
Does Germany top Europe in unnecessary diagnostics
Statistics show significant increase in scans and left heart catheterisations, Susanne Werner reports

Statistics show significant increase in scans and left heart catheterisations, Susanne Werner reports

With growing bed shortages and increased demand on clinical services, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) says that the country’s National Health Service (NHS) is approaching the point where acute care cannot keep pace in its current form, Mark Nicholls reports

We are used to barcode scanning in supermarkets, our luggage being barcode tagged at airports and much else, Yet in healthcare the use of Automatic Identify cation Data Capture (AIDC) technology – such as barcodes or Radio Frequency Identify cation (RFID), is still rather rare, says Christian Hay of GS1* Switzerland.

The recent Swiss eHealth Summit, a Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) event supported by key organisations, drew 600 leaders from hospitals, policymaking and the industry. Among the key topics: how IT enables access to information in a mobile environment, referred to by speaker Uwe Buddrus as mHealth.

Siemens platform provides tracking, biochemistry, haematology, serology and coagulation services in a single automated laboratory solution

– The demand for multi-slice computed tomography (CT) systems will drive growth in the European CT market.

EKF Diagnostics, a worldwide manufacturer of point-of-care (POC) in-vitro diagnostic devices, has announced the European launch of its Quo-Lab POC HbA1c analyser.

Artificial hearts, originally designed to bridge the time on the waiting list for a heart transplant, in recent years have increasingly become an independent treatment option for patients with chronic heart failure (HF). Interview: Bettina Döbereiner

Improving access to care still is a key goal of the Chinese national government.

With decreasing budgets, healthcare providers are under increasing pressure to develop effective means of improving efficiency and reducing costs, whilst maintaining high levels of patient care.

Over the last few decades healthcare costs have been skyrocketing, something often discussed on this blog as it has become a considerable problem for many different countries.

At the launch of the Policy Cures study ‘Saving Lives and Creating Impact: EU Investment in Poverty-Related and Neglected Diseases’ in Brussels today, DSW (Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevoelkerung) confirmed that EU funding for Global Health Research and Development (R&D) has a direct benefit on both developing countries and the European Union.

Curetis AG and Heraeus Medical GmbH have signed a collaboration agreement to jointly develop a novel Unyvero™ cartridge for the detection of pathogens and antibiotic resistances in implant & tissue infections (ITI).
Conceptualized specifically for high-acuity patient monitoring and integrated with the world’s leading technologies, Edan Instruments’ latest elite V8 modular patient monitor offers real-time, organized view of accurate patient information, intelligent data analysis, management, network connectivity and simplified operation to the ICU, CCU, NICU, OR and PACU.

For a surgeon to perform at their peak, they need the highest quality equipment. For this reason, Sony developed the PVM-2551MD 24.5” monitor.

Medica Media has done a good job. For years, the section in the world’s largest international medical trade fair has provided a meeting place for representatives from medical care, research and manufacturing organisations.

Rarely have the topics at the EHFG been so relevant to the current international economic crisis – reason enough for EH correspondent Christian Pruszinsky to interview the Forum’s founder and outgoing President Professor Günther Leiner.

Hospitals are complex systems and optimising processes in such systems is a truly challenging task.

Demand for health services in China is on the surge, and democracy pre-empts an upward trajectory.

Market experience is likely to sharpen between local Chinese suppliers and multinational suppliers.
Italy’s Emilia Romana, a core area for the biomedical devices industry, has reportedly suffered 40 earthquakes in the past year, the biggest and most recent of about 6-magnitude, Brigitte Dinkloh repors

A recent poll of more than 800 hospitals and private doctors reveals that only 72% of medical acts are fully justified. In conclusion 30% of all medical acts in France are unjustified and it also shows that most of the practitioners are willing to open a debate on this matter.

A fresh approach that opens a step-by-step path to clinical lab automation.

Cardiologists are increasingly concerned about patients with persistent hypertension demanding a new technique, in the absence of clinical proof of its long-term benefit. As more related devices are launched, John Brosky reports on the procedure, drawbacks, and a potential €2 billion market.