Understanding parameters
Clinical chemistry influences almost all medical disciplines: most diagnoses are made or confirmed only after the laboratory has determined at least one or two parameters.
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Clostridium difficile infection
The realisation that the fight against C. difficile needs its own specific hygiene management dawned relatively recently. Up to the new millennium a common perception regarding European hospital infection prevention and control was that this bacterium was under control; it was considered a marginal phenomenon, which is why C. difficile was not the focus of problematic pathogen monitoring.
Too many tumour boards?
Multidisciplinary tumour boards (MDTs) are widespread in the Netherlands, and ‘they tend to be proliferating lately,’ according to Professor Folkert van Kemenade, Chair of the Pathology department at the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam.
Hospital mortality figures should be calculated differently
The mortality figures as they are currently calculated for Dutch hospitals are not a good measure for the quality of the health care they provide.
Chronic disease
There is a global shortage of doctors that is getting worse every year. With the demographic shift in many countries from a predominantly young to an increasing aging population, a steep increase in chronic disease is occurring.
Interview • Focus: Healthcare Mobility
The dark side of healthcare mobility
Professional mobility has always been high on the EU agenda. But what are the impacts on the medical sector, if physicians and nurses leave their countries en masse? Daniela Zimmermann asked Günter Danner, Associate Director of the European Representation of the German Social Insurance in Brussels
Heart failure
About 500,000 people in France people suffer heart failure (HF). In Europe the figure is six million and the same in the USA.
TAVI will surpass heart surgery for aortic valve replacement
Each year the case grows stronger for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVI). And it is only six years since the procedure was introduced in Europe.
Risks from cold and dry gas insufflation become history
Modern laparoscopy, the technique of looking inside the abdominal cavity, is a major medical innovation driven initially by physicians from Germany as well as by Swedes and Americans.
The National Health Service Taskforce
A taskforce has been set up in England after it emerged that more than 750 patients had suffered as a result of serious preventable mistakes in hospitals over the past four years.
Hygiene: Back to basics
Two statements from publications by Dr Stephanie Dancer, Department of Microbiology, Hairmyres Hospital, East Kilbride (UK) prompted Ralf Mateblowski to interview Professor Markus Dettenkofer, Acting Director of the Institute for Environmental Medicine and Hospital Hygiene, Freiburg University Medical Centre about environmental and infection control
Goodbye to needlestick injuries
All hospital professions can be affected by injuries resulting from cuts and needlesticks, whether they are doctors, nurses or cleaners.
UK: Multidisciplinary teamwork will stay
With the effectiveness of ‘tumour board review’ in the USA questioned in a 2012 study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Mark Nicholls sought the opinion of UK-based consultant urological surgeon Ben Challacombe
Violence in the hospital
Aggression and violence towards hospital staff by patients and their relatives and visitors alike is an under-reported and an under-discussed issue. A French webside wants to inform employees how they can prevent and react on aggressions.
Interoperability now comes to self-service kiosks in England’s NHS
The “Nicholson challenge" is a set of mandates put forth by the England’s NHS leader Sir David Nicholson. It aims at identifying, and tapping, efficiency potentials in the service.
Truth behind the thousands of “needless” deaths at NHS trusts
Statistics behind the headlines: Have there been 13,000 needless deaths at 14 NHS trusts?
Patient privacy top priority in Norway
The Norwegian Health Directorate has selected FairWarning Patient Privacy Monitoring solution as an integral part of the national roll out of the Norwegian Summary Care Record (SCR).
Hospital Build & Infrastructure Europe
Around 2,800 visitors are expected at this year’s international Hospital Build & Infrastructure Europe (HBIE) fair, where presentations will include ‘pioneering healthcare strategies, prudent facility management and new approaches for the sustainable operation of hospitals’ as central themes.
Treating bladder cancer
Bladder cancer is highly challenging in terms of patient management and medical costs. As the fourth most frequent cancer in men and ninth in women in developed countries, although BC is a common disease it is still under-represented in public awareness and in cancer research .
A new era of patient care
Paramount to reduced costs and a shortage of skilled professionals, improved quality of care and patient satisfaction are the leading priorities in healthcare today.
Quality control via round robin tests
If a parameter is determined with different test systems the results must still be comparable. This sounds simple, but is hard to achieve.
Fraudulent and faulty medical implants
Shaken by two medical implant scandals, France is scrambling to rebuild confidence in its system of medical products and medication surveillance, John Brosky reports
Equity of access to quality health to quality healthcare
Access to healthcare is a fundamental citizen’s right. However health disparities still exist and are even more put at risk with the economic crisis and austerity measures.
Study confirms universal decolonization of ICU patients
Patients' pathogen acquisition was reduced with Chlorhexidine gluconate 2% w/v impregnated pad, and intranasal mupirocin ointment - Study published in New England Journal of Medicine confirms universal decolonization of ICU patients reduces bloodstream infections by 44%.
Spanish Hospital presents its sepsis code at international forum
Hospital Marina Salud de Dénia presented its Sepsis Code at the National Health IT Conference and Exhibition, which recently took place in Birmingham, UK.
