‘Breathe in. Hold your breath. Then we press the button’ – the times when this brief summation could be made about a radiographer work are long gone. As an imaging support worker, the radiology assistant helps radiologists with procedures such as biopsies, and also performs clerical tasks, such as handling appointments.
Germany’s hospital emergency departments run up a loss of more than one billion euros every year. According to Dr Thomas Fleischmann, specialist in the reorganisation of emergency departments, care for emergency patients rakes up a loss of about one billion euros every year.
Recommendations on the currently valid prevention of intravascular catheter-related infections from the Commission for Hospital Hygiene and Infection Prevention at the Robert Koch-Institute (KRINKO) are now 14 years old and therefore out-dated.
21st century technology has outpaced our expectations. One such example is the invention of advanced digital manufacturing techniques, better known as 3-D printing. Patients and the medical community are yet to see the full implementation of this technology within healthcare.
Big Data sits at the heart of addressing the challenges that will lead to a more sustainable health and social care system. Hospitals and health systems must embrace a Big Data approach if they are to deliver better care for patients according to Dr Mark Davies, Medical Director of healthcare analytics company MedeAnalytics. Report: Mark Nicholls
According to a 2007 World Health Organization report*, patient misidentification was cited in more than 100 individual root cause analyses (January 2000 to March 2003) by the USA’s Department of Veterans Affairs National Centre for Patient Safety. Major areas where patient misidentification can occur include drug administration, phlebotomy, blood transfusion, and surgical procedures.
From barcode scanning, RFID and medical machine vision to chart recorders, thermal printers and spectroscopy products, JADAK designs and manufactures embedded solutions that help customers solve unique inspection, tracking, scanning and documenting challenges.
We are delighted to announce the launch of Acusera 24.7 Live Online Version 1.6, now featuring the automatic calculation of Measurement Uncertainty, Total Error and Sigma Metrics as part of our ongoing growth and development.
‘Lab medicine connects’ is the congress theme of the German Congress of Laboratory Medicine and reflects the fact that laboratory medicine is an interdisciplinary subject like no other and connects those who are involved in medicine across disciplines. It works almost imperceptibly in the background, hardly noticed by patients. European Hospital spoke with this year’s Congress President,…
Nowadays, the variety of clinical laboratories in a hospital setting is endless, especially due to the constant advent of new technology and scientific discovery.
Siemens Healthineers announced today it released a major software upgrade for the RAPIDComm Data Management System (V6.0), an informatics solution to centrally manage in vitro diagnostics analyzers and operators at the point-of-care (POC). In addition to the system’s enhanced productivity and performance features, RAPIDComm V6.0 now connects with POC cardiac devices.
Two new studies have focused on the impact of weekend care and discharge on heart patients within the NHS in England. In one, patients suffering atrial fibrillation (AF) who were admitted to a National Health Service (NHS) hospital over the weekend faced a higher risk of dying within five years than patients admitted during normal hours.
Given mounting financial pressure, a hospital needs greater efficiency in medical service structures. Staff and materials for operating theatres (OTs) account for about a third of the overall expenditure. Working closely with all other hospital departments, OT efficiency can affect a hospital’s overall efficiency and costs.
Defined processes and competencies are essential in the operating room along with the allocation of staff. Yet the OR-Barometer 2015 that is published every other year by the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, reveals that only 47 percent of the surveyed nursing staff in the fields of surgery and anesthesiology are satisfied with the level of organization in operating rooms. In this…
A debate has flared up across the United Kingdom over which genre of music should be played in the operating theatre during surgery. Amid claims that loud music can be distracting to some surgical personnel, questions have also been posed as to who should choose the music – the head surgeon or nurse? How loud it should be played, or should music is permissible in the operating theatre (OT) at…
The calibration laboratories Bonn and Hannover are scientific institutions of the Reference Institute for Bioanalytics (RfB). Using traceable reference measurement procedures of the highest metrological order the laboratories determine laboratory medical target values, so-called reference method values, in human or human-like materials such as serum, plasma or urine. Report: Christina Ritter-Sket
Our mission at the Sysmex Corporation is defined very clearly in our corporate policy: in all that we do, our focus must be on Shaping the Advancement of Healthcare. Of course, there are a million mission statements out there, with all underlying companies claiming that they will change the world in which they operate. Words can come cheap. But not at Sysmex. By the simple fact that we are the…
Quality Control is our passion and with more than 30 years' experience developing QC for the in vitro diagnostics market we believe in producing high quality material that can help streamline procedures, whilst saving money for laboratories of all sizes and budgets. These qualities have been reflected in our RIQAS External Quality Assessment (EQA) programmes which, as outlined in Case Study 1,…
Cost constraints, higher workloads, and a shortage of qualified staff are three distinct market trends driving demand for greater efficiency in the laboratory. The goals of automation are to make workflow more efficient, improve the turnaround time and predictability, and reduce errors - all while accommodating future growth. Automation also frees up staff for other activities. Report: Franz Walt
Laboratories are an essential part of effective modern healthcare. They provide clinicians with vital information that helps them make life-saving decisions, diagnose conditions and monitor patient treatment.
A fully automated clinical microbiology laboratory system went into service at Heidelberg University Hospital this April. Produced by medical technology firm BD Life Science, this first installation at a German university hospital will play a major role in a study exploring the potential benefits of lab automation in containing the spread of pathogens in a hospital.
Wound infections after surgery are not uncommon and can be fatal. In Germany, postoperative wound infections are now the most common type of hospital acquired infection (HAI), with a proportion of 24%.
Jens Hahn MD is an Internal Medicine and Intensive Care Specialist who works with the international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF in English: Doctors Without Borders). Here he describes his work in Afghanistan and South Sudan, and the use of rapid diagnostic tests in the field.
The yuck factor may be an effective tool for boosting hand hygiene compliance among health care workers, according to a study at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
‘Humber River Hospital, Toronto, Canada, could come straight out of a science fiction series that provides Star Trek-like healthcare services with hall-cruising robots delivering food, medications and supplies to staff, electrochromic windows, video conference capabilities at patients’ bedsides and real-time location systems, to name but a few futuristic features. Yet, this is now and for…