Shot in the arm for UK healthcare SMEs

SME IT firms could be missing a trick when it comes to the healthcare IT market - and a new report is aiming to show them the way forward.

The report, from IT and telecoms association Intellect and the government's Trade and Investment organisation, picks out the Australian, Canadian and German markets as potential winners for small IT firms and gives details on the respective technological and business environments of each one.

The three were chosen as the most likely to provide the best environments for UK SMEs to expand due to their IT standards, government initiatives in the sector and the likelihood of the country's market to expand.

The research was commissioned, according to an Intellect spokeswoman, following recent changes to the healthcare economy that may leave SMEs confronting a smaller marketplace.

The report can be accessed at www.intellectuk.org/international-healthcareIT for Intellect members or www.internationalgrowth.org for non-members.

Cornwall Pure Business is looking for healthcare innovation - and to encourage it, the organisation is calling for young companies from across the country with new ideas on improving health to come forward. The winner will receive funding and business support to take the idea forward.

For more information, go to www.cornwallpurebusiness.co.uk/pureinnovation.