The chronic lack of donor organs
4,500 scientists, transplant teams and related social groups from 94 countries gathered in Berlin for the International Congress of the Transplant Society.
Security
France: Almost 30% of medical acts are unjustified
A recent poll of more than 800 hospitals and private doctors reveals that only 72% of medical acts are fully justified. In conclusion 30% of all medical acts in France are unjustified and it also shows that most of the practitioners are willing to open a debate on this matter.
Battling against hospital acquired infections
Hospital acquired infections (HAIs) are among the most common complications during a hospital and care home stay in the West (although they also occur in developing countries, with even an assumed higher incidence), causing enormous strain for those affected as well as high follow-on costs for healthcare systems.
Organ donation
Rumour had it for a while, and many found out when the bomb was finally dropped at, of all places, the Congress of the International Transplantation Society, held in Berlin this July – the waiting list for donor organs in the database of the Eurotransplant Foundation had been manipulated.
Unnerved by denervation
Cardiologists are increasingly concerned about patients with persistent hypertension demanding a new technique, in the absence of clinical proof of its long-term benefit. As more related devices are launched, John Brosky reports on the procedure, drawbacks, and a potential €2 billion market.
A women's heart too often kills her
The biggest cause of death for most adult women in industrialised nations is coronary heart disease (CHD). Why the disease affects the genders differently is still not fully understood. European Hospital Editor Brigitte Dinkloh asked Professor Rafaelle Bugiardini MD FESC, from the Department of Internal Medicine Department, University of Bologna, whether he could explain the reasons and what…
Cloud computing
The storage and retrieval of an ever increasing volume of imaging data is raising hospital IT managers’ interest in sharing computing resources via the Internet, thus saving on storage space, hardware and software costs and concerns over data security. Mark Nicholls spoke with Saskia Groeneveld, Carestream’s Regional Marketing Manager (Healthcare Information Solutions), about the company’s…
Carestream Health Sponsors Industry Discussion On Cloud Computing in Italy
As part of the recent annual Heathcare Summit organised by Sole 24 ORE in Milan, Italy, Carestream Health sponsored a round table discussion on cloud computing. The Summit is an established event in Italy and is attended by Government and regional officials and companies contracted by the Italian Ministry of Health. Carestream is one of the world’s leading providers of cloud infrastructure,…
New National Screening Program for Men in Scotland
NHSScotland has selected the international IT services company Atos, in partnership with IMAGE Information Systems, to support the roll-out of a new national screening program’s IT system for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms (AAA). Currently, there is no existing vascular screening system worldwide.
EU healthy life expectancy
The European Joint Action on Healthy Life Years (EHLEIS) project, led by France and coordinated by the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), has produced some interesting statistics. EH Paris correspondent Annick Chappoy reports
Save money: improve pain care in hospitals
Only individualised pharmacotherapy can maintain the quality of life for patients suffering from severe pain – and the benefit for the healthcare system is a resulting reduction in costs. A report by Anja Behringer.
Medical Transcription and Health Information Security
In July 2011 the Defense Department of the United States lost approximately 24,000 sensitive Pentagon files in a large-scale cyber attack. If you know anything about the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), you know that it is arguably one of the highest-priority sectors of the American government. Report: Abigale Washford
Surgeons ‘fire a warning shot’ over Germany’s hospitals
Are surgeons still opting for surgical procedures solely for medical need – or are economics forcing their decisions? That vexatious question, posed at the 129th Congress of the German, was spurned at the outset by Markus W Büchler MD, President of the Society and Medical Director of the Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery at University Hospital Heidelberg. ‘We surgeons…
Safer sleep, safer sugar
Ensuring the safety of hospitalised patients is vital – and brought under a particularly strong focus in anaesthesiology. Launched in 2010, the Helsinki Declaration provided a further boost. Report: Holger Zorn
Teleradiology use in Europe
A new survey brings fresh insight into radiologists’ thoughts on teleradiology in Europe. Conducted by radiologist Dr Erik Ranschaert from the Jeroen Bosch Hospital, Den Bosch, The Netherlands, the findings were presented in March to a Special Focus Session at the European Congress of Radiology in Vienna. Mark Nicholls reports.
New network could lower accidents mortality
Surgeons and radiologists unite to ease image transfers. Around 30-35,000 people a year are severely injured in accidents and need urgent, appropriate and competent care within minutes. The TeleCooperation TNW project, a new development in Germany’s medical care for severely injured patients, links with several hundred hospitals to ensure the rapid transfer of image data across the country.
New law raises concerns for Germany’s out-patients
Under a new health delivery Act only seriously ill in-patients will receive out-patient treatment at the same hospital. The rest will have to go to a new ‘medical specialist service’. The new system can only cause problems say medical workers. Report: Susanne Werner.
ICN stresses critical need for evidence-based approach to nursing services
On the occasion of International Nurses Day 2012, the International Council of Nurses calls for an increase in evidence-informed decision making and practice. Nurses are often best placed to supply important information not only about care but also about context, population health and the role of key policy and social factors.
Weight and height
In many hospitals medical specialists from different fields work closely together. To give them access to centrally held information and patient data collected from admittance to discharge, hospitals increasingly use IT solutions such as the electronic patient’s record (EPR). Such installations demand an extensive data security policy and implementation plan.
The fmCh Public Database
Swiss surgical patients can check on and correct their treatment data and thereby facilitate reliable hospital benchmarking. In 1995, surgeons in the Biel, Burgdorf and Zurich Limmattal hospitals founded the Working Group for Quality Assurance in Surgery (AQC) to collect and compare reatment data.
Agfa HealthCare’s Cardiovascular Information System
The Impax CV12A, a new version of Agfa HealthCare’s Cardiovascular Information System (CVIS), was introduced this March during the American College of Cardiology’s (ACC’s) 61st Annual Scientific Session & Expo in Chicago, USA.
Patient safety expert Peter Pronovost earns dual national honors
Recognized with Inaugural American Board of Medical Specialties Award, and Ranking on List of Modern Healthcare and Modern Physician’s “50 Most Influential Physician Executives in Healthcare”.
A Maltese success story
Maximising hand hygiene protocols and introducing central line care bundles reduces nosocomial infections and mortality rates, Moira Mizza reports.
IT helps ensure patient safety in the ICU – and beyond
Integrated information management reduces risks and cuts cost, Finn Snyder reports. Intensive care units (ICUs) are vital in healthcare. ICUs in US hospitals, for example, treat six million of the sickest and oldest patients annually, according to a document recently published for the Massachusetts Technology Park Corporation, which states that choices about how to manage them carry high stakes:
What´s new in personalised molecular medicine and biomarkers?
In breast imaging, advances are constant. Dr Peter Brader, at the Department of Radiology, Division for Molecular and Gender Imaging, Medical University Vienna, believes a paradigm shift will take place in this and by 2025.