Can open data improve GPs' take-up of innovations?; Guardian, 1/29/14

Kathleen Stokes, Guardian; Can open data improve GPs' take-up of innovations? :

"It's no secret that the world has woken up to the revolutionary potential of using data in the NHS and public services more generally. Whether big, open or personal, data can now help us predict patient readmission to hospital and identify potential cost savings for GP prescriptions. So how are these innovations impacting in our GP practices?

Nesta has worked with the centre for the advancement of sustainable medical innovation and Mastodon C to learn more about the take up of innovations by GP practices in England. Our starting point was the assumption that open data – data made freely available to anyone – can help us to better understand what is already taking place.

In our new report Which Doctors Take up Promising Ideas? New Insights from Open Data, we wanted to explore how making use of open data can help people understand trends and differences in service within primary care. Our research charts where, when and which GP practices across England have implemented promising innovations. It shows varied uptake of certain proven drugs, technologies and practices by GP surgeries.

The findings are exploratory but promising. They highlight several trends around how GP practices identify, decide upon and actually take up different innovations."