Hospital in a lab
The new Hospital Engineering Lab in Duisburg, Germany, which was officially opened in July by Barbara Steffens, Health Minister for the German federal state, is a project of four Fraunhofer Institutes.
Economy
Heart failure
About 500,000 people in France people suffer heart failure (HF). In Europe the figure is six million and the same in the USA.
Renal denervation
A new procedure may help people with persistent hypertension. By burning or ablating the nerves in the renal arteries, blood pressure levels can be reduced significantly.
TAVI will surpass heart surgery for aortic valve replacement
Each year the case grows stronger for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVI). And it is only six years since the procedure was introduced in Europe.
Article • Healing hearts 2
Stem cell cocktails
Nothing new has been invented in heart failure in the last 15 years, according to Christian Homsy, CEO of Belgian-based Cardio3 Biosciences. This explains the excitement surrounding an emerging treatment among cardiologists, patients and investors.
Enhancement in minimally-invasive treatment of heart rhythm disorders
The Catharina Hospital (Eindhoven, the Netherlands) and Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) today announced the results of a clinical study involving the treatment of 136 patients with complex heart rhythm disorders such as atrial fibrillation (AF).
Molecular US therapy, computer diagnosis and customized medication
Which technological advancements can we expect to see in the field of medical technology? How well can diagnosis and therapy be customized for each patient?
Natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery
A record 1,700 participants from 84 countries confirmed the dimension and international importance of the European Association of Endoscopic Surgery Congress held recently in Vienna, where Hans-Christian Pruszsinsky caught up with Congress President Professor Selman Uranüs, Head of the Section for Surgical Research, Medical University of Graz, for our interview.
Another fine MES for healthcare equipment finance
Managed Equipment Service (MES) contracts have the potential to transform equipment-supply financing for healthcare, according to Siemens Financial Services’ Ulrich Stark, Head of Debt Origination for Healthcare in EMEA, and Anthony Casciano, CEO of Project, Structured & Leveraged Finance Healthcare
UK: Multidisciplinary teamwork will stay
With the effectiveness of ‘tumour board review’ in the USA questioned in a 2012 study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Mark Nicholls sought the opinion of UK-based consultant urological surgeon Ben Challacombe
Raising awareness of in vitro diagnosis values
Labs need to optimise their costs as well as accommodate increasing volumes – and new tests are continuously demanded.
Interactive patient care
Previously, we outlined how interactive technologies at the point of care support the goals of personalizing the patient experience and improving patient satisfaction.
Put in the frame
It’s no secret that NHS procurement is more often than not a complex and slow process but Helen Parslow, director of business development EMEA at Harris Healthcare talks of her recent experiences and says that it doesn’t have to be that way.
Interoperability now comes to self-service kiosks in England’s NHS
The “Nicholson challenge" is a set of mandates put forth by the England’s NHS leader Sir David Nicholson. It aims at identifying, and tapping, efficiency potentials in the service.
Article • Great Britain
£250 million for innovative cancer treatment
A major new cutting edge radiotherapy treatment will be available in the UK thanks to £250 million of government funding to build two new facilities in Manchester and London, Public Health Minister Anna Soubry confirmed on August, 1.
Truth behind the thousands of “needless” deaths at NHS trusts
Statistics behind the headlines: Have there been 13,000 needless deaths at 14 NHS trusts?
China looks inward and outward
From the meetings between the Presidents of China and the USA came the slogan, ‘A new model of cooperation’. One item discussed was the proposed $4.6 billion purchase of a US pork producer by a Chinese company, which affirmed: ‘the acquisition won’t affect the quality of the bacon on stateside breakfast tables’.
EuroMedLab 2013
Milan, Italy – The 20th European Congress of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine certainly lived up to its claim as the EU’s largest event of its kind – 2,407 visitors and 4,786 delegates from 101 countries plus 82 exhibitors fanned out or arranged themselves over the event’s 3,500 square metres, Hanna Politis reports
LEAN workflow analysis
This year’s EuroMedLab and IFCC-EFLM Congress came at a time when all hospitals face ever-increasing healthcare costs, aging populations and patients and GPs demanding more complex and novel diagnostic tests.
Faster sample analysis for UK and EU hospitals
Run by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the new automated Medical Laboratory at the Northern General Hospital has drawn a previously fragmented service into a purpose-built centre.
Program May Hold Promise for Reducing Avoidable Hospital Readmissions
Recent federal legislation imposes financial penalties on hospitals that experience excessive patient readmissions within 30 days.
News • Data Management
Health Information Exchange Systems are Critical to Integration of Healthcare Services
Health information technology providers must develop dynamic and easy-to-install information systems to dispel client concerns about interoperability and compatibility.
hospitals offers private services to boost income
Figure includes growing number of NHS hospitals offering patients the choice of a new private care option to “self fund” treatments at cut-price rates
Breast tomosynthesis helps a small radiology centre to compete and grow
Dr Martínez Miravete didn’t set out to change breast imaging in Spain when she first adopted breast tomosynthesis.
Healthcare economics
Research using an analytical health economics model has suggested the current system of screening within the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is only moderately likely to be cost effective.
