or health services, setting up fake websites that trick patients into providing payment or insurance details.
• Phantom billing: Fraudsters use stolen credentials or manipulate electronic health record (EHR) systems to bill Medicare or insurers for services never provided.
• Kickback schemes: Fraudulent telehealth operations often pay providers or marketers to refer large volumes of unnecessary services or prescriptions, violating anti-kickback statutes.
• Phishing and impersonation: Cybercriminals send emails or texts mimicking telehealth platforms, luring users to click malicious links or submit personal data under false pretences.

While fraudsters will use various deceptive tactics, they all have one goal in mind. Their objective is to steal a Social Security number, financial credentials, or insurance information and use it for fraudulent billing or identity theft. Telehealth services are expanding each day, so criminals are constantly coming up with new ways to target doctors and patients to evade authorities and health care companies.

Warning Signs to Be Aware Of

Telehealth scams often leave traces within digital systems that IT professionals can look for to prevent large-scale fraud and data breaches.

Abnormal Billing or Usage Patterns

Watch for sudden increases in telehealth billing codes or claims for services outside the organization’s typical offerings. Repeated billing from the same IP address or provider account may also indicate automation or fraudulent activity behind the scenes.

Suspicious Authentication Activity

Unauthorized login attempts can point to compromised credentials. Repeated failed logins or unusually long user sessions may signal bot-based attacks or unauthorized remote access.

Third-Party Platform Vulnerabilities

Be cautious when onboarding new telehealth tools or integrations. Vendors that cannot provide clear compliance documentation or attempt to bypass vetting processes should raise concerns. Unsupported APIs or unpatched tools can also be weak entry points for scammers.

Inconsistent Patient or Provider Data

Scammers often create slightly altered records to evade detection. For instance, discrepancies may occur in patient-reported visits. If the number of visits exceeds the records in an EHR system, this is a sign worth investigating.

This also goes for provider data. Scammers may try to procure fake identities using generating tools to pose as a doctor to steal or fabricate information.

Steps Health Care IT Teams Can Take

IT leaders can take action against the growing threat of telehealth scams by implementing several digital defences.

Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Access Controls

Enforce MFA across all telehealth platforms and patient portals. Limit access based on roles to ensure only authorized personnel can schedule virtual appointments or bill services.

Conduct Regular Security Audits and Log Monitoring

Schedule routine audits of login records, provider activity and claims data. Establish automated alerts to flag anomalies, such as login attempts from unfamiliar devices or sudden changes in billing behaviour. Early detection is critical for halting fraud before it spreads.

Vet Third-Party Vendors

Before onboarding any telehealth vendor, verify their HIPAA compliance, review their security documentation and conduct vulnerability assessments. Avoid integrations with platforms that lack transparent data handling practices or cannot support routine audits.

Communicate Risks and Best Practices to Patients

Work with clinical and communications teams to educate patients about safe telehealth practices. Create easy-to-understand guides that explain how to verify provider legitimacy and report concerns. Consider hosting security tips directly within patient portals.

Train Staff to Spot Red Flags

Educate clinical and administrative teams on recognizing phishing attempts and unexpected requests for sensitive data. For instance, scammers have previously sold fake at-home COVID-19 test kits in exchange for Medicare or personal information, then fraudulently billed Medicare. Teaching teams to verify sources before disclosing or entering data can prevent similar schemes.

Work With Legal and Compliance Teams

IT, legal and compliance teams should collaborate to maintain policies for responding to suspected breaches. They should also revisit telehealth workflows to ensure all virtual care tools align with regulatory standards and fraud prevention protocols.

Strengthening the Front Lines of Virtual Care

Telehealth has become an important service for patients with access to fewer health care resources. However, it offers various entry points for scammers to commit fraud. With this in mind, health care IT teams must stay alert and watch for the latest tactics in virtual health care scams. When implementing a mix of strategies, they can uphold the integrity of online medical care and maintain proactive defences.

By Zac Amos, ReHack

The post Combating the Rise of Telehealth Scams appeared first on .

As health technology (health tech) and the role it can play in transforming the health service becomes vital to the future of the NHS, the need for a clearer definition and segmentation of what “health tech” comprises, and the way we assess the different elements of this wide collection of products, is becoming more important.

