Considering the impact of technology

Taking place on 26 April 2016 in Milton Keynes, the EBME seminar is an independent, educational event for healthcare professionals that are responsible for healthcare technology management, procurement, user training, maintenance, and governance. Chairman, Dr John Sandham FIHEEM MIET, provides an insight into some of the topical issues that will be high on the agenda.

NHS hospitals, like many other hospitals worldwide, face fundamental questions of patient safety, budgetary limits, and the ever-increasing availability of medical technology. It is important to consider the impact that technology has on a healthcare organisation. With the availability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) software tools, connecting to modern medical equipment, we can now envisage a time in the not too distant future where these innovations in healthcare technology connectivity will allow nurses and doctors to use the technology as a ‘second opinion’. 

The accuracy of AI software has reached a point where doctor and nurses can target the sickest patients by using early warning software. Technology can be used as an enabler for productivity in the NHS, but this can only happen if we modernise the NHS technology fleet. Once the NHS understands the benefits of linking software systems to the devices, clinical engineers can then raise their profiles, supporting their organisations to deliver technological transformation.