News • HIMSS
26th Annual HIMSS Leadership Survey Infographic
Key findings from the 26th Annual HIMSS Leadership Survey are summarized in the report infographic.
News • New guidance
Contact precautions for hospital visitors
Leading infectious diseases experts have released new guidance for healthcare facilities looking to establish precautions for visitors of patients with infectious diseases. The guidance looks to reduce the potential for healthcare visitors in spreading dangerous bacteria within the healthcare facility and community. The recommendations are published online in Infection Control & Hospital…
News • Clostridium difficile
Evidence supports success of fecal transplants in treatment
Research published in the open access journal Microbiome offers new evidence for the success of fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) in treating severe Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), a growing problem worldwide that leads to thousands of fatalities every year.
Safe return to base decontamination process with Bioquell
Protection of employees handling patient-exposed medical and diagnostic equipment returned for servicing/refurbishment is highlighted in two online case studies from leading decontamination expert, Bioquell.
News • Cooperation
Strategic alliance between Agfa HealthCare and Hitachi Medical Systems
Agfa HealthCare announced that it has entered into a sales and marketing agreement with Hitachi Medical Systems America, Inc. (Hitachi) whereby Hitachi will promote Agfa HealthCare's complete portfolio of Direct Radiography (DR) and Computed Radiography (CR) solutions to its large and growing community of MRI and CT customers in the United States, including hospitals, imaging centers and…
News • ECCMID
Scientists gather to fight infectious diseases
The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (ESCMID) announces that the globe’s most prominent infection specialists will be gathering in Copenhagen to explore solutions to the biggest infection problems during its annual congress – the 25th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) taking place on 25-28 April 2015.
News • Healthcare Technology
IBM Invests in Modernizing Medicine
To accelerate the adoption of Watson cognitive computing technologies in healthcare, IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced an investment in Modernizing Medicine, a provider of cloud-based technologies that help physician specialists create, consume and apply medical information in new ways to transform point of care decision support.
News • Standards of clinical evidence
MedTech: New EU think-tank
The joint European Forum for Good Clinical Practice (EFGCP) and MedTech Europe Working Party announced the launch of its Workshop Report and resulting “Roadmap for Medical Device Development in Europe” on March 13th 2015.
Article • Pros and Cons of DMP
France still seeks an electronic health record
The idea of a ‘dossier médical personnalisé’ (DMP, or electronic health record) for every French citizen was first inaugurated in 2004. Now, over 10 years and €500 million later, we can look at the pros and cons encountered during this still incomplete journey and consider if similar projects would be a useful addition to healthcare administration in other European countries, or…
Article • MIR@ECR
Management in radiology
The fourth Management in Radiology (MIR) Symposium to be held during the ECR will focus on key issues in the profession, including quality and safety.
Interview • Structured reporting
Liberating radiologists to be expert consultants
Where some decry the commoditisation of radiology, Gabriel Krestin MD, sees an opportunity to redefine the profession, for radiologists to rise up from basement reading rooms to consult as equals with other medical specialists in multi-disciplinary conferences focused on patient care. ‘If we are going to think about the future, we should not be looking in a rear view mirror. We need to be open…
Sponsored • Celebration
Japanese firm celebrates 140 successful years
The son of a craftsman making Buddhist altars, he was driven to create instruments for physics and chemistry. Attending the Physics and Chemistry Research Institute he gained experience with a variety of technologies and fields of expertise. He was convinced that Japan, as a should work towards becoming a leader in science. At the dawn of the industrial revolution and scientific age in 1875 he…
News • Surgical program
Hospitals participating in ACS NSQIP significantly improve
The majority of hospitals participating in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Project (ACS NSQIP®) improve surgical outcomes over time, and improvement continues with each year that hospitals participate in the program.
News • European focus
Cross-border intensive care medicine
Anyone who becomes seriously ill or has an accident while on holiday would like to be treated as well as they are at home. It is vitally important for the patient that the doctor has been well trained, in particular in intensive care medicine
News • Hygiene
Hand washing focus in hospitals leads to more dermatitis
Researchers from the University's Institute of Population Health studied reports voluntarily submitted by dermatologists to a national database which is run by the University (THOR), between 1996 and 2012. Sixty percent of eligible UK dermatologists used this database which is designed to report skin problems caused or aggravated by work.
News • Healthcare costs
Cancer patients rarely demand unnecessary tests and treatments
Physicians often blame patient demands for contributing to high medical costs, however, a new study involving more than 5,000 patient-clinician visits indicates that cancer patients rarely push for unnecessary tests and treatments from their health care providers.
News • Patient safety
C-suite and risk managers struggle with patient safety
Maximizing patient safety is the top priority for hospital c-suite executives and risk managers in the United States - but, "lack of teamwork, negative culture and poor communication" will present barriers to patient safety in the future - according to a new survey commissioned by American International Group (AIG) in consultation with patient safety expert, Dr. Marty Makary, MD, MPH.
News • Quality
Hospital readmissions are not tied to errors in care
A study from Northwestern Medicine and the American College of Surgeons suggests that penalizing hospitals for patient readmissions following surgery may be ineffective, and even counterproductive, for improving the quality of hospital care in America.
News • Report cards
Hospital report cards have no impact on surgery outcomes
JAMA study shows death, complication, readmission and costs are no lower at hospitals in American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, a prominent quality-reporting program.
News • Cooperation
University partnerships can increase research capacity
Developing national health research capacity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is a key element toward strengthening their health systems. Collaborations with universities in high -income countries may be an important tool in building research capacity, but often suffer from imbalanced power relations.
News • E-Health
Interoperable EHR Can Revolutionize Healthcare Delivery
The growing use of clinical and non-clinical information systems, including patient administration systems, scheduling and billing, is fuelling the demand for electronic health record (EHR) technology in Europe. EHR and ePrescribing are now priority areas in digital health across Europe, accounting for 30 percent of total healthcare IT spending in the region.
News • Antibiotics
Antibiotic use by travelers may add to global spread of superbugs
Taking antibiotics for diarrhea may put travelers visiting developing parts of the world at higher risk for contracting superbugs and spreading these daunting drug-resistant bacteria to their home countries, according to a new study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases and now available online.
Article • Ebola
Reports of panic among medics
At the International Meeting on Emerging Diseases and Surveillance (IMED 2014), in Vienna, this year’s focus was on one particular emerging infectious disease: Ebola. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), as of January 14th, more than 8.400 people have died of this dangerous disease and more than 21.000 cases were reported in nine countries. Report: Michael Krassnitzer
News • Research
Obesity is Not a Disability
Sermo, the social network for doctors, announced the results of a poll of 2,238 doctors on the contentious issue of whether obese individuals should be considered disabled. An overwhelming majority of doctors, 88 percent, disagreed with a new ruling from the European Union under which employers will be required to protect obese workers and provide them with special parking spaces, larger seats…
News • Market
US 3D Mammography Systems Market to rise
The Americas' mammography systems market value will increase from approximately $390 million in 2013 to $1.1 billion by 2020, driven primarily by the uptake of 3D systems in the US and healthy demand for 2D systems in Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