The recent commitment from Health Secretary Wes Streeting to embed innovation at the heart of the upcoming 10-Year Health Plan demonstrates the NHS’s ambition to use technology to transform patient care.^[1] Yet, the lack of differentiation around the umbrella term “health tech” is a significant challenge; not just for innovators, but also for commissioners and policymakers who are tasked with assessing and adopting new solutions. Without a shared understanding, we risk slowing down innovation that could deliver better outcomes for patients and unlock greater efficiency for the health service.

The Health Tech Alliance, a coalition of health tech companies and bodies from across the NHS and wider health system, believes that a high level taxonomy of health tech is essential, given the eclectic mix of products the term encompasses. By establishing clearer distinctions between the very different technologies we can support innovators in navigating the complex evaluation landscape, help commissioners make more informed decisions, and ultimately ensure that patients benefit from the most effective modern technologies.

Why the term “health tech” needs redefining

It is encouraging that so much innovation is being developed that not only has potential to transform patient services but to improve productivity and efficiency in the health service. However, in recent years, “health tech” has become a catch-all term, used interchangeably with “MedTech” and applied to everything from traditional medical devices to the latest digital health innovations.

The lack of clear distinction leads to something of a “one-size-fits-all” approach to product evaluation and adoption which is neither proportionate nor efficient. For instance, the wide differences between digital apps, personalised products (such as ostomy and continence care), replacement joints and commodities such as lancets, means each group needs a fundamentally different approach to evaluation and route to market.

Some health tech, such as implants or diagnostics, require rigorous, long-term evidence of safety and efficacy. Others, like personalised digital apps or software platforms, should be evaluated more on usability, data security, and clinical effectiveness. AI-enabled technologies are now included in most of these categories, blurring the lines further.

We support the recent call from the Office for Life Sciences for a “formal redefinition of UK HealthTech to encapsulate emerging technologies and reduce ambiguity surrounding what does and does not constitute HealthTech activity”.^[2] NICE and the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) community are at the early stages of thinking about how this might be implemented, but the direction of travel is clear.

A practical breakdown for smarter procurement and evaluation

To streamline health tech procurement and evaluation, we have to move beyond the idea of health tech as a single, catch-all category. Instead, we should adopt a practical, implementable high-level taxonomy across all relevant players that distinguishes between key categories. Through a series of recent workshops with partners from industry and the wider health system, including NICE, DHSC, NHSE and local procurement leaders, the Health Tech Alliance now offers this “straw man” of how such a taxonomy might be developed:

Complex free-standing equipment

A huge range of long-standing and innovative devices including dialysis machines, scanners and so many more.

Commodities

This category could cover a range of both simple and complex devices but those which are generally not patient specific, from simple dressings through to complex surgical equipment. Some will have a digital element, others will not. Clearly the assessment will vary greatly across these sub categories.

Implantables

This will also need further refinement to differentiate between those which have no digital element e.g. joint replacements and those which do, such as pacemakers.

Diagnostics

Including in vitro diagnostic medical devices (IVDs) such as blood grouping reagents, pregnancy test kits, and hepatitis B test kits.

Digital health and software

Standalone software, clinical decision support, mobile apps, and remote consultation platforms. This category includes tools for both prevention and wellbeing, as well as diagnosis and treatment.

Personalised Products

Products which need to be specific to individual patients such as ostomy and incontinence technologies, and some digitally enhanced wound care.

Robotics

An increasing field which requires complex evaluation.

Telemedicine platforms and remote monitoring systems

These technologies facilitate care delivery and often require bespoke evaluation.

AI-enabled and connecting technologies

Software and platforms that use AI to drive other devices, support decision-making, or connect patients and clinicians.

Each of these categories has different risk profiles and intended uses, which means they need tailored evaluation pathways. For example, digital health tools may benefit from lighter-touch, faster approval routes, while implants and complex robotics need more robust scrutiny.

Unlocking efficiency and better outcomes

Adopting a clear taxonomy would enable the NHS to tailor evaluation processes according to the specific risks and benefits of each health tech category. This approach would help streamline approval routes, eliminate unnecessary delays, and reduce costs for innovators. Commissioners would have greater clarity and confidence in their decision-making, while patients would gain quicker access to appropriate new technologies.

