Today testing of patients at the point of care (POC) accounts for 25% of all testing, and these portable assays are increasing their penetration into medical practice at rapid rate of 12% each year. Yet along with the growth comes an increasing risk of errors that adversely affect quality of clinical decision-making and patient safety.
How can postoperative delirium and postoperative cognitive dysfunction be avoided? How is it best to address the problem of epilepsy? How can anaesthetists cope better with a patient death under anaesthesia? These difficult questions were among many addressed by specialists at HAI 2009, the annual conference of the German Society for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (DGAI). Report:…
Throughout the world, every day, thousands of hospital patients are victims of identification breakdowns and errors that resulted or could have resulted in far greater health problems for them and other outcomes for hospitals.
‘Supremely portable and incredibly tough, the NanoMaxx ultrasound system combines Best in Class performance with affordability and simplicity,’ the Erlangen-based manufacturer SonoSite reports.
Two years ago, "The Health", a national project, began by wanting new high-tech medical centres in various parts of the country, with 15 new hospitals to be built for cardiosurgery, orthopaedics and oncology. Only five have been built. The government has decided to switch the focus of the project to preventive medicine and to create health centres for this purpose
Medizinisches Wissen wächst heute so schnell, dass Ärzte kaum in der Lage sind, diese Flut von Erkenntnissen zu verarbeiten. Von den täglich auf sie einwirkenden Informationen nehmen Menschen mehr als 98 Prozent gar nicht wahr.
After two years of intensive work the results from the German pilot phase of the EuroCMR Register are due to be published in the forthcoming issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology*, and also presented and discussed in detail at this year's ECR in Barcelona.
The Leapfrog Group is a U.S. organisation of member companies that pay for healthcare services, e.g. corporations, health insurers and local, state and federal government agencies. Established in 2000, its philosophy is that big 'leaps' in healthcare safety, quality and value to patients will be recognised and rewarded. The organisation mobilises purchasing power of its members, representing over…
Full automation has now become the gold standard for clinical laboratories. Without hospital microbiology labs, which according to the Centres for Disease Control deal with 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths annually in the US alone, the growing threat of community-acquired and nosocomial infections could prove insuperable.
As the modern enterprise seeks to focus ever more narrowly on its core activities, IT outsourcing services are increasingly being considered as a business strategy. The changing demands and trends in healthcare are forcing healthcare organisations to acknowledge the increasing role that outsourcing can play in improving effectiveness, competitiveness, and IT expertise as well as in reducing…
Hitachi Data Systems Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT) and the only provider of Services Oriented Storage Solutions, today announced a German-wide partnership with d.velop AG. Together they will offer data storage and document management capabilities to provide cost-effective and reliable solutions for the health care sector.
Die Deutsche Gesellschaft für Krankenhaushygiene (DGKH) hat in Kooperation mit dem Universitätsklinikum Essen und dem Berufsverband der Deutschen Chirurgen (BDC) drei neue Aufklärungsfilme zur Händehygiene produziert.
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
According to ECD statistics for Europe, three million cases of nosocomial infections occur annually, and 50,000 are fatal. Evelina Tacconelli MD PhD (below) is Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases at the Università Cattolica Sacro Cuore in Rome, Italy. Her scientific focus is on epidemiology, clinical and therapeutic aspects of nosocomial infections and infection control policies aimed to…
The UK, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden and the Netherlands already have it - an official obligation to report MRSA cases to their health authorities. Since 1 July 2009 German law has also required notification. Professor Herbert Hof, Director of the Institute for Microbiology and Hygiene at the University Hospital Mannheim, Germany, explained why such notification became essential.
Concerns over whether the tests a treatment undergoes before general release are enough to ensure its long-term safety have been raised in an editorial by Dr Vijay Sharma, Clinical Editor of BMJ Clinical Evidence. He suggests that treatments should be introduced gradually so that evidence can be built up and the treatment can find its proper niche.
Nine years ago surgeon Ulrich Matern, engineer Martin Scherrer and theatre nurse Diana Hagen, suggested a project aimed at improving work practices and efficiency in the operating theatre (OT) and a means to teach, from science-based knowledge, the correct operation of equipment.
Swanke Hayden Connell Architects (SHCA), an award-winning practice that specializes in workplace consulting, architecture and interior design, has eight offices in Europe, America and Russia and has designed healthcare environments throughout the UK, Europe, North America and the Middle East. Among these is the £300 million King's Mill Hospital, a PFI institution now under construction in…
Shields Health Care Group, New England's premiere independent provider of radiology imaging services, has chosen the Swedish IT and medical-technology company Sectra as their Radiology Information System (RIS) provider. Sectra will deliver its RIS products, integration services and direct support to Shields Health Care over a multi-year period.
Many randomised trials have shown that endoscopic colonoscopies as well as virtual colonoscopies via CT scans are equally efficient in detecting colon polyps and tumours. With an endoscopic examination suspicious mucosal findings can be investigated by biopsy and polyps can be removed. However, causes for argument against this method include the incomplete examination, often severe pain and a…
Following the launch of the Action Alliance on Patient Safety (High 5s) initiative, launched in 2006 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre on Patient Safety (Solutions), the World Alliance for Patient Safety and the Commonwealth Fund, in June 2008 the WHO introduced a Surgical Safety Checklist, as part of the Safe Surgery Saves Lives Campaign. Over 300 organisations,…
Surgery generates between 25-40% of hospital revenues, and along with surgeons, specialist nurses are vital to the success of operating theatres. It is thus alarming to find that a survey of 600 theatre nurses has revealed that almost 50% of them would not choose the same profession again.
Hard disks are fast replacing tapes and optical media in all phases of data archiving. However, most conventional hard disk systems are generally unsuitable for long-term storage. FAST LTA (long term archiving) reports that its Silent Cubes are the first solution designed solely for highly-secure long-term storage of permanent data.
The new Clinic of the University Hospital Eppendorf (UKE) in Hamburg, Germany, which opened on 2 February, is part of a "master plan" to transform the UKE into one of the most up-to-date and efficient hospitals in Europe.
A series of expert presentations organised by European Hospital in cooperation with the ECR addressed the latest issues affecting hospital management, information technology and fincance and attracted more than 400 attendees. Click here to read the summary of the five Management speeches.
