The value of the European picture archiving and communications system market is predicted to double over the next six years, driven by demand for radiology information systems.New analysis from Frost and Sullivan has found that the market was valued at €535m ($679m) in 2009 and estimates that this will reach €1,065m ($1,353m) in 2016.  For more, click here.

Royal Bolton Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has announced that it has signed a multi-million pound managed equipment service agreement with Siemens Healthcare.  The 15-year contract will see the trust receive the latest radiology equipment alongside maintenance of its existing systems and user training. Click here for more.

Gary Cohen has resigned as the chief executive of iSoft as the company has announced major losses in its full-year results. For more, click here .

Telehealth Solutions  announced that they have been awarded a framework agreement for providing Telehealth by the procurement company Buying Solutions. Click here for more.

The pharmacy automation systems market in Europe is experiencing a tremendous growth spurt. Until recently, most pharmacies have been either without automation or have employed very basic automation systems. In response, the adoption rate of automation systems across Europe has been progressing from basic prescription management systems to advanced medication pick-up and drug dispensing automation systems. Click here for more on this story

A trust has signed an agreement to tighten up its data protection procedures after more than 100 copies of patient records were found on a CD left at a bus stop.  Follow the story @ HSJ

The introduction of the NPfIT  started the demise of local IM&T investment by imposing a straight-jacket on NHS Trusts. Meanwhile, their European counter-parts have been forging ahead, assessing and implementing technologies which are bringing new efficiencies and cost savings. The pertinent question seems to be not whether can the NHS afford to catch-up, rather can the NHS afford not to catch-up?

See e-Health Insider for an opinion piece on the above.

Orion Health has  launched the latest version of its integration engine, Rhapsody 4. Rhapsody 4 provides greater support for the latest industry trends, technologies and standards, including secure web services, already adopted by groups such as HL7 and Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise.Paul de Bazin, Rhapsody product manager said the solution now provides greater support and features for organisations using service oriented architecture (SOA) to solve their integration challenges

In April 2010, Orion Health signed a global partnership agreement for Philips to deploy Rhapsody Integration Engine across its portfolio of healthcare informatics solutions. See e-Health Insider for more.

A Best Practice Guidance has been developed to give best practice advice on data quality areas including: access, security and confidentiality; role based access control; pseudonymisation; SUS modules and data quality.

New guidance on sharing of data extracts is now available from the SUS Data Quality and Operational Support Team.