A more precise definition of “health tech” is more than a semantic exercise; it is the foundation for a smarter, more proportionate, and ultimately more effective process for evaluating innovation in the NHS. By introducing practical categories, we can accelerate the adoption of new technologies, enhance transparency, and improve data collection and communication across the health system. This will ensure that the most suitable innovations reach those who need them most, without unnecessary barriers. We look forward to working further with all our partners to refine this approach.

By Dame Barbara Hakin, Chair, Health Tech Alliance

References

^[1] 10 Year Health Plan: Building a health service fit for the future

^[2] Unlocking the potential of UK HealthTech report, OLS

The post Understanding the Complexity of Health Tech appeared first on .

An ambitious technology project to support the transformation of pathology services across Northern Ireland has been completed, with the go-live of the Clinisys WinPath laboratory information management system at the final two health and social care trusts.

Western and Southern trusts went live with the LIMS in their microbiology, blood sciences, and blood transfusion services at the end of April.

They had already gone live in cellular pathology at an earlier stage of the CoreLIMS programme to deploy the LIMS to all five territorial trusts and the Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service.

Previously, both organisations were using a system developed by the Business Services Organisation (BSO) that was 30 years old and at the end of life.

Jennifer Welsh, SRO of the Northern Ireland Pathology Information Management System (NIPIMS), said: “The completion of the CoreLIMS roll-out marks a major milestone in the transformation of pathology services across Northern Ireland. For the first time, every health and social care trust is working from the same modern laboratory system, creating a truly connected service that puts patients first. This achievement is the result of exceptional teamwork across trusts, especially our laboratories as well as our partners, and I want to sincerely thank everyone who played a part.

“With this foundation in place, we can now look forward to delivering even greater benefits – from reducing repeat testing to supporting clinicians with faster, more complete information, and eventually enabling innovations like vein-to-vein tracking. It’s a proud moment for all involved.”

Northern Ireland’s pathology transformation programme was set up to create an integrated, regional laboratory service to streamline management, modernise working conditions, and improve access for patients.

CoreLIMS was developed by the Business Services Organisation to support the programme, by replacing a mix of in-house and legacy systems with a LIMS designed for modern pathology networks.

Clinisys won the contract in October 2021 and the first phase of the project was completed two years later, when Belfast and South Eastern health and social care trusts went live within days of each other in November 2023.

The second phase was delivered last June, when the Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service (NIBTS) and cellular pathology services went live. The third phase followed in late October, with a go-live at Northern Health and Social Care Trust.

Karin Jackson, SRO of CoreLIMS and Chief Executive of NIBTS, said: “The completion of the CoreLIMS roll-out opens the door to future enhancements in how we manage and deliver vital blood components across Northern Ireland. We can already see real benefits from this investment with streamlined workflows across all services, including transfusion. It has been an impressive achievement, particularly given the complexity of the systems and processes involved. I would like to thank everyone involved for their professionalism, commitment and resilience that has delivered a smooth and successful implementation of CoreLIMS across Northern Ireland.”

The implementations had to be integrated with the encompass system, which is creating a single, digital health record for every citizen.

Karen Bailey, Chief Executive of the Business Services Organisation (BSO) which provided programme management, digital, procurement, legal and technical support for the programme is proud to mark this major accomplishment in laboratory digital transformation saying: “For the first time all our trusts are working from a single, modern laboratory information system, a testament to the extraordinary efforts of the teams across every region. I want to thank all involved for their hard work, resilience, and collaboration to make this transformation possible.

Robin Bell, senior project manager at Clinisys, said the final go-lives had gone smoothly, and said this was down to the hard work that had been done early in the CoreLIMS programme to standardise tests and harmonise workflows.

He also paid tribute to BSO and to laboratory staff across Northern Ireland for their work to test the new system and to provide the assurance required for successive go-lives. “This is a true pathology network,” he said. “They make decisions as a region. We have not deployed five solutions to the health and social care trust, where each one is just a little bit different to another. We have rolled out a single system that everybody uses in the same way.

“Lessons have been learned, and we have adapted our deployment model in response. Staff from labs that have gone live have been on hand to advise and support their colleagues. It has been a true collaborative effort by everybody involved. Now, we look forward to supporting the system and helping laboratories across the region to get the very best out of it for their clinicians and patients.”

