Article • Industry
The China Watch
Every time I go into a Starbucks in China I’m amazed by the long, slow line of coffee drinkers, mostly young and low to middle wage earners.
Healthcare politics
Interview • Organ donations
Spain: 24 years on top of the world
With 4,360 transplant operations from 1,682 donations in 2014, Spain broke the country’s own record and confirmed its place as the world leader in organ donations, a position it has held for the past 24 years.
Article • Gaps
Migration brings opportunity
A unique pilot project to promote entry into professional life in Germany for refugees with a medical background might counteract the acute shortage of qualified employees in healthcare. The programme is scheduled to start this spring.
Article • Digital health in Germany
Between revolution and slow-moving evolution
The spectrum of the Digital Health ranges from online information, to the digitisation of processes (e.g. clinical pathways in hospitals), the evaluation of big data (e.g. routine data/secondary healthcare data), medical technology, diagnostics and therapy to billing procedures of payers.
Article • Radiology in Malta
Small country takes a big leap
Living in a small Mediterranean island has its own advantages; nevertheless there are certain limitations. In healthcare, for example, resources may be somewhat more limited in such a small country and some of the latest technologies may not always be available to patients.
Interview • Radiology in Europe
A German or Swiss paradise?
The current political framework changes healthcare structures and competitive dynamics for medical services providers. These issues were raised at the 11th Management and Strategy Congress MARA (Management in Radiology) in Bonn, in autumn 2015. Dr. Martin Maurer, one of the congress organisers, explained: ‘The objective of the MARA Congress is not to hold pretty lectures but primarily to…
Article • Politics
EU aims to avoid opioid epidemic
In the USA, there is already talk of an ‘opioid epidemic’. Whereas in the past 20 years some 100,000 people died directly or indirectly through prescribed opioids, reports indicate that more than 16,000 died in 2010 alone. Since the sales of opioid analgesics quadrupled between 1999 and 2010 recent debates have intensified surrounding the use of opioids for non-tumour-related pain in the USA,…
Article • Refugees
The major healthcare challenge
The refugee wave rolls on with no ebb in sight. For many, Germany remains their travel destination. In August and September alone, tens of thousands refugees arrived in Munich, presenting the Bavarian capital with a major challenge: How could the city provide initial medical care for everyone? While the German Asylum Procedure Act governs the appropriate procedures, in this unprecedented…
News • Medical journals
Basic science is disappearing from medical journals
A new study has found a steep decline in the number of scholarly papers about basic science published in leading medical journals in the last 20 years.
News • Step forward
Establishing a European biobank for medical imaging
The European Society of Radiology (ESR) and the Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructures – European Research Infrastructure Consortium (BBMRI-ERIC) announce the beginning of an official collaboration.
Article • Management
UK hospitals conduct few post mortems
Post mortems are now rarely carried out within UK hospitals – according to a study that examined all acute NHS Trusts within England, NHS Boards in Scotland and Wales and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland, and found that the process has disappeared completely in around a quarter (23%) of NHS trusts. In 2013, the average autopsy rate (percentage of adult in-patient deaths that undergo…
News • Eurocare Welcome Council
“An EU Strategy on the reduction of alcohol related harm”
Eurocare welcomes the Council’s call for an EU Alcohol Strategy 2016-2022 on the 7th December 2015. “Prevention of alcohol related harm is a smart investment for the economy as it costs Europe 2-3% of GDP, it cuts long-term healthcare expenditures and at the same time raises workforce productivity,” says Mariann Skar, Secretary General of Eurocare. “The Commission now needs to respond as…
News • worldwide
Hospitals join Together in fight against climate change
Last week during the United Nation’s Conference on Climate Change, health system representatives from around the world have gathered in Paris to announce a series of commitments to reduce carbon emissions and exert leadership to combat climate change.
Antimicrobial resistance in Europe
Astellas Pharma EMEA today announced that it will host the Antimicrobial Resistance in Europe: Innovating Today to Protect our Health Tomorrow debate at the Bibliothèque Solvay, Brussels, on 3rd December, 2015. The event will convene leading scientists and economists from across Europe to discuss how policy-level innovation can address antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – the single greatest…
Article • Politics
England’s harsh slash at cancer drugs list
Around 25 treatments for seriously ill patients with specific cancers listed on England’s National Health Service’s Cancer Drug Fund are to be removed. This large change is likely to affect patients with cancers of the breast, bowel, prostate, blood, upper gastrointestine, brain and central nervous system, as well as gynaecological cases. Report: Mark Nicholls
Article • Medication
Where pain relief is a matter of luck
Access to pain relieving medication varies greatly within Europe. ‘The availability and reimbursement of certain pain relieving medications for patients depends less on medical criteria than luck – living in the right country,’ declared Professor Hans Georg Kress, past president of the European Pain Federation EFIC, speaking in Vienna this September at the 9th EFIC Congress. Report:…
Article • Update
Hepatitis C management in Spain
Leading Spanish experts presented the latest developments in hepatitis C management in their country during the May meeting of the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC) in Seville. Report: Mélisande Rouger
Article • Mortality
Death risk rises over weekends
New studies reveal the heightened risk of death that patients face if admitted to hospital over a weekend. Researchers have studied what effect the day of hospital admission has on death rates across England in 2013-2014, as well as on hospitals in other countries, such as Australia, the USA and The Netherlands. Report: Mark Nicholls
News • WHO
Public misunderstanding about antibiotic resistance
As the World Health Organization (WHO) ramps up its fight against antibiotic resistance, a new multi-country survey shows people are confused about this major threat to public health and do not understand how to prevent it from growing.
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 • Study
The digitalisation of healthcare economy
For years discussions have been rife regarding the economic efficiency and efficiency of information and communication technology. In Germany the need is to catch up with the interoperability of technical standards and cross-industry approaches. Report: Anja Behringer
News • EU health services
ESCMID calls to use hospital flu vaccination uptake rankings
The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (ESCMID) is calling on the healthcare industry to lead by example and implement universal flu vaccination for healthcare workers. ESCMID is encouraging all health workers to take personal responsibility and get vaccinated this season, particularly those who come into contact with high-risk groups.
News • DISCHARGE
Less unnecessary cardiac catheterisations in the future
Cardiac catheterisation is the gold standard for diagnosing coronary artery disease (CAD), the main cause of death worldwide. More than 3.5 million invasive coronary angiographies (ICAs) are performed in the European Union each year, tendency rising. Nearly 60 percent of these minimal invasive examinations do not result in further treatment, since the patients do not have obstructive epicardial…
News • Event
EHFG: Cross-border healthcare
At this year's European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG), several discussions focused on the increasing demands for new strategies to ensure equal access to high quality healthcare. The funding and pricing of medicines as well as universal access to healthcare were also addressed, as was the role of the EU in this area.
Interview • Medication
Facing the challenge of multimorbidity
In an interview in advance of the European Health Forum in Gastein, Dr. Stanimir Hasurdjiev, a board member of the European Patients’ Forum, talked about the challenge of multimorbidity and how to make it work for the patient. Report: Michael Krassnitzer