In its sixth issue, the Hospital Rating Report, first introduced to the public in Berlin during the 2010 Capital City Congress for Medicine and Health, again examined the financial situation of German hospitals. The study shows financial improvement during 2009 and 2010, despite the economic crisis, but forecasts that it will deteriorate again from 2011.
‘Sustainability’ is more than a buzz word. The original meaning – to limit the use of natural resources so they will be available for future generations – has been expanded to encompass an economic as well as a social dimension. Companies – including hospitals – are increasingly integrating the concept of sustainability in their corporate strategies.
The reduction in junior doctors’ hours to 48 hours a week with the introduction of the European Working Time Directive (EWTD) has increased the number of work shifts and continuity of care is suffering as patients are ‘handed over’ again and again to different doctors, according to the Royal College of Physicians (RCP).
Specialist medical training programmes should retain some flexibility to help trainee doctors make the right career choices, according to a study published on bmj.com. Some UK medical graduates choose a specialty as soon as they qualify and others after a few years of postgraduate work. But changes to postgraduate medical training mean that junior doctors will generally have to make choices…
Around 75% of adult type 1 and type 2 diabetics say they believe they know what their blood sugar levels are, without testing, according to data presented at the American Diabetes Association 70th Scientific Sessions. These results are important to consider because self-monitoring with a blood glucose meter is essential for people with diabetes to obtain accurate blood glucose results that guide…
That computer keyboards harbour bacteria is well known. Studies have determined that 3,295 germs accumulate per square inch on a standard keyboard. By comparison, a sanitary toilet has 49 germs per square inch.
Post-operative wound infection occurs after an estimated 17% of surgical operations – sometimes with devastating consequences for the patient. The list of preventive measures is manifold and long. However, one strategy is increasingly moving into the spotlight: the use of antibacterial coated sutures. Ethicon Products is at the cutting edge in this field. Sandra Rasche, head of this Business…
A change in political control naturally creates change in the way things are run, and the jaw-jutting ‘Get tough’ nature of the UK’s new coalition Government is palpable. For hospitals, one early change relates to data reporting on MRSA bloodstream infections and C. Difficile. Up to now, these were published monthly by the National Health Service (NHS) Trust; soon they will be published…
In hospitals, MRSA is considered Public Enemy Nr 1, and the increase in nosocomial infections, worldwide, has drawn universal attention to this ‘superbug’. However, Staphylococcus aureus is not alone – other pathogens are proving their resistance to antibiotics, in the last decade, gram-negative enterobacteria, which form the enzyme extended-spectrum beta-lactimases (ESBL), have joined the…
The border between Germany and the Netherlands in the so-called EUREGIO region is of no particular importance in the daily life of the people who live there. Every day, thousands commute between towns and cities in both countries, to work, shop or even receive medical treatment. The latter, however, presents Dutch hospitals with a problem.
A decade ago the battle against hospital-acquired MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacterial strain) infections appeared to be lost, or at least without end. However, today, we see very important science-to-business achievements in this field. Report: Rostislav Kuklik
Care for Parkinson's patients can cost between 5,240 and 19,620 Euro a year. This has been shown in a study done in six European countries by the European Cooperative Network for Research, Diagnosis and Therapy of Parkinson’s Disease (EuroPa). The results are presented at the European Neurology Congress in Berlin. The goal of the study was a comprehensive comparison of health care costs
Eppendorf AG offers the first two-component PCR plate designed to be easily divisible, saving material and money when running smaller-scale experiments. These twin.tec unskirted 96-well plates fit almost all available PCR instruments and can be snapped into four separate 24-well segments and the empty wells saved for future use.
Clinicians all over the world use GE Healthcare products and solutions to anesthetize patients. The breakthrough ideas of a small Ohio company in 1910, the predecessor to the anesthesia division of GE Healthcare, have evolved into innovations that continue to open new frontiers in anesthesia. Today, GE Healthcare provides anesthesia technologies in many countries worldwide, collaborating closely…
The first major survey of European Multiple Sclerosis (MS) nurses revealed that nearly one in three nurses (31%) reported that standards of MS care are not adequately maintained in their country. The results of this survey will be presented for the first time on Friday 28 May, via a live webcast at the European MS Platform (EMSP) Annual Congress in Stuttgart, Germany.
The World of Health IT Conference & Exhibition (WoHIT) -- the first joint eHealth conference of the European Commission and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS Europe) --- was held in Barcelona this March, creating Europe’s largest gathering of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) stakeholder groups as well as end-users, hospital CEOs, practitioners and…
In 2011 more than 30,000 hospital caregivers in 10 European countries will participate in an exchange of electronic patients’ records (EPRs) in the world's largest, first-ever cross-border connection of e-health systems. Brussels refers to this as a ‘large-scale e-health implementation’, and while it is easy to laugh about the bureaucratic language, it was the careful, go-slow approach of…
The United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) has launched NHS Global, a new branch of the organisation that aims to generate additional funding from other countries and organisations, and to explore new international opportunities to export its knowledge, skills, products, ground-breaking treatments, cutting edge research and other services.
The 2nd Hospital Build Middle East Exhibition & Congress (1-3 June. Dubai) aims to draw together the investors, commissioners, backers and managers of major healthcare building projects, as well as suppliers of services in planning, design, building, operations, management and refurbishment.
Like many others, Austria is in the process of introducing electronic patients’ records (EPRs) for use in and by all healthcare facilities. After a drawn out preparation phase, a company was founded to implement the project and ELGA (Elektronische Gesundheitsakte) is underway. ‘E-health will come, step by step, but inexorably’, said Austrian Health Minister Alois Stöger.
Above average grades or lots of patience - whoever wants to study medicine in Germany needs at least one of the two. That’s because some 40,000 school graduates apply for just 9,000 places to study medicine every semester. The coveted places are assigned by the central office for university admissions (ZVS): 20% go to the top graduates, 20% are granted on the basis of a waiting list, and 60%…
The financing of hospital treatments in Switzerland is particularly complex. The current health insurance law (KVG) has no easy answers. Who covers the cost of treatment differs from district to district, depending on whether a treatment is carried out in a public or private hospital, whether carried out within a resident’s own district, whether out- or in-patient care or whether, or not, the…
Everyone (even if only marginally interested in public affairs) must have noted the current astronomic, worldwide public debts -- including the USA’s astounding $12 trillion. Additionally, everyone probably noted that, in many cases, this had something to do with the healthcare sectors.
Although focused mainly on European challenges, the Health Executive Summit (19-21 May 2010, Paris, France) aims to share ‘visionary strategies and latest best practices’, as well as to provide solutions for current health challenges facing European health systems. As such, the event draws in leaders and decision-makers from around the world.
Hospital acquired infections are the focus for the 3rd International Day for Fighting Infection, being marked on St. George’s Day (23 April), as experts meet in Florence to look at the evolution of infection control in hospitals.
