The National Health Service (NHS) Commissioning Board has announced that the NHS will be paperless by 2015. As of next April, all patients in the NHS will be able to order prescriptions and book general practitioner appointments online. Hospitals will need to more broadly implement electronic health records in order to be able to link with primary care physician practices, which already routinely use HIT systems. Some have expressed worries that the 2015 deadline is too ambitious and emphasized the importance of not leaving behind those patients that do not have access to Internet or mobile phone technology.
Source:
- http://www.bmj.com/content/345/bmj.e6888?etoc (subscription required)