New software for dementia patients

Dementia Life has developed software to improve the quality of conversation and recollection of the elderly and people with dementia, reports Bjhcim.

Digital Reminiscence Therapy Solutions uses digital media content such as photos, videos and music, to help unlock the memory and create communication between care worker and patient.

The software is already in use in a number of care homes in Liverpool and London as well as by NHS Fife and The Jersey Memory Clinic.

The Australian Defence Force plans to develop a Web-based electronic health record (EHR) system to link its staff's health data from recruitment to discharge, states IT News.

Defence minister Warren Snowdon has pledged $55.7 million over four years to the so-called Joint e-health Data and Information system (JeHDI), which is expected to be available by 2014.

JeHDI is expected to improve access to patients' healthcare information, while allowing the department of defence to map trends and derive financial reports on healthcare costs.

The increased adoption of technology among healthcare providers in the US may come with concerns about the security and privacy of sensitive patient information, says Medecision.

Software expert Raj Chaudhary has issued some tips that may help doctors and hospital systems protect their health information exchange networks. "The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act has three sets of security standards," Chaudhary explains

"Each set has several safeguards, and each safeguard has one or more implementation specifications. Providers need to assess their controls and infrastructure against these standards in order to avoid penalties." He advises doctors to protect data from unauthorised individuals by logging off computers when they are away from their desks.