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It’s not just an inconvenience, it’s a growing crisis. A recent UK Public Sector Efficiency Survey revealed that NHS employees lose an average of five hours per week to clunky, inefficient systems. That adds up to a staggering 7.5 million hours of wasted work every single week. These valuable hours could be reinvested in treating patients, improving safety, and providing a better service. By addressing these systemic inefficiencies, we can improve healthcare services and enhance patient outcomes.

The UK government announced the much needed £3.25bn Transformation Fund to boost public service efficiency in its latest Spring statement. It’s poised to drive productivity in public services, including the NHS, at a time when efficiency is under immense scrutiny. Backing a range of initiatives, the fund will include the introduction of AI tools to revolutionise front line service delivery.

But if we are serious about modernising the NHS, we need to do more than throw money at the problem – we need targeted, measured reform. AI and automation are rightly gaining momentum in the sector. However, AI is not a magic solution on its own. Its effectiveness depends on the quality of the data it receives, how well and quickly we act on insights. If we aren’t prepared to act on its findings quickly, we create bottlenecks instead of breakthroughs. Without the right groundwork, AI risks producing noise instead of value. AI must be embedded into well-designed processes to ensure it delivers real economic benefits.

I am often asked what are the biggest technology challenges in healthcare today, and what are the opportunities and barriers for the sector to use AI effectively. My response typically focuses on the following areas.

Manual services and outdated processes

Despite ongoing digital transformation efforts, most departments still rely on manual processes. The DSIT report reveals that 45% of NHS services lack a fully digital pathway, with very few eliminating manual processing entirely.

The impact of outdated processes is felt directly by patients and healthcare workers alike. When services remain paper-based or rely on fragmented systems, productivity suffers, and resources are stretched thin. The functioning of these fragmented systems relies on ‘human glue’ – workers manually bridging siloes of data and process, which prevents recognition of the core deficiencies.

Streamlining these processes through digital transformation is not just a matter of convenience. It’s essential for improving efficiency, reducing administrative burdens, and ultimately enhancing service delivery for the public.

Process modernisation and automation is the most powerful lever available to drive service reform for such tasks. A process orchestration solution can automate time-consuming tasks such as data entry, appointment scheduling, progress tracking, compliance, and reporting. Automating these actions would enable a shift towards time spent on value-driven activities that can improve both internal efficiency and service delivery.

Fragmented and underused data

When data is scattered across multiple outdated legacy systems, information access and related processes slow down for everyone. This impacts productivity and the ability to resolve case work at speed. This lack of data integration also limits the potential of AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics. These data-driven technologies can only work with seamless access to high-quality data, to drive innovation and improve decision-making.

For the NHS to be truly AI-ready, the data must be in order. Solving this starts with adopting a platform that connects data and processes woven into a single framework. A data fabric, for example, creates a virtualised layer that links data across systems without needing to migrate it.

With advanced data management, organisations can train, refine, and deploy AI models more effectively, transforming vast amounts of information into valuable insights. High-quality data is the fuel AI needs to enhance decision-making and drive efficiency. Without it, the potential of a modern digital NHS will remain out of reach.

The future of AI-driven processes in the NHS

Optimism about AI is growing within the healthcare sector. 64% of NHS workers have some or high confidence in the potential for AI to improve their organisation’s efficiency.

The key to unlocking AI’s full potential is embedding it within existing processes. Process is where actions happen. It’s where healthcare professionals make decisions, allocate budget and resources, serve patients, and move things forward. When AI operates within processes, it gains purpose, governance, and accountability – all vital to delivering value from AI.

While organisations are under pressure to integrate AI, its success depends on strong data infrastructures and human oversight. AI should be a partner, not a replacement, ensuring efficiency and innovation without compromising security or accountability.

To sustain long-term growth, healthcare organisations must invest in agile platforms that adapt to rapid AI advancements with process orchestration technologies. A platform approach can streamline operations, enhance decision-making, and improve service outcomes. Embracing these tools isn’t just about modernisation, it’s essential for efficiency, stability, and better healthcare service delivery.

Now is the time for the NHS to seize the opportunity. Every part of our health service runs on processes – from patient referrals to hospital workflows. When we improve these processes with automation technologies like AI and process orchestration, we create better working environments for our healthcare workers, improving service delivery, and efficiency, for our NHS, for the betterment of patients.

