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The National Health Service for Scotland (NHS) reported record funding for capital expenditures in a three-year package totaling £1.6 billion ($3.1 billion) that aims "to ensure that we have a health service infrastructure fit for the 21st century," said Secretary for Health and Wellbeing Nicola Sturgeon.

In the first wave of funding released for this year, some £324 million ($646 million) will go to build new "fit-for-purpose" facilities and to improve existing facilities.

Significantly, another £201 ($401 million) or 40% of the funding is earmarked for e-health infrastructure and augmenting primary care and community care premises, a substantial investment in shifting care out of regional hospital centers and toward local care settings.

For example, two new projects in the NHS Highlands region include a 24-bed community hospital at Bonar Bridge in Sutherland and a new day surgery center at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.

With the fresh funding, the Scottish Ambulance Service now will be buying new vehicles and defibrillators.

Large-scale projects funded under the three-year program include redesign of facilities at Borders General Hospital (Melrose) and a new emergency care center for Aberdeen.

Medco in Swedish collaboration

Medco Health Solutions (Franklin Lakes, New Jersey) reported collaboration with Sweden's government-operated retail pharmacy authority, Apoteket (Stockholm), to "develop and test the first automated electronic prescription-review system to improve clinical and financial outcomes for Swedish patients and the country's healthcare system."

Medco and Apoteket will jointly develop a customized system to perform safety checks on each prescription prior to dispensing — warning pharmacists of drug interactions, excessive dosing or any other issue related to dispensing a prescription. Medco said such drug utilization review systems are commonplace today in the U.S., but do not exist in many other countries.

In Sweden, it is estimated that 30% of total emergency care visits and 10% of all hospital admissions are the result of prescription drug-related issues.

"As more patients in Sweden are routinely treated by larger numbers of doctors, and in the future they may use different pharmacies, this system will provide a safety net for patients and their physicians, who may not be aware of all the medicines that may have been prescribed by other clinicians," said Erik Thorsell, Apoteket's executive for quality assurance.

Currently, all Swedish pharmacies are operated by Apoteket, the government entity responsible for prescription pharmacy care nationwide. The new system is being developed as Sweden moves toward deregulating the retail pharmacy market in 2009.

The utilization review system to be developed for Sweden is intended to become part of the common high-tech infrastructure used by all retail pharmacies in the future, when the Swedish retail pharmacy market is deregulated and competitors enter the marketplace. This would ensure comprehensive, uniform and consistent reviews of each prescription, for all patients, independent of which pharmacy is used to dispense the medicine, Medco said.

"Our combined experience will allow us to quickly develop and implement an industry-leading drug utilization review system, customized for the Swedish market — achieving considerable savings for the healthcare system and improving the quality of care for individual patients," said Stefan Carlsson, Apoteket managing director.

EnCor launched in several more countries

SenoRx (Aliso Viejo, California) said it has launched EnCor, its flagship vacuum-assisted breast biopsy product, and its line of breast biopsy tissue markers in additional countries outside the U.S.

The company said its products now will be marketed through distributors in Germany, France, Italy, Russia and the Nordic countries. SenoRx had previously reported in October 2007 that it was partnering with local distributors with breast imaging and/or interventional radiology franchises in Austria, Belgium, the UK, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland and Taiwan.

EnCor and SenoRx breast tissue markers have previously received the necessary regulatory clearances in the European Union and several other countries in Asia.

"Following successful test marketing of EnCor in several countries outside the United States early last year," said Lloyd Malchow, SenoRx president/CEO, "we began establishing agreements with selected distributors to sell EnCor and our line of tissue markers. We indicated at that time that we intended further expansion of our marketing efforts in additional countries beginning in 2008."

He added, "We have been pleased with the progress achieved in our initial launch in the first 10 countries outside of the U.S. and have been particularly impressed with the traction we have gained in the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands. Our initial positive experiences in these markets have provided us with an adequate basis to move forward with our planned expansion to launch in additional countries."

The SenoRx line of breast care products includes biopsy disposables, biopsy capital equipment, diagnostic adjunct products and therapeutic disposables.

Swiss distribution set for SoftPAP

CytoCore (Chicago), a developer of cancer screening systems to assist in the early detection of cervical, endometrial and other cancers, said it has entered into a four-year agreement with HT Hospital Technologies, a subsidiary of M.O.S.S. Srl, for distribution of the SoftPAP Cervical Cell Collector in Switzerland.

M.O.S.S. already is CytoCore's distributor in Italy. HT Hospital Technologies' agreement calls for minimum sales of 150,000 units the first year, 200,000 units the second, and 250,000 units the third year.

CytoCore CEO Robert McCullough Jr. said, "We are ... pleased to expand our distribution into another European market. We expect to receive an initial order to ship first SoftPAP products to Switzerland by mid-April."

The SoftPAP Cervical Cell Collector uses a disposable medical-grade silicone rubber balloon to collect the sample. When the tip of the balloon is inserted into the endocervical canal and the balloon is inflated, it expands to contact the entire region from which a sample is to be obtained.