
MANAGEMENT
Key success factors for hospital management

Key success factors for hospital management
USA - Employment turnover is low and morale high. The level of response to patients call buttons is high - but, if not, patients can tell the hospital CEO. This is a formula that turns an ordinary community hospital into a star-rated healthcare establishment: the patients are happy with what they receive.

Our correspondent Rostislav Kuklik (above) reports that the physician-to-patient relationship is always very specific when it comes to different cultures or ethnics. 'Worldwide, local doctors who care for patients from other than a major cultural background must be prepared to handle difficult situations, and solve truly unexpected issues.'

From Switzerland, Dr André Weissen reports that there are no consistent hospital guidelines regarding patients' faiths. 'There are neither any directives nor binding rules as to how a hospital is to treat Muslim patients, for example. Nevertheless, everybody everywhere is trying their utmost to accommodate their specific needs.'

Migrant medicine as a course for German medical students? This is a unique concept in a country where it is currently only being offered at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen.

Anna Köck, Dipl. Rel-Päd (FH), Catholic Hospital Pastor at Graz University Hospital, Head of the Centre for Graz Hospital Staff and Head of the Christians and Muslims in the Hospital symposium, discusses the legal position of Islam in Austria and examines the question of cooperation or conflict between Christians and Muslims in the hospital.
Which are the key success factors for the hospital Management? What are the latest trends in Information Technology? And which strategy is successful in financing medical equipment? Visit the Hospital Management Symposium and find out!

Participation in the Hospital Manager Symposium, which is organized by EUROPEAN HOSPITAL in cooperation with the European Congress of Radiology and which is part of the congress, has increased continuously since its introduction six years ago. Last year about 250 attendees listened to the lectures and discussions.

Healthcare delivery is undergoing a profound transformation. To compete effectively, healthcare executives are charged with improving both the financial performance and medical outcomes of their delivery systems. In response to this, Harvard Business School Executive Education is offering two healthcare programs; Leading High-Performance Healthcare Organizations and Managing Healthcare Delivery.

A cooperation agreement as part of the Asklepios Future Hospital programme seals practice-related advancement of the Siemens hospital information system i.s.h.med. The companies sealed their cooperation by signing an agreement within the "Asklepios Future Hospital (AFH)" programme on Thursday at Medica.
KMS Vertrieb und Services GmbH, which has offered healthcare knowledge management and consulting services for over ten years, is presenting advanced solutions and products:

The BDU (German Association of Management Consulting Firms) has presented annual business awards for outstanding achievements, one to German companies and one to German managers, since 1994.

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.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) from UK installed a new educational programm on the internet called eHealth. The courses are free of charge for employees from the National Health Service (NHS) and shall improve the health community's ability to respond effectively to major incidents and emergencies.

"Should nurses replace GPs as frontline providers of primary care?" This question was discussed controversy by Bonnie Sibbald, Professor of Health Service Research, University of Manchester, (pro) and Rhona Knight, portfolio GP, Leicester, (contra) who alleged their reasons on the British Medical Journal website

Irish and German neurology associations warn of an imminent shortage of neurologists. In Ireland, according to experts the situation is “lacking at best” and “catastrophic at worst”. German physicians as well detect increasing deficiencies in neurological care coverage primarily due to an aging population and concomitant morbidity.

Researchers from the Center to Advance Palliative Care and from the National Palliative Care Research Center, New York, found out that US-hospitals can save more than $300 per day and patient receiving palliative care while even enhancing the quality of care. Palliative care programs provide a way for hospitals to meet the needs of these patients while staying financially viable.

Hospitals must digitally keep medical documents audit proof, which involves a lot of material and personnel efforts.

The relationship between England's GPs and hospitals is currently at a sensitive stage, with a review of health services across the country set to impact on the way the two groups work and liaise with one another.

Britain is a primarily Christian country. It is also home to people with various religious beliefs who have migrated here from many parts of the world, or are British born. In a 2001 census, 72% of the population identified itself as Christian.

But how is this best achieved? Although various authors suggest methods to attain effective leadership, their approaches are not always uniform. Here he reviews some of the literature and authors' advice.

US- researchers found that inpatients experience an average of nearly one and a half potentially harmful errors in their medication record during a hospital stay. They started the search for the causes: admission and discharging are the most dangerous situations.

Provision of standard infectious disease precautions and safe workplaces for nurses all around the world are the main claims of a statement shaped during the International AIDS Conference by Physicians for Human Rights and the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care.

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.

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.