By Peter Corpe, Industry Leader, UK Public Sector, Appian

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However, competition is becoming fierce and with today’s saturated market, it is becoming more challenging for companies to raise funds to stay in the game. Slowing investments, coupled with fragmented UK and European markets, mean that scaling fast is a must to be successful in this industry. How can companies readjust their growth strategy to succeed in the long run?

SAY Communications, a leading healthcare and technology PR & marketing agency, has launched a new report titled ‘Race to scale: Marketing and PR strategies to accelerate growth of remote patient monitoring companies’ which offers insights on how to navigate the increasingly competitive landscape and thrive in the digital health sector.

Stefi Rucci, MD at SAY Communications said: “Remote patient monitoring companies are no longer in a sprint, they’re in a marathon with hurdles. We’ve created this report to help companies build momentum, overcome market challenges and scale with confidence through strategic communications.”

Comms strategies have become essential for remote patient monitoring providers

With investment in the sector falling from a 2021 high of $57.2 billion to just $10 billion in 2024, the report argues that marketing and PR are no longer optional—they are essential growth levers.

The digital health boom may have peaked, but the race is far from over. SAY’s guide provides actionable insights and strategies to help companies succeed in the digital health sector. It includes:

• Trends that are shaping the market
• Growth strategies used by industry leaders
• Case studies of successful marketing campaigns

The report analyses the high impact moves that are helping leading RPM companies scale faster such as mergers and acquisitions, international expansion, and strategic partnerships, and the role of PR and marketing in each of these successful strategies. It includes real-world examples from companies like Huma, Current Health, and Definition Health, showcasing how targeted communications strategies have driven visibility, credibility, and commercial success.

The report also explores the critical role of brand storytelling, thought leadership, and data-driven messaging in building trust with investors, healthcare providers, and patients.

For companies looking at mergers and acquisitions to accelerate their growth, SAY recommends building a compelling brand story as a priority. The agency considers the ingredients of a successful PR programme, including thought leadership, internal communications, and a crisis playbook.

For companies expanding into new geographical, technological or therapeutic territories, refreshing their brand and sharpening messages tailored to each audience will be key, SAY says. Gathering insights from experts in these new territories, supported by the outsider perspective of an external comms agency, will help when building these messages.

For companies looking to forge new partnerships to help them expand their Remote Patient Monitoring business, agencies like SAY can support with crafting partnership comms’ messaging and outreach materials. The report looks at R&D company Camcon Medical who needed to kick start conversations with decision makers at chemical and medical device companies in order to identify potential partners to commercialise its innovative valve technology, which has the potential to revolutionise oxygen delivery in medical devices. SAY worked with the company’s business development team to clearly define the buying personas and the key issues that would prompt them to partner with an external company to upgrade their devices. The agency developed content marketing materials to address these topics and designed a global yet targeted Account Based Marketing (ABM) campaign, by identifying 50 companies to be approached. SAY leveraged LinkedIn ABM tools for laser-focused targeting that delivered high quality of leads.

Federico Marchisio, Associate Director, Digital at SAY Communications said: “In today’s digital health landscape, growth isn’t just about having the best and latest technology – it’s about engaging the right audience at the right time. This report is designed to help RPM companies do exactly that, with bold strategies and clever communications.”

The ‘Race to Scale’ report by SAY Communications is available to download here.

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For health care professionals, this trend represents both opportunities and challenges. The key is understanding why social media has become a popular source of health advice and how to adapt.

The Rise of Social Media as a Medical Advisor

A CharityRx study revealed one-third of surveyed Gen Zers use TikTok for medical advice, and 44% use YouTube before consulting their doctor. Convenience plays a significant role. Social media users can skip navigating appointment availability, taking time off from work or school, and attending in-person doctor’s visits.

Along with this convenience comes increased accessibility. Anyone with limited time, mobility or funds might enjoy greater access to health-related advice. Some perceive social media as a cost-effective alternative to traditional health care and insurance.

Relatability is also a key factor in why social media appears to be replacing medical professionals. Seeing younger influencers or other people share health-related challenges or tips can create a sense of trust among internet users of a similar age.

Concerns of Seeking Medical Advice on Social Media

While the reasons Gen Z is turning to social media are valid, this shift has several drawbacks.

