The first cross-border European University Hospital
During the MCC Hospital World 2008 congress, held in Berlin this September, speakers from international firms and hospital chains discussed the demands and necessities for future healthcare.
Congresses
Connectathon 2009
The IHE Connectathon (IHE = Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise) is a joint initiative of healthcare professionals and industry to improve the way computer systems in healthcare share information.
MEDICA 2008 opens its doors
When from 19 to 22 November the world's largest medical fair takes place in Dusseldorf, the entire city is in a kind of emergency state: hotels are bustin' out of their seams, traffic periodically comes to a standstill and at night exhibitors and visitors alike crowd the narrow streets of the Altstadt and the fancy hotel bars and enjoy whatever entertainment North Rhine-Westphalia's capital has…
Facing the terror
While Western Europe's hospitals only carry out drills for possible terrorist events — Israel's medics face the real thing. During the recent Congress of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine in Berlin, internist Dr Michael Kafka, head of emergency medicine at the Bnai Zion Medical Centre in Haifa, described strategies to cope with mass casualty events.
Exhausted? Share a `Happy Hour´
Regulars at MEDICA well understand the energy needed to stay the pace. A welcome break at the end of the days could be found at the receptions or `Happy Hours´ held by certain exhibitors who will be happy to welcome visitors to their stands.
Erster Europäischer Kongress für Integrative Medizin (ECIM)
Als Kongresspräsident lud Professor Stefan N. Willich von der Berliner Charité zur Diskussion über die Möglichkeit, dem Wunsch der Patienten nach integrierter medizinischer Versorgung nachzukommen. Denn bei chronischen oder Herz-Kreislauf-Erkrankungen zum Beispiel möchten die Menschen sowohl schulmedizinische Aufklärung und Behandlung durch ihren Arzt als auch…
Article • Radiation management
'Dose hysteria' and the 320-slice CT scanner
Sometimes radiation dose is a topic discussed hysterically. Dose discussion is necessary, but should be carried out based on the highest levels of knowledge and seriousness. For the last few months, Dr Patrik Rogalla, Senior Consultant at the Charité, Berlin, specialist in diagnostic radiology and Head of the Computed Tomography Department at Campus Mitte, University Medicine Berlin, has been…
Care and patient safety
One of the major nursing congresses in the German-speaking countries is the Southern German Nursing Day which took place on 7 October 2008 at the University Hospital Munich. One focus of this year's event was the question whether and how modifications of and curtailing nursing services will impact patient safety.
Hospital staff don't care for influenza vaccination — for themselves
Injections, that's everyday business for the men and women working in healthcare. As long as it is the patients who have to face the needle, it seems. Like in the years before Dr Heinzpeter Moecke, medical director of Asklepios Klinik Nord-Heidberg in Hamburg, Germany, set an example for his staff and had a vaccination.
On scandinavian tracks
The World of Health IT 2008 Conference & Exhibition is an innovative and forward-thinking event designed to deepen the understanding of specific healthcare ICT markets in Europe.
Hearing tests for newborns
A hearing test screening, designed to detect hearing impairments in newborns, shell help prevent irreversible and permanent hearing problems in about 2000 babies in Germany per year. From 1 January 2009, this test might be covered by the statutory health insurances
The 20th WorldLab IFCC International Congress of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
In the next 10-20 years, great changes will occur in the field of laboratory medicine.
EuroPRevent 2009
This year sees the fifth anniversary of EuroPRevent.
Robot-assisted prostatectomy in practical use
At the Medizin Innovativ 2008 congress (9-10 July, Nuremburg, Germany) Professor Jens-Uwe Stolzenburg MD (right), Director of the Urology Clinic and Polyclinic at the University Hospital Leipzig, talked about his experiences with the da Vinci robot. Used by surgeons at University Hospital Leipzig since last October 2007, they performed 40 operations in the first two months.
EHFG
The programme for this year's European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG) - its 10th gathering - covers a far broader range of topics than before. During over 20 plenary sessions, forums and workshops, with about 120 lectures, key topics that embrace European and the national health politics of EU member states will be presented and discussed by experts.
French to the fore in HIV tests
During the XVII International AIDS Conference held in Mexico City this August, keynote speakers from Europe, Latin America and Africa addressed issues including the importance of early detection of HIV infection, the relevance of rapid testing for epidemiology studies, the use of Dried Blood Spots for routine viral-load testing in remote areas, and the experience of South Africa in routine…
Heart Failure Congress
Among the many aims of the Heart Failure Association of the ESC is the establishment of networks for the HF management, education and research.
Early diagnosis
Under the banner Hear today the heartbeats of tomorrow, at this year's ESC meeting GE Healthcare will showcase its latest cardiology technology for the management of cardiovascular disease (CVD) as well as several new products.
UK poll: Public healthcare won't stay free
The British public doesn't believe in the tax funded healthcare system. Within the next ten years they will have to pay for some NHS services, they assume in a BMA poll. Also the will to go abroad for medical services rises within the public.
Welcome to ESTRO 27
More than 4,500 cancer and radiotherapy specialists will gather in Göteborg, Sweden, this September for the 27th annual congress of ESTRO. ESTRO 27 is to be held between the 14th and 18th September 2008 at the Göteborg Convention Centre in Göteborg.
Recast of the Medical Devices Directives is “not needed”
The European Medical Device Industry associations resist the European Commission's proposal to build up a centralized European agency for Medical Devices. The new authority is planned to regulate MD affairs, e.g. classification and pre-market approval of “highest risk” devices. According to the MD Industry, the concerns of the EU Commission can be addressed through improved implementation of…
Cancer care advances — but at what cost?
Although incremental improvements in cancer care were unveiled at the 44th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology held in Chicago, USA, — the world's largest gathering of cancer specialists, our correspondent Ian Mason writes that, even as new study results were being reported, their cost implications for stretched healthcare budgets were questioned.
Highlights of the Iranian Society of Radiology
In the 30 years since the overthrow of its last Shah (1979) Iranian radiologists have been welcome speakers and research presenters at the European Congress of Radiology (ECR).