The U.K. National Health Service (NHS) is joining forces with the U.S. Veterans Health Administration (VHA) on an exchange program designed to share ideas and best practices for digital health.
Starting this year, both organizations will share ideas about the use of healthcare IT and exchange senior executives and staff from clinical, managerial, and informatics communities. The three-year program will focus on clinical engagement, leadership, and transformational system changes needed to support individuals with chronic medical conditions using clinical health IT.
The initiative was announced earlier this month in conjunction with the publishing of a commissioned report prepared by British consulting firm 2020health that was released at the NHS Expo. The 90-page report, entitled "Making connections: a transatlantic exchange to support the adoption of digital health between the U.S. VHA and England's NHS," describes the goals and provides a framework for the program.
The report addresses the wider scope of telehealth and the digital health program adopted by the VHA, including home telehealth, mobile health, clinical video teleconferencing, secure electronic messaging, and the adoption of both electronic health records (EHR) and personal health records (PHR). For the NHS to achieve its goal of a digital health-enabled service, it will need senior leadership commitment; to find ways to ensure that digital health becomes a default delivery channel for service; to embed the core competencies for digital health into the curricula of doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals and relevant local authority staff; and to set up secure messaging and electronic PHR, according to the report.
For its part, the VHA will likely learn from the report's discussion of how digital health technology is used in the NHS, particularly its use of mobile health, according to the report. The agency said it has incorporated patient feedback and choice into online and mobile directories of services, such as what's available nearby and the use of social media tools.
The scope of the report does not include discussions about the IT that is used. The aim of the report is to define lessons learned about digital health implementation, based on best practice and case studies, according to co-author and consultant director John Cruickshank and colleagues. The goal is to capture key lessons for transferable learning, according to the authors.
They also want to the report to increase awareness of the benefits of telehealth among clinicians and managers responsible for adopting digital health; define the challenges and offer advice to overcome the challenges of digital health relating to technical, organizational, and evaluation matters; define practical support for implementation; and increase engagement and leadership at a local level, according to the authors.
The report was sponsored by an unrestricted educational grant from 3 Million Lives, the VHA, and Bosch.
![Examples of ultrasound findings and techniques. (A) Images in a 39-year-old male patient with a mass in the left thigh. The mass is heterogeneous on the B-mode US image (compared with the patient in D) and showed increased microvascularity (superb microvascular imaging [SMI]) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) values. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy (with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in surgical specimen). (B) Images in an 18-year-old male patient with a mass in the left leg. The mass is hypoechoic on the B-mode image, with no other findings suggestive of malignancy. The lesion is in contact with the cortex of the tibia, which is slightly irregular. CT revealed a doubtful anteromedial tibial erosion. The microvascular study demonstrated high vascularization, suggestive of malignancy. Periosteal Ewing sarcoma was diagnosed with both histologic and immunohistochemical confirmation. (C) Images in a 69-year-old female patient with a lump growing on the outside of the left leg. Multiple SWE examinations were performed (please note the high values obtained in the measurements, whereas the color map highlights the stiffness relative to adjacent tissues). SMI showed areas of increased vascularization to target for sampling. Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with residual leiomyosarcoma in the surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. (D) Images in a 56-year-old female patient with a mass in the right thigh. The mass is heterogeneous at both B-mode ultrasound (similar to patient A) and MRI (coronal T2-weighted spectral attenuated inversion recovery [SPAIR]; T1-weighted pre-contrast and postcontrast imaging), which even shows uptake after the administration of paramagnetic contrast material, which is traditionally suggestive of malignancy. Low values at SMI and elastography are suggestive of benignity. Spindle cell lipoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor in the surgical specimen.](https://img.auntminnieeurope.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/08/images-radiol250278fig2.APCFLSvX6p.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=crop&h=100&q=70&w=100)
![Examples of ultrasound findings and techniques. (A) Images in a 39-year-old male patient with a mass in the left thigh. The mass is heterogeneous on the B-mode US image (compared with the patient in D) and showed increased microvascularity (superb microvascular imaging [SMI]) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) values. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy (with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in surgical specimen). (B) Images in an 18-year-old male patient with a mass in the left leg. The mass is hypoechoic on the B-mode image, with no other findings suggestive of malignancy. The lesion is in contact with the cortex of the tibia, which is slightly irregular. CT revealed a doubtful anteromedial tibial erosion. The microvascular study demonstrated high vascularization, suggestive of malignancy. Periosteal Ewing sarcoma was diagnosed with both histologic and immunohistochemical confirmation. (C) Images in a 69-year-old female patient with a lump growing on the outside of the left leg. Multiple SWE examinations were performed (please note the high values obtained in the measurements, whereas the color map highlights the stiffness relative to adjacent tissues). SMI showed areas of increased vascularization to target for sampling. Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with residual leiomyosarcoma in the surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. (D) Images in a 56-year-old female patient with a mass in the right thigh. The mass is heterogeneous at both B-mode ultrasound (similar to patient A) and MRI (coronal T2-weighted spectral attenuated inversion recovery [SPAIR]; T1-weighted pre-contrast and postcontrast imaging), which even shows uptake after the administration of paramagnetic contrast material, which is traditionally suggestive of malignancy. Low values at SMI and elastography are suggestive of benignity. Spindle cell lipoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor in the surgical specimen.](https://img.auntminnieeurope.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/08/images-radiol250278fig2.APCFLSvX6p.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