Lack of Privacy

Social media platforms are no strangers to privacy concerns. Seemingly innocent entertainment tools on social media like facial filters can make user information vulnerable to hackers.

The majority of teens also feel they have little to no control over the personal data social media companies gather on them. As more users share medical information on public channels, their health information faces greater risk.

Spread of Misinformation

Misinformation — whether unintentional or malicious — can lead people to self-diagnose inaccurately, avoid professional medical care or seek potentially harmful solutions to symptoms. Health care professionals are trained and certified to administer medical advice and offer guidance. When misinformatiation leads to ill-advised remedies or misdiagnoses, the stakes can be extreme.

Lack of Personalized Advice

Health is rarely a one-size-fits-all approach. Various factors — such as genetics, diet, existing conditions, medications, mental health and lifestyle — influence what medical guidance is most effective for particular individuals. While one user might share their experience with the best of intentions, it doesn’t mean their advice will be applicable to someone else.

Biased or Sponsored Content

Many influencers on social media rely on sponsorships for their livelihoods. While best practices require transparency when disseminating promotional content, some influencers may not abide by this, or users might not recognize when content is sponsored.

Sponsored content runs the risk of being biased. Ideally, medical advice should uphold a stringent standard for objectivity to ensure people receive accurate information.

Implications for Health Care Providers

Gen Z turning to social media as a medical advisor presents challenges for health care providers, including:

• Declining primary care visits: As younger generations rely more on social media for health advice, drawing them into physical medical offices will become increasingly challenging.
• Increased demand for digital solutions: Younger tech-savvy patients want the convenience of telehealth appointments, online portals and apps they can access from anywhere.
• Misinformation: Health care professionals are invested in sharing sound medical advice. The spread of misinformation damages their profession and endangers populations.
• Building trust with younger patients: Younger patients may be skeptical of what medical experts can offer them. A concerning 38% of young adults have said they’ve disregarded guidance from their provider, taking advice from social media instead. Institutions will have to be creative and adapt to changes in health care to build trust with younger generations.

Tips for Health Care IT Professionals

With the increase of mental health issues like anxiety and depression, it is essential not to lose touch with younger populations in need of reputable assistance. Health care IT professionals are in a unique position to bridge the gap between traditional medical service mediums and the demands of newer generations.

Here’s how these industry experts can address the biggest challenges of social media’s influential role in medicine:

• Enhance digital presence: Medical institutions should have a presence on the most popular platforms among Gen Zers — Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. They should also follow similar entities online to create connections and get inspiration for attention-grabbing content.
• Leverage SEO: Keyword research and familiarity with the algorithmic patterns of top platforms can boost valuable content and reach the intended audience.
• Partner with health care influencers: This can maximize views and go a long way to helping build trust among Gen Zers. IT professionals should thoughtfully consider an influencer’s previous content to make sure it aligns with their own institution’s goals.
• Provide evidence-based commentary: Along with putting out content, medical facilities should engage with other social media content. This fosters an online community and helps stop misinformation.
• Encourage patient reviews: First-hand positive reviews and client testimonies strengthen an organization’s reputation for quality service.
• Implement virtual access: Telehealth capability is a great way to reach patients of all ages. Mobile apps and virtual health monitoring also give people convenient access to health-related services. From November 2023-2024, 2% of Gen Zers used a mobile health app.
• Personalize communication: Audience research and surveys can help tailor content for specific generations and communication for particular users.

Connecting With Gen Z in the Digital Health Age

Gen Z’s shift to social media for medical advice presents challenges for health care organizations, but it also offers opportunities to modernize access and content creation. Health care IT professionals can lead the way in digitizing these services to reach younger audiences and stop the spread of misinformation.

By Zac Amos, ReHack

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Over the past few years, Generative AI (GenAI) has emerged as a powerful catalyst for accelerating this healthcare revolution. These advanced systems can predict drug responses and side effects, generate synthetic data to fill critical gaps, boosts efficacy, and speed up discovery – ultimately making personalised treatments faster and more accessible to patients.

For instance, two patients with the same cancer diagnosis may receive different treatment plans based on the mutations in their specific tumours or how their body is going to likely respond to the different drugs based on their genetic profile, maximising effectiveness while minimising adverse affects.

