Volume 20 - Issue 9, 2020

Online knowledge, self-help groups and special interest forums have transitioned physicians from almighty omniscient ‘demigods in white’ to professionals heftily challenged by patients and their Dr Google. As a result, physician self-reflection and patient participation have become the pillars of modern medical ethics and treatment programmes. Today’s empowered patient has the ability to manage the...

Why health governance and operations matter to implement interventions fast. Bavarian perspective Elderly residents of long-term care facilities have been among the groups most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many other countries, Germany and its states have implemented targeted measures to manage the pandemic. Bavaria specifically has taken a coordinated approach to support care homes by setting u...

As hospitals and clinics rebuild and reorganise from the public health and financial challenges of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, there has never been a better time to address health disparity in medicine. The American College of Radiology is collaborating with patients and other health care organisations, to develop solutions to eliminate health disparity and improve the care of all patients. Public h...

Vall d’Hebron University Hospital is one the largest hospitals in Spain and one of the most prominent examples of a value-based healthcare institution in Europe. An expert behind the hospital’s VBHC transformation shares the ongoing experience of assessing and redesigning the care cycle based on the VBHC model and outlines the main challenges and achievements on the way. There is no consensus on what...

How to amplify the voice of cancer patients worldwide in order to accelerate comprehensive care and improve the mental health of everyone affected by cancer. The active patient is a novelty and the underlying assumption is that the patient will remain passive during their treatment.The War On Cancer app is a social cancer support tool for people in and after treatment, and their loved ones. The War On Can...

Healthcare is in constant change. Today the change is driven by the patients. Access to patient data has changed the way healthcare is delivered, where it is delivered and who delivers it. A lot has already been achieved, and although there is still long way to go, the result will be the truly person-centric healthcare. Access to real-world data and patient-reported outcomes presents the power and the pot...

Trustworthy health information is a cornerstone of patient/citizen participation in care delivery. Moreover, as the current pandemic shows, it is key to protecting both personal and collective health. The Patient Information Forum strives for both improving the quality of available health information and eliminating the health- and digital-literacy gap.Access to high-quality health information is an essent...

The role of a radiologist is becoming more central to healthcare. Radiology departments are overloaded with work. Demand for fast imaging results and 24/7 availability are also consistently increasing. Agfa HealthCare has developed a shared reading workflow within its Enterprise Imaging platform, which allows radiologists to share tasks and expertise beyond the hospital walls. HealthManagement.org spoke to...

The Greater Manchester Rapid Diagnostic Centre Programme offers a new model of cancer care that aims to improve patient outcomes across the Greater Manchester area. The centre offers a new way of rapidly investigating patients with suspected cancer symptoms, so that they can receive appropriate treatment as soon as possible. HealthManagement.org spoke to Barney Schofield, Director of Planning and Delivery,...

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed healthcare to move towards consumerism. This change is being driven by patients who are quickly turning into consumers. Where will this trend lead? Is it time for hospitals and consumers to work together to utilise digital technology in healthcare and to improve healthcare access across all groups of society? How can healthcare embrace consumerism? Healthcare is fast becom...

What problems could be solved? A report of interviews with 21 Dutch VHBC experts Value-based healthcare (VBHC), aimed at improving patient outcomes without increasing costs, is becoming more and more important, as healthcare utilisation and costs continue to rise well above the cost of living. Many initiatives are now being taken to put value-driven care into practice, including in the Netherlands. The qu...

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), a psychiatric illness characterised by an obsessive and debilitating preoccupation with perceived physical flaws, carries a significant burden of morbidity. Currently, there is little research investigating methods for the effective early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of BDD. In this case, thrombotic microangiopathy may have been a result of the use of unprescribed phe...

From narrative to action The one and only reason that health systems exist, is to make a positive contribution to the lives of people using them. Surprisingly, we still cannot tell to what extent they succeed in this mission. There is strong interest among patients, healthcare providers and policymakers to transform our health systems, with the objective of putting people at their centre and continuously...

While some choices in healthcare may be limited due to circumstantial urgency, more often than not, patients and family members hold a significant position to influence the trajectory of their care. Especially in recent years, with the advent of new technologies and sharing platforms, patients are now better equipped to explore options, fact check, review performance and optimise their choice in care. Heal...

A veteran patient advocate questions some of the hyped patient-engagement concepts and the reality of their practical applications within the ‘medical industrial complex’, and offers some strategies to change ‘the way we work’. In the medical industrial complex, stakeholders are distracted from the essence, i.e. the patient.There are many obstacles on the way to change, from the lack of money to di...

Nothing will be the same after the coronavirus pandemic. The COVID-19 crisis entails an acceleration in some trends like health care digital transformation, the shift from volume-based care to a value-based care and the need of humanising healthcare. Patient communication is in the middle of those three trends and radiology would not be an exception. Improving patient communication means higher digital ad...

Globalisation promotes healthcare innovation on a worldwide scale through the exchange of ideas and technologies. Despite all efforts to promote best practices, why doesn’t this international approach always work as well as it should? What are the cultural differences or regional specialities that need to be bridged? How can we improve the implementation, transfer and application of healthcare services an...