NHS England, together with the National Information Board (NIB), is looking to equip all NHS facilities in England with free WiFi in a move that would provide benefits to both patients and physicians.

Patients on their end will enjoy free Internet access while waiting to see a doctor, while physicians would be able to pull in extra data points from patients using wearables while in a hospital. In addition, this would reduce the administrative burden on doctors, nurses, and care staff. It is suggested that administrative duties occupy, at most, 70% of a junior doctor’s day.

The bigger idea is to move towards digitization of the NHS.

“The NHS is embracing the offering of digital services to patients, with more than 55 million patients set to benefit from progress,” said NHS England National Director for Patients and Information Tim Kelsey. “As well as giving patients more choice and control, better use of technology can save money. Letting people rebook online will help tackle the estimated £160 million that missed appointments cost the NHS each year.”

The bigger idea is to move towards digitization of the NHS.Last year, 97% of general practitioner practices allowed patients to book appointments online, order prescriptions, and view a summary of their records online. NHS England plans to give patients full access to their entire digital health record by 2018. At that time, doctors and nurses across England will be able to access data for primary, urgent, and emergency care services. And by 2020, these providers will also be able to access data for NHS funded services.

The NIB was created by the Department of Health to develop initiatives that use data and technology in healthcare.

[Via: mobihealthnews, image from TheGuardian]