The precise number of adverse clinical events is difficult to ascertain. Several international studies estimate that medical errors happen in 3-5% of all hospital treatments and that around 30-50% of these could have been avoided. A hospital-acquired infection (HAI) is also considered a medical error. Report: Anja Behringer
A single dose of an FDA-approved intravenous nutrition source may be able to significantly reduce the toxicity and increase the bioavailability of platinum-based cancer drugs, according to a study by Carnegie Mellon University biologists published in Scientific Reports.
Can a routine hospital stay upset the balance of microbes in our bodies so much that it sets some older people up for a life-threatening health crisis called sepsis? A new University of Michigan and VA study suggests this may be the case.
Several EPFL laboratories are working on devices allowing constant analysis over as long a period as possible. The latest development is the biosensor chip, created by researchers in the Integrated Systems Laboratory working together with the Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit Group. Sandro Carrara is unveiling it today at the International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS) in Lisbon.
Connected health infrastructure is emerging as a binding agent for diverse devices and workflows, aiding diagnosis, monitoring and prevention in the healthcare industry. For such an infrastructure to be efficient, stakeholders must first ensure that interoperability and connectivity standards are in place.
Researchers at the University of Toronto design diagnostic chip to reduce testing time from days to one hour, allowing doctors to pick the right antibiotic the first time.
The time needed to genetically sequence the bacteria causing tuberculosis (Mtb) from patient samples has been reduced from weeks to days using a new technique developed by a team at University College London (UCL). This could help health service providers to better treat disease, control transmission of this infection, and monitor outbreaks.
Picture Archiving and Communications systems (PACS) are well established for managing radiology images. Could this robust and mature technology now become the backbone for creating the digital operating theatre? Report: John Brosky
In the late 1990s, management consultant Julia K Kuark and Swiss communication consultant Hans Ulrich Locher coined the term ‘TopSharing’ – as in job-sharing but, in this case, to describe splitting a senior management role. In Germany, Dr Ulrike Ley, who coaches female doctors, considers the TopSharing model, expanded over a decade by Kuark, is a valid management model for hospitals.…
KIMES, Korea’s leading medical and hospital equipment exhibition, continues to expand internationally, shown this year in the larger number of visitors from the greater Asia-Pacific region as well as buyers from, for example, far off India. Europe and the USA drive that continuing development. Exhibitors also reflect internationalisation – for example a first-time German pavilion presented 12…
In European acute care hospitals, on any given day, an estimated 80,000 patients – roughly six percent of all patients – receive antimicrobial treatment to fight a healthcare associated infection (HAI), according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Report: Walter Depner
Dr Stefan Becker, a trained medical doctor with an M.B.A. degree, works as a senior nephrologist and transplant officer at Essen University Hospital and manages its Institute for Drug Safety. In an interview he spoke about his involvement in e-health projects in the field of connected care that he carries out with interdisciplinary teams, including the Fraunhofer Institute for Software and…
Leading infectious diseases experts have released new guidance for healthcare facilities looking to establish precautions for visitors of patients with infectious diseases. The guidance looks to reduce the potential for healthcare visitors in spreading dangerous bacteria within the healthcare facility and community. The recommendations are published online in Infection Control & Hospital…
Research published in the open access journal Microbiome offers new evidence for the success of fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) in treating severe Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), a growing problem worldwide that leads to thousands of fatalities every year.
The ageing of society needs new, more cost-effective solutions to improve the life quality of patients and cut the burden that is placed on the social welfare system. In modern western societies the fitting of pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) is growing rapidly.
Oculus Rift, a gaming headset, can help teach nurses how to communicate better, researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology have found.
Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center project a national influx of patients who will need immediate treatment.
Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) were able to enroll patients at other hospitals into an acute stroke clinical trial.
Although sedatives are often administered before surgery, a randomized trial finds that among patients undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia, receiving the sedative lorazepam before surgery, compared with placebo or no premedication, did not improve the self-reported patient experience the day after surgery, but was associated with longer time till removal off a breathing tube…
The majority of hospitals participating in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Project (ACS NSQIP®) improve surgical outcomes over time, and improvement continues with each year that hospitals participate in the program.
Contrary to previous reports, a study led by Johns Hopkins researchers found that patients’ satisfaction scores only modestly improved based on the newly remodeled design of a hospital.
Anyone who becomes seriously ill or has an accident while on holiday would like to be treated as well as they are at home. It is vitally important for the patient that the doctor has been well trained, in particular in intensive care medicine
Researchers from the University's Institute of Population Health studied reports voluntarily submitted by dermatologists to a national database which is run by the University (THOR), between 1996 and 2012. Sixty percent of eligible UK dermatologists used this database which is designed to report skin problems caused or aggravated by work.
A DVD designed to help people prepare for a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan, including guidance on how to relax, led to more successful scans. The patients receiving the DVD also felt less anxious during the scan says a paper published in the British Journal of Health Psychology.
Maximizing patient safety is the top priority for hospital c-suite executives and risk managers in the United States - but, "lack of teamwork, negative culture and poor communication" will present barriers to patient safety in the future - according to a new survey commissioned by American International Group (AIG) in consultation with patient safety expert, Dr. Marty Makary, MD, MPH.