Tailoring treatment responses with the power of generative AI

GenAI is enabling better predictions as to how individual patients are likely to respond to specific treatments as well as identifying potentially adverse events before they happen. By training on biomedical data like genomic, transcriptomic, and clinical records, these models can assess a drug’s likely efficacy and toxicity based on a patient’s unique profile. For example, a 2023 study by Wang and colleagues leveraged Multi-Omics Integrated Collective Variational Autoencoders (MOICVAE), an AI model capable of accurately predicting drug sensitivity for 25 drugs across seven kinds of cancer. In a separate study, Shi and colleagues proposed CSAM-GAN, a generative adversarial network based on sequential channel-spatial attention modules able to predict patient prognosis in lower-grade glioma and kidney renal clear cell carcinoma.

Models like these are helping clinicians match the right therapies to the right patients, while minimising risks through earlier, data-driven insight.

GenAI steps in: a new frontier in single-cell research

The rapid growth of single-cell sequencing data is creating new opportunities. So-called single-cell foundation models based on generative pre-trained transformers are able to distill biological information about genes and cells and be fine-tuned for biomedical tasks, like cell identification, even when data is incomplete. Their broad cellular knowledge makes them highly generalisable across a range of biomedical applications. Relatedly, GenAI can also be used to create synthetic biomedical training data that closely mimics the statistical variation found in real world patient data. In the case of rare diseases with few patients, for example, researchers can train models on thousands of AI-generated examples that match the underlying condition – creating more powerful and accurate models. Additionally, these datasets can be stripped of personally identifying information and are thus suitable for publication without fear of violating patient confidentiality.

Advancing the future of clinical development

GenAI offers new ways to identify patient subgroups and the relevant biomarkers, crucial for clinical development and maximising drug efficacy. In cancer and other complex diseases, different patients frequently respond differently to the same therapy. Uncovering which biomarkers (or combination of biomarkers) differentiate treatment responders from non-responders is a key part of precision models.

GenAI excels at finding patterns across complex datasets that are hard to analyse using more traditional statistical methods. CSAM-GAN, for instance, is able to integrate a patient’s DNA profile, RNA profile, and histopathology images to predict outcomes — and crucially, pinpoint which biomarkers drive those predictions, whether a gene, pathway, or tissue feature.

Looking ahead, GenAI could even enable the creation of “digital twins” for each patient. Every available treatment plan could then be simulated with the digital twin to identify how each one is likely to play out. While still an emerging concept, this could one day transform personalised medical care.

Cutting the drug discovery timeline

Perhaps most strikingly, GenAI is accelerating the traditionally slow and costly process of new drug development. Bringing a new drug to market can take well over a decade and costs billions. GenAI has the potential to dramatically cut both timelines and expenses.

GenAI is streamlining and automating stages that traditionally would take researchers months or years. Instead of physically synthesising and testing thousands of possible drugs, GenAI models can generate novel drugs that have a high likelihood of meeting a specific criterion. For example, these models can identify compounds that have a high chance of binding to a particular receptor (say, serotonin receptors) while having a low chance of toxicity.  This narrows down the list to the most promising candidates, reducing early-stage development from years to mere weeks or months.

Helping precision medicine become faster and more accurate

Generative AI is rapidly establishing itself as a cornerstone of precision medicine, fundamentally transforming healthcare from standardised protocols to truly personalised approaches.

More than just a technological advancement, GenAI represents the future for making medicine more individualised, predictive, and efficient for doctors and patients. What we are seeing today is merely the beginning of a profound transformation – Already, generative AI is already helping to identify patient-specific drug responses individually, uncover novel biomarkers, generate synthetic datasets and accelerate drug discovery.

These AI models will continue to grow and adapt to clinical needs, and will become even more capable and impactful across the healthcare ecosystem. The future of medicine sees a doctor and an AI colleague working together running virtual trials based on a patient’s biomedical data, predicting drug responses to personalise available therapy.

The result is transformative: the right treatment, for the right patient, at the right time – through the deliberate application of advanced AI working in harmony with human medical expertise. This convergence promises to reduce adverse effects, improve outcomes, and ultimately deliver on the long-sought promise of precision medicine and truly personalised healthcare.

By Dr. Ilya Burkov, Global Head of Healthcare and LifeSciences Growth at Nebius

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