Health technology assessments
An unnecessary rein on medical innovations, or a wise insurance for patients' protection?
Laws & regulations
Controversy: the nurse-surgeon
Nurse-surgeon training in the UK is lively discussed for other European countries doing the same to address their lack of qualified surgeons.
A new training scheme for junior doctors
“The UK is at the forefront of worldwide educational practice”.
EU challenge to worldwide BRCA2 gene patent
An unparalleled legal challenge has been underway in the EU regarding the number of human gene patents held by US-based corporation Myriad Genetics.
Facing the future
Increase in COPD and chronic respiratory disease patients will challenge the European Healthcare Systems in the future.
Low nurse levels cause deaths
Geneva - Inadequate staffing is reaching crisis levels in all regions, according to the International Council of Nurses (ICN). Among studies reviewed, one showed that an increased workload from four to six surgical patients resulted in a 14% increase in the chance of a patient in that nurse's care dying within 30 days of admission.
3-month doctors strike partly over
Berlin, Germany - The three-month university hospital doctors` strike was nearing its end at the time of EH going to press.
Article • In vitro fertilisation
Watch out for IVF identity fraud
Hospitals and fertility clinics across Europe are to be warned that safeguards must be implemented to prevent impostors gaining access to IVF treatment.
Dealers are not reponsible for faulty CE marked products
In a recent preliminary ruling the European Court of Justice decided that dealers are not required to ensure that an industrial product bearing a CE (European conformity) mark meets European health and safety requirements.
Air pollution
Whilst the harmful impact of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) on various medical conditions was already known, only now is there evidence that NO2 in air pollution is a killer. According to the APHEA-2 study the chief culprits are emissions from diesel engines, which are increasingly popular in Europe.
Global healthcare report identifies best practices
Health organisations and governments should seek solutions beyond their own borders.
Catalonia doctors strike
In some areas of Spain, doctors are also becoming even militant.
The Baltic States and their health systems - From Soviet to EU
The Estonian health system differs from its Baltic neighbour states thanks to a transformation process and reforms.
MDS assures greater care
Germany - PG 11 - a new product group added to the medical technical aids register* relates to decubitus aids.
Go green!
Austria - A call for the EU and national governments to establish and extend a legal framework for environmental standards in society and healthcare facilities was made by the organisers of `CleanMed Europe´, the first European conference to focus on sustainable healthcare products and practices.
Procuring large equipment
Around €18 billion annually is spent on medical technology in Germany. After the US and Japan, the German medical technology market is the third largest in the world.
Healthcare service is an `export´ business
Germany - Health Care Export, a new four-year project run by the Institute for Work and Technology (IWT) and the Sozial- und Seniorenwirtschaftszentrum in Gelsenkirchen, supported by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research, and by advertising and public relations measures from VVA Health Marketing Ltd, aims to develop international standards for international healthcare service…
Regulations and laws
In 2005, De Lage Landen financed (worldwide) medical equipment worth US$1 billion, by various methods such as loan, lease, rent and ppp, either directly with end-users or indirectly by refinancing manufacturers.
Catholic medics and human rights
Poland - Many medical workers may soon be ethically challenged by a decision made in Europe's Court of Human Rights regarding a woman who had been refused an abortion there.
Clinical activity based process-cost coupling
Reimbursement for hospitals in Germany has undergone a complete change since the introduction of the German Diagnosis Related Group system (G-DRG).
Performance measurement to improve quality
Joint Commission International (JCI) accredited hospitals have long expressed an interest in performance measurement to support quality improvement efforts and to provide a valid base for local, national, and international comparisons.
Cross-border care
Status quo of cross-border access to healthcare systems within the EU-Member States.
Euthanasia debate rekindled
The Netherlands - Although this country became the first, in 2002, to legalise euthanasia for people aged 16 years and over, child euthanasia remains illegal.
Challenges for the new EU member states
Austria. 6-9 October - Challenges of the new EU Member States will be high on the agenda of this year's EHFG.