Laparoscopy in urology
Laparoscopy is playing an increasingly important role in urology and centres of excellence have been established to provide training in urological laparoscopic surgery.
Security
A vicious cycle
Researcher have found that overcrowding and understaffing in hospitals lead to a failure of MRSA control programmes, which in turn results in increased inpatient hospital stay, bed blocking and further infection control failure.
Nosocomial infections reach the court rooms
According to recent survey by the Leapfrog Group 87% of hospitals fail to adhere infection prevention measures on a consistent basis. In the Wall Street Journal, Betsy McCaughey, chair of the Committee to Reduce Infection Death, warns against the next wave of lawsuits.
Airflows fight hospital infections
Hospital infections are immensely dangerous. Toul Meditech has therefore developed a new mobile laminar airflow system which can be used in every operating room in addition to the existing ventilation system.
New modell to predict risks of heart failure
Hospital admission might probably determine the severity of heart failure. By analysing data from 260 hospitals across the United States researchers created a model to reduce in-hospital mortality and more quickly identify triage methods and treatment decisions.
Professional accountablity of nurses
A recent case from Eardisland, Herefordshire, demonstrates the impact of institutions like the Nursing & Midwifery Council in the UK that considers allegations of misconduct of nurses. A nurse was given a three-year caution for not adhering to the Council's professional code of conduct which led to serious consequences for the patient.
Your senior doctor is watching you
Hiding behind a doctor's licence obtained years ago will no longer be tolerated in England. Senior doctors are asked to function as "responsible officers" who collect information about colleagues over a period of time. The new arrangement intends to examine the fitness of physicians every five years.
A software for patients privacy
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a software application to automatically "de-identify" medical records. The software might help to allay patients' fears about who has access to their confidential data. It is capable of deleting details which may identify patients while leaving important medical information intact.
Wound dressing fights the super bug
In any hospital, one of the most dreaded enemies is MRSA. This super-resistant pathogen laughs in the face of most antibiotics. But now, medical and hygiene product manufacturer Lohmann & Rauscher may have developed an efficient weapon to fight this ugly beast: a wound dressing that contains polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB).
RFID technology may mess up medical equipment
Considered optimal transportation and identification tools, they have become a symbol for modern hospitals: RFID tags. But according to a new study radio frequency identification devices (RFID) may disrupt medical devices. Moreover, the FDA is concerned that the increase in digital technology might be dangerous for patients.
Tomotherapy system targets cancer more precisely
When tumours are situated in difficult locations, e.g. near the brain, lungs, prostate or abdomen, patients treated with conventional radiation equipment often suffer severe side effects, which include bleeding, chronic infections or organ function limitations.
Nosocomial infections
Report: Mark Nicholls
Ten facts on safe surgery
"Surgical care and its safe delivery affect the lives of millions of people. About 234 million major operations are performed worldwide every year", according to the World Health Organization (WHO). To avoid - possibly fatal - complications the WHO introduced a checklist on safe surgery.
NHS cancer care gets massively financed by donations
When it comes to children's cancer care, the National Health Service counts on the concern of others, critics say. In their opinion the Britisch NHS tries to compense financial deficits by falling back on charity support. This could lead to large inequalities between different disease treatments and to over-reliances on local donations and social work.
LIFEBRIDGE" ASSUMES CONTROL OVER HEART AND LUNG OUTSIDE THE OR
The clinical center of the university of Mainz, Germany, reported the first successful use of a newly developed mobile heart-lung support system with a patient suffering from life-threatening pulmonary embolism. "Lifebridge", a highly automated system, was connected via the inguinal vessels right after the embolism had occurred and immediately took over the functions of lung and heart, supplying…
A danger to patients' security and privacy?
Unexpected risks my result from today's medical devices, such as implantable cardiac defibrillators and pacemakers, if they are equipped with wireless technology to enable remote device checks.
Surgeons urged to 'think twice' before giving blood transfusions
The USA's National Institutes of Health aims to review blood transfusion safety
Managed services in patient data archiving: The impact on IT, finance and physicians
Storing, archiving and sharing patient information in an intelligent and controlled manner is one of the 'hot topics' for healthcare organisations, was Pierre-Yves Nectoux' message at the Hospital Management Symposium. Mr Nectoux, business manager of e-Health Managed Services for Carestream Health in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has been actively involved in EU e-Health initiatives in his…
Radiology process redesign, the theory of constraints
In almost all US hospitals, in-patient radiology examinations are not scheduled. Instead, they are performed when equipment and patients are simultaneously and serendipitously available.
Managed services in patient data archiving
Storing, archiving and sharing patient information in an intelligent and controlled manner is one of the 'hot topics' for healthcare organisations.
Using a single HIS/PACS platform for patient medical data sharing between healthcare providers
The presentation will provide an overview of patient medical data sharing and distribution between the hospital, general practitioners (GP) and patient, using recent developments in Hospital Information System (HIS) and Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS).
New ways of working: innovation in cancer nursing practice
Change is occurring at a rapid rate in cancer care - in many European countries cancer services are now being provided primarily in an ambulatory or outpatient setting with subsequent change of resources. Karen Luker, Professor of Community Nursing at the Universtiy of Manchester, UK, thinks that specialist nurses should not only refresh their knowledge of existing and new therapies. As the face…
IBA Health acquires iSOFT
On the first day of Medica, just an hour before their scheduled press conference to explain the future of iSOFT, Gary Cohen of IBA Health spoke with European Hospital.
Siemens Medica Press Conference
Siemens in collaboration with the Rhön -Klinikum and the Fraunhofer ISST announced that in December, they will start an electronic case file (eFA) pilot project. For the first time data will be exchanged between two reputable chains of private clinic. This makes Siemens the first industry partner to have realised the eFA specification of the Fraunhofer ISST including peer-to-peer communication…
TietoEnator combines the best of four HIS into one solution
Over the past years, TietoEnator has integrated ITB, Waldbrenner, and Cymed - three companies which had all realized functional and powerful Hospital Information System solutions and components for more than 200 customers. The strengths of the individual solutions are being brought together in one single common platform extend by several new features. A team of developers across TietoEnator has…
