Innumerable lives have been destroyed since the crash of the global financial markets last September. Fortunes vanished within hours and promising careers experienced a sudden end. But economic downturns like this not only lead to individual misfortune, but to a rise in suicides and homicides, unless governments respond with key investments in social and health protections.
According to leading economists, the current crises will hit the private sector heavily in 2010. Especially housholds in countries with poor social security networks will be affected heavily and are facing the danger of poverty. For healthcare systems this means an extra challenge additional to the burden of the demographic change. So the global economic crisis poses a massive threat to the…
The 12th European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG), taking place from 30 September to 3 October 2009 in the beautiful surrounding of the Austrian Alps in Bad Gastein, welcomes around 600 participants from 41 countries to discuss the most pressing health topics with special regard to the current financial and economic crises.
600 international politicians, economists, scientists, NGOs and healthcare organisations will discuss the effects of the global economic crisis on European healthcare systems during this autumn's European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG).
Although most European hospitals have some kind of information system in place, very few have a fully integrated and functional hospital information systems (HIS) solution installed. Increasing accountability pressures on the government and regulatory authorities to garner more investments into healthcare IT adoption is boosting the HIS market potential.
"We have taken particular care in organising the ESC Congress, as we are aware of the stringent competition with other congresses in the light of economic difficulties" ,said Professor Roberto Ferrari, this year´s Congress President. The result is that there will be 500 hours of ESC peer sessions, over 100 hours of industry sessions, accreditation by the European Board for Accreditation in…
Cardiology centres worldwide experience an almost exponential rise in the number of in-hospital follow-ups of patients with implantable devices or heart failure (HF).This not only strains the available personnel resources, it also means a rapidly increasing cost to healthcare payers, especially in fee-for-service reimbursement situations.
This year's AACC, held in conjunction with the Canadian Society for Clinical Chemists, and the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science, featured around 200 educational sessions and drew in over 18,000 delegates and exhibitors from almost 100 countries.
Full automation has now become the gold standard for clinical laboratories. Without hospital microbiology labs, which according to the Centres for Disease Control deal with 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths annually in the US alone, the growing threat of community-acquired and nosocomial infections could prove insuperable.
Experts predict that 25-50% of the French population could be affected by the H1N1 flu this autumn. According to Patrick Berche, head of the microbiology department at the Necker Hospital in Paris, the likely second wave of the epidemic would produce a great number of cases due to the highly contagious nature of the virus.
The Leapfrog Group is a U.S. organisation of member companies that pay for healthcare services, e.g. corporations, health insurers and local, state and federal government agencies. Established in 2000, its philosophy is that big 'leaps' in healthcare safety, quality and value to patients will be recognised and rewarded. The organisation mobilises purchasing power of its members, representing over…
Among Germany´s 2,087 hospitals, the country´s 32 university hospitals, employing 180,000 to care for up to two million patients, may appear to play a marginal role. However, their triad of research, education and applied medicine endow the university hospitals with enormous significance, for they not only represent medical science and research but also educate the nation's future physicians.…
Karen Dente reports on a feverish summer for reformers
Healthcare in Europe is increasingly becoming digitised and there is growing need to develop and deploy sophisticated information systems. However, the wireless technology that is transforming various areas of business today is yet to be fully explored by the healthcare industry to support quality maintenance and improved efficiency.
Dragon Medical 10 the speech recognition software from Nuance, helps doctors and other medical specialists to achieve efficient and accurate clinical reporting.
Digital mammography, which is considered the gold standard of breast imaging, has rendered image management and consequently the entire – purely on-screen – diagnostic process more reliable and more efficient.
In almost all of the industrialised countries, the general health status - as indicated for example by infant mortality, prevalence of disease, subjective health and life expectancy - has improved during the last four decades. At the same time, however, there is a proven close correlation between good and poor health and high and low socioeconomic status.
Ab sofort lässt sich Cisco HealthPresence im Customer Briefing Center (CBC) in Eschborn bei Frankfurt am Main live erleben. Ärzte, Krankenhausbetreiber und Interessenten erhalten hier kostenlos Einblick in das High-End-Audio/Videokonferenzsystem.
Especially in times of increasing cost pressure and sinking earnings at constantly increasing quality demands, it is essential to exchange successful internationalisation strategies with international experts. During the MCC hospital world 2009 you can think outside the box and learn from the experiences of your colleagues. Even this year, there will be more than 20 renowned international…
Agendia announced the official opening of its new headquarters at Amsterdam's Science Park at Watergraafsmeer, Kruislaan 406. The Grand Opening ceremony was officiated by Dr. Rene Bernards, Chief Scientific Officer at Agendia and the Honourable Director General Mrs. R.M. Bergkamp, on behalf of the Honourable Mrs. Maria van der Hoeven, Minster of Economic Affairs for The Netherlands.
GE and Asklepios Hospital Group signed an agreement to create their first project in German healthcare to comprehensively address environmental issues. The renovation and expansion of one of the hospitals owned by Asklepios in Hamburg, Germany, known as the "Green Hospital" project, will be their pilot hospital in Europe entirely planned and designed on ecological principles.
In July 2007, Bernat Soria Escoms, one of the world's leading experts in stem cell research, became Spain's new Health Minister, when his predecessor Elena Salgado was moved to Public Administration.
The Dienst Medische Beeldvorming (Medical Imaging Department) at Groeninge General Hospital, in Kortrijk, Belgium, which produces 150,000 radiology reports annually on four different sites, is totally filmless and paperless, relying on Barco's diagnostic display technology for the past decade. This year, due to its near proximity to Barco's headquarters, the hospital is to become a reference site…
Swanke Hayden Connell Architects (SHCA), an award-winning practice that specializes in workplace consulting, architecture and interior design, has eight offices in Europe, America and Russia and has designed healthcare environments throughout the UK, Europe, North America and the Middle East. Among these is the £300 million King's Mill Hospital, a PFI institution now under construction in…