A quiet revolution is occurring in clinical laboratory services. In any business model, laboratory services are cost centres, and cost centres can be moved around, services outsourced, amalgamated, contracted out. Globally, diagnostics and laboratory outsourcing are following the already trodden path of information technology.
Today hospital managers have to meet varied and complex requirements. Their field of activities covers multiple disciplines and the decisions they make are of far-reaching significance for the future positioning and economic viability of their hospitals or hospital group.
The Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) is the biggest of 20 hospital districts in Finland. It provides specialised and university level health care services in and around city of Helsinki, with regional responsibility of 1.5 million people.
But how is this best achieved? Although various authors suggest methods to attain effective leadership, their approaches are not always uniform. Here he reviews some of the literature and authors' advice.
A new Turkish patient is admitted. What would almost any nurse think? "The whole family will always be there", says health economist Fatemeh Pohl-Shirazi. "In Muslim cultures illness makes someone the centre of attention and the whole family wants to show compassion — which unavoidably changes normal hospital routine. The patient's room will always be full, with visitors coming and going, and…
Britain is a primarily Christian country. It is also home to people with various religious beliefs who have migrated here from many parts of the world, or are British born. In a 2001 census, 72% of the population identified itself as Christian.
In hospitals all over the world people of very diverse cultural backgrounds come together, whether as employees in various roles, or as patients. This means that hospital teams must deal with diverse needs, cultures and languages.
The relationship between England's GPs and hospitals is currently at a sensitive stage, with a review of health services across the country set to impact on the way the two groups work and liaise with one another.
Although outbreaks of nosocomial infections, e.g. Clostridium difficile and MRSA, have dropped by almost a third since last year, and many hygiene measures have been initiated and improved, there are now proposals for an even more stringent measure to control hygiene: the possibility that National Health Service (NHS) Trust hospitals that break hygiene regulations could be fined up to…
The programme for this year's European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG) - its 10th gathering - covers a far broader range of topics than before. During over 20 plenary sessions, forums and workshops, with about 120 lectures, key topics that embrace European and the national health politics of EU member states will be presented and discussed by experts.
With approximately 2,000 exhibitors and 50,000 visitors from all over the world, the China International Equipment Fair (CMEF) is Asia Pacific's largest medical device event.
3M Health Care and Materials Management Microsystems recently announce plans to establish connectivity between Microsystems' SPM® sterile processing information system and 3M™ Attest™ Auto-readers and 3M™ Steri-Vac™ EO Sterilization Systems. This collaboration will provide hospitals more streamlined data collection, documentation and reporting capabilities.
The British public doesn't believe in the tax funded healthcare system. Within the next ten years they will have to pay for some NHS services, they assume in a BMA poll. Also the will to go abroad for medical services rises within the public.
Researcher have found that overcrowding and understaffing in hospitals lead to a failure of MRSA control programmes, which in turn results in increased inpatient hospital stay, bed blocking and further infection control failure.
According to recent survey by the Leapfrog Group 87% of hospitals fail to adhere infection prevention measures on a consistent basis. In the Wall Street Journal, Betsy McCaughey, chair of the Committee to Reduce Infection Death, warns against the next wave of lawsuits.
Devlin responds to the growing demand in Europe for infection control products, offering their “CleanKey” infection control keyboard in serveral European languages. Clean Key isolates the keyboard from the PC allowing it to be cleaned immediately without interrupting onscreen activity.
The Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) announced the new President of its governing Council: Jill Crawford has been a lay member of Council since 2002 and brings considerable knowledge and experience to the role.
Hospital infections are immensely dangerous. Toul Meditech has therefore developed a new mobile laminar airflow system which can be used in every operating room in addition to the existing ventilation system.
Provision of standard infectious disease precautions and safe workplaces for nurses all around the world are the main claims of a statement shaped during the International AIDS Conference by Physicians for Human Rights and the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care.
Acting as a medical expert witness can have serious consequences for third persons. Although expert witnesses are doing their best, many problems arise from their medico-legal work. Now the GMC published guidelines for expert witnesses that are welcomed by physicians and organizations.
Hiding behind a doctor's licence obtained years ago will no longer be tolerated in England. Senior doctors are asked to function as "responsible officers" who collect information about colleagues over a period of time. The new arrangement intends to examine the fitness of physicians every five years.
Michael Schumacher once won nearly every qualifying in Formula One. But Germany won't win the world championship in qualification of their healthcare workers, neither, however, would most European countries. The lack of well-trained employees in healthcare may turn out to be a major setback for the booming branch.
The German healthcare system is designed for corruption, since the its organisation is delegated to statutory health insurers, physicians' associations, etc. which are all self-controlled, says Anke Martiny from Transparency Germany in an interview with EH online. In spite of a whistle blowing system that was established in 2004, it still needs more transparency.
A recent study of the market researcher Frost & Sullivan estimates that the market of CV Image Management Systems will reach $670 million in 2014. The reason: Evolving standards in CV care produce the need for platforms that integrate patients images and related information.
Experts from almost a dozen European countries - including for the first time Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia - will meet at the Villacher Hygienetag (Hospital Hygiene Congress) in October to discuss "Antibiotic resistance - development, consequences and concepts".
