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New technologies

What we are doing

The Health Informatics Unit has a new programme of work to develop and promote consensus-based standards for new information and communication technologies.

New technologies, such as mobile applications, telehealth and social media are increasingly being used by both patients and clinicians. They offer great potential in improving patient care but vary greatly in quality and effectiveness and there is no published criteria by which to assess them.  Governance of new technologies is also under-developed and codes of practice for their use by clinicians need to be developed if they are to be adopted widely and used safely in healthcare delivery.

What we have produced

The RCP HIU presents findings of a study to better understand the needs of service users in relation to personal health records (PHRs) and the implications of these findings for providers, health and care professionals and commissioners.

The RCP Health Informatics Unit (HIU) has reviewed current personal electronic health and care record (PHR) activity in the UK, to inform NHS England strategy.

This guidance was developed in April 2015 to provide clinicians and medical app developers with important information about the use of apps in clinical practice.