A potted history of NHS IT strategy up to December 2000, prior to the New GMS contract and the National Programme for IT (NPfIT)...
Continue reading 'A history of NHS IT to the Millennium'
Archive for the 'Informatics' category
Do you remember the early days when FAQs (frequently asked questions) where still a relative novelty? When people actually got something other than spam and penis pill adverts out of Usenet? You couldn't find any of this stuff with Google: Google wasn't born yet. I maintained this list of medical FAQs from 1994 to 1996, discontinuing it as I recall because the task of updating it had become impossible (the Web was really gaining momentum)—and because spam had reared it's ugly head. Most of the resources listed probably don't exist anymore; those that do will have evolved beyond recognition. Having re-discovered it, however, I re-post it here as a historical glimpse into the health information void that newsgroups and rudimentary websites were addressing 10 years ago...
Continue reading 'RIP: The medical FAQ list (1994-1996)'
HubMed lets you subscribe to a daily RSS feed for a custom PubMed query...
Continue reading 'MEDLINE search updates via RSS'
Since the early 1990's the Internet has enjoyed unprecedented use as a library of health-related information and resources. The freedoms it provides have seen access to it positioned high on professional, political, and cultural agendas. As with much of healthcare, however, who has access is in part determined by the so-called "digital divide" between various groups, such as those in differing socio-economic classes. A new divide has notionally been created between UK National Health Service professionals and their patients, as the former now have almost universal Internet access via the health service's wide-area network, NHSnet...
Continue reading 'Digital divide between professionals & patients'
In addition to the usual PDA functions—contacts, calendar, task list etc—the Palm can be a versatile medical tool. Here is a brief round-up of a few apps and solutions I find have a place in general practice...
Continue reading 'The medical Palm'
The British National Formulary (BNF) is the Bible for many doctors in the UK and around the world. Here's how you can get it on your Palm or Pocket PC PDA...
Continue reading 'The BNF in the Palm of your hand'
