Dr Simon Wallace
Dr Simon Wallace’s stories
It’s time to focus on clinical coders
The way a patient’s spell in hospital is coded is based on an important narrative. Not only does this narrative impact the financial returns of an organisation, but collectively the data produced from codes also provides a view of the care a setting delivers, the state of the public health, and much more. The need […]
4 June 2020
The way a patient’s spell in hospital is coded is based on an important narrative. Not only does this narrative impact the financial returns of an organisation, but collectively the data produced from codes also provides a view of the care a setting delivers, the state of the public health, and much more. The need […]
The Role of Digital Healthcare during these Challenging Times
The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global health and economic challenge. The impact of this novel coronavirus has felt shocking, yet experts have warned for years that a global pandemic is inevitable and that a crisis such as this should be considered a question of not ‘if’, but ‘when’. As we look to the future […]
9 April 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global health and economic challenge. The impact of this novel coronavirus has felt shocking, yet experts have warned for years that a global pandemic is inevitable and that a crisis such as this should be considered a question of not ‘if’, but ‘when’. As we look to the future […]
The role of the clinical coder is set to change, but we should see it as an opportunity to improve healthcare
There are many roles in the NHS that we fail to acknowledge, and most are critical to the way the NHS runs. One such role is the clinical coder which is often seen as a backroom function. On my visits to NHS hospitals, I find clinical coding departments tucked away from frontline activity and in […]
3 March 2020
There are many roles in the NHS that we fail to acknowledge, and most are critical to the way the NHS runs. One such role is the clinical coder which is often seen as a backroom function. On my visits to NHS hospitals, I find clinical coding departments tucked away from frontline activity and in […]
Let’s embrace the latest technology, but acknowledge it must work for clinicians
Recently we have seen the collapse of Thomas Cook, leading many to consider the fate of businesses that don’t, or can’t, move with the times. In a recent column ‘Clicks not bricks’, commentator Roy Lilley likened the challenges faced by the travel agent, to the challenges faced by GPs. He says, not unlike Thomas Cook, […]
11 February 2020
Recently we have seen the collapse of Thomas Cook, leading many to consider the fate of businesses that don’t, or can’t, move with the times. In a recent column ‘Clicks not bricks’, commentator Roy Lilley likened the challenges faced by the travel agent, to the challenges faced by GPs. He says, not unlike Thomas Cook, […]
Clinician burnout – a global phenomenon
Healthcare professionals burning out due to quality of life at work Burnout is being experienced by many health professionals. Survey results from countries across the world provide an alarming picture of the current state of their well-being and raise the question of why their quality of life at work is so poor? Research by the […]
11 February 2020
Healthcare professionals burning out due to quality of life at work Burnout is being experienced by many health professionals. Survey results from countries across the world provide an alarming picture of the current state of their well-being and raise the question of why their quality of life at work is so poor? Research by the […]
Pathology and artificial intelligence
How AI is meeting the needs of pathologists Pathology has been an early adopter of AI as it is able to assist in many of the tasks in the clinical workflow. There is a growing trend, for example, towards artificial intelligence being used to improve clinical outcomes by assisting in accurately diagnosing diseases and predicting […]
11 February 2020
How AI is meeting the needs of pathologists Pathology has been an early adopter of AI as it is able to assist in many of the tasks in the clinical workflow. There is a growing trend, for example, towards artificial intelligence being used to improve clinical outcomes by assisting in accurately diagnosing diseases and predicting […]
Australian digital healthcare from the front line
Like other countries across the world, healthcare in Australia has reams of clinical documentation. Recent estimates for 2015-16 suggest that there were 10.6 million discharge summaries, 28 million outpatient reports/letters and 2.2 million procedure notes. But is it in a digital format that is useful? The digital health EMR tools only work if their engine room […]
15 September 2019
Like other countries across the world, healthcare in Australia has reams of clinical documentation. Recent estimates for 2015-16 suggest that there were 10.6 million discharge summaries, 28 million outpatient reports/letters and 2.2 million procedure notes. But is it in a digital format that is useful? The digital health EMR tools only work if their engine room […]
Ambient Clinical Intelligence (ACI) and the clinic room of the future
How AI is meeting the needs of patients and clinicians For decades now doctors have been turning away from their patients consumed by their computer screen and the need to search for and enter key clinical knowledge as they capture the record of the patient encounter. Now Nuance’s AI powered speech technologies, supported by deep […]
2 August 2019
How AI is meeting the needs of patients and clinicians For decades now doctors have been turning away from their patients consumed by their computer screen and the need to search for and enter key clinical knowledge as they capture the record of the patient encounter. Now Nuance’s AI powered speech technologies, supported by deep […]
AI-powered speech recognition is improving clinical documentation
The productive workflow In my last blog, I highlighted the importance of speech to text to support clinicians recording data in an electronic format in the EPR. I also described the role that AI could play in meeting the aspirations of the NHS Long Term Plan. The considerable progress that has been made in AI […]
31 July 2019
The productive workflow In my last blog, I highlighted the importance of speech to text to support clinicians recording data in an electronic format in the EPR. I also described the role that AI could play in meeting the aspirations of the NHS Long Term Plan. The considerable progress that has been made in AI […]
AI needs quality NHS data to succeed
The vision of personalised data The Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer suggests we will “evolve from Electronic Health Records to an individualised ‘Electronic Health Engine’ that integrates high dimensional data about the individual, including social and economic determinants of health, behavioural risks, biomedical, genomic and citizen-generated data, to generate real time dynamic risk […]
22 May 2019
The vision of personalised data The Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer suggests we will “evolve from Electronic Health Records to an individualised ‘Electronic Health Engine’ that integrates high dimensional data about the individual, including social and economic determinants of health, behavioural risks, biomedical, genomic and citizen-generated data, to generate real time dynamic risk […]
Clinical Speech Recognition and the NHS Long Term Plan
The NHS Long Term Plan describes its data and digital and technology commitment as the ambition ‘to provide more convenient access to services and health information for patients…better access to digital tools and patient records for staff, and improvements to the planning and delivery of services based on the analysis of patient and population data’ Clinical speech […]
13 February 2019
The NHS Long Term Plan describes its data and digital and technology commitment as the ambition ‘to provide more convenient access to services and health information for patients…better access to digital tools and patient records for staff, and improvements to the planning and delivery of services based on the analysis of patient and population data’ Clinical speech […]
UK Health Tech Predictions 2019
What would be your new year’s resolution for the health tech industry for 2019? This year, the NHS must demonstrate how it can encourage a culture shift to ensure technology is properly being used to boost efficiency, improve patient care and reduce stress and burnout seen across the healthcare profession. To achieve this, it is […]
7 January 2019
What would be your new year’s resolution for the health tech industry for 2019? This year, the NHS must demonstrate how it can encourage a culture shift to ensure technology is properly being used to boost efficiency, improve patient care and reduce stress and burnout seen across the healthcare profession. To achieve this, it is […]
