Article • Stress-free data management
Coming your way: Vendor neutral archives
Vendor Neutral Archives (VNA) will become an integral part of every hospital in the near future. So what’s a VNA?
Standardisation
Interview • Certificate
How Blue is your hospital?
Today’s hospitals must achieve sustained efficiency on an economic, ecological, qualitative and social level. However, only those that know their own weaknesses can act. Interviewed by European Hospital, Jens Schneider, head of Siemens Healthcare Consulting, introduces Blue Hospital certification, conceived to scrutinise an entire hospital. Interview: Sascha Keutel
Article • Procurement
Fundus screening enters shopping centres
Telemedicine is taking strides throughout Europe. While in Germany telemedicine projects appear to be off to a slow start (see the electronic health card), in other countries progress is going full throttle. In September, at the German-Dutch symposium ‘Using optimisation potential: Telemedicine and procurement management’ a number of Dutch approaches were presented. Report: Sylvia Schulz
Article • Interdisciplinary
Advancing the evaluation of telemedicine
Although there are many telemedically supported care concepts in Germany, most are still model projects. So far, only a minority has become part of nationwide, standard medical care. Methodically solid and thoroughly published evaluations can help to make the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of telemedicine applications more transparent for decision makers. With their recently developed…
Article • Data sharing
The LAW of the Lab
First they fixed the cables to hard-wire a faster data transfer from laboratory instruments. Now a coalition of the largest manufacturers of lab equipment for patient diagnostic tests have agreed on shared protocols for how software should report results. This is the first update to international standards in 20 years.
Article • Hygiene standards
A case for better safety guidelines
In recent years a number of hygiene incidents concerning medical practices or hospitals have worried patients across Europe. However, every incident has become a learning experience and heightened awareness of the importance of thorough hygiene.
Sponsored • Workflow
Confidence in Hematology, Results with Beckman Coulter
Wallace Coulter, one of the founders of Beckman Coulter, was motivated by a belief that science should serve humanity. This was the inspiration behind the principle he invented that became the basis for all blood counting solutions. This same drive to keep the science of hematology moving forward is behind Beckman Coulter's new ©Automated Intelligent Morphology© (AIM), a multidimensional,…
News • Transformation
Interoperability among Connected Medical Devices Can Transform Healthcare
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.
Big Iron meets Big Data
Lab instruments are marvels of modern technology able to dice, splice and analyse microscopic specimens. Yet pushing the results into modern medical reporting systems is as slow, and often as painful, as pulling teeth.
IHE-Europe takes on the world in Istanbul
The movement for interoperability among health information devices and systems has spread across Europe reaching Turkey, which will be host to the European IHE Connectathon in Istanbul this April
IHE European Connectathon: Cross-border network expands
One month after entering into operational mode for real-world exchanges of patient summaries, the large-scale project Smart Open Services for European Patients (epSOS) was back at the European Connectathon to introduce new member nations to the expanding network.
IHE-Europe Connectathon Reaches a Peak in Bern
The IHE European Connectathon to be held in Bern, Switzerland, from 21-25 May 2012 will expand this year to include European nations connecting health records in the large-scale European Patient Smart Open Service (epSOS) project and will host satellite meetings for key e-health organisations.
Major forces in hospital design and construction
RTKL, the architecture and design subsidiary of Arcadis, handles large hospital projects worldwide, with its medical equipment planning group providing specialist consulting on complex medical equipment and IT solutions implementation. During a recent hospital construction congress (Klinikimmobilien in Frankfurt) we spoke with RTKL Vice President and Global Service Leader for Medical Equipment…
Representing User Interests – on a Partnership Basis
Delivering software for the exchange of information, based on standards – this is the aim of TianiSPIRIT GmbH. The software specialist with headquarters in Austria emerged from the PACS manufacturer Tiani Medgraph AG; the dynamic team focuses on solutions for Health Information Exchange in compliance with the guidelines of the initiative “Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise” (IHE).
Sharing radiological data
When thinking about sharing radiological data within a multi-site center or even within a region, the initial question that arises always sounds the same: How should we cross-link all the data from the existing PACS solutions without going bankrupt? Because drawing a line and installing new systems all over the site in most of the cases is simply not affordable. On the other hand, the…
Connectathon Goes To France
The Tenth Annual European interoperability testing event, known as the IHE Connectathon, will be held in Bordeaux, France from April 12th to 16th, 2010 at the Cité Mondiale, a conference center located in the heart of the city on the banks of the Garonne river.
Italian network leads EU cross-community e-health
For five days a renovated tram barn in Vienna became one of Europe's hottest internet centres as more than 230 healthcare IT engineers gathered for five days of intensive systems tests during the 10th annual IHE-Europe Connectathon. John Brosky reports
DICOM 2009 - die Diskussionsplattform für alle Anwender von IT im Krankenhaus und in der Praxis
In den altehrwürdigen Mauern von Schloß Waldhausen bei Mainz diskutieren vom 2. bis 4. Juli 2009 renommierte deutschsprachige Experten über zukunftsweisende Trends in der Informationstechnologie und -technik in der Medizin. Das Event DICOM 2009 bietet die optimale Plattform, sich praxisnah über RIS, PACS sowie DICOM- und IHE-Standards zu informieren.
Spring IT congresses and the economic outlook
April, the month of showers and flowers, and most importantly for those working in healthcare IT, two European congresses: ConhIT and Med-e-Tel.
“Health IT is as important as water or electricity”
The Nordic countries have a reputation for being among Europe's avant-garde in the field of digital healthcare solutions. HealthTech Wire talked to Arto Ryymin, executive Vice President of Tieto's healthcare and welfare business, about what the rest of Europe can learn from the Nordic countries and about how health IT companies can support the standardization efforts under way in Europe.
New functions for MCS vianova
MCS Modulare Computer und Software Systeme AG is presenting several new functionalities that enhance the integrated solution MCS vianova for hospitals, labs and out-patient clinics.
PACS: Netcentric clinic services based on JiveX product line
Hospitals must digitally keep medical documents audit proof, which involves a lot of material and personnel efforts.
E-health in the Netherlands
The Dutch E-health initiatives have made remarkable progress in recent years, writes Marcel Swennenhuis, President of Topicus HealthCare. Many solutions, such as online medication services, patient portals and web-based disease management initiatives, demonstrate the success of the country's EHR approach.
Integration of POCT into the clinical laboratory
Unlike regular laboratory analyses, which is performed by clinical pathologists and technicians in the clinical laboratory, Point of Care Testing (POCT) are devices to perform laboratory analyses in the vicinity of the patient by the attending physician or nurses.
New display for modality imaging
Totoku now offers the new 19inch, 1,3 Megapixel grayscale display ME191L. It supports all modality devices of the most common manufacturers but fits also for special applications like cardiology. The display was developed to replace the CRT monitors, which reached the end of their lifetime.
