Volume 20 - Issue 4, 2020

As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc across the globe, spreading to new regions and threatening with resurgence in those already affected, healthcare professionals are working tirelessly to develop and implement effective strategies for patient treatment, organisational management and public health measures. They are also looking beyond the pandemic to anticipate not only the ‘new normal’ but a redesig...

Creating and nurturing a culture of safety that is aligned with a holistic, continuous improvement process and sustained through effective communication and education is no longer a choice; it is now a requirement of all healthcare leaders, from the boardroom to the bedside. We are well aware of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on frontline healthcare worker...

Digital Healthcare Systems are needed in all contexts. Portugal’s recent eHealth upscaling used a crisis to leverage change. An expert who led the country on this way shares this experience and outlines the bases of a new way of looking at healthcare. There is a global need for a new healthcare system organisation. The will for transformation was dormant, and the need has become prominent with CO...

An unexpected but positive development the COVID-19 crisis has brought into healthcare, is the rise of technology and inevitably, the recognition of the previously obscure field of health informatics. An expert at the NHS Wales Informatics Service talked to HealthManagement.org about the long journey of the profession from ‘the lost tribe’ to the backbone of the NHS....

Procalcitonin (PCT) is a member of the calcitonin family and known as a critical biomarker for bacterial infections. To be effective a biomarker must have high diagnostic accuracy and allow early and rapid diagnosis. PCT fulfills these requirements and has already demonstrated superior diagnostic accuracy compared to other conventional biomarkers (Müller B. et al., 2000; Meisner M., 2010) PCT is widely...

The COVID-19 crisis has placed extraordinary pressure on healthcare providers and clinical professionals alike. And yet, within this difficult and demanding context, we have seen incredible responses: in a sense of unity, in new ways of working, in the creation of virtual connections and more. Agfa Radiology has stepped up as well, to help the healthcare sector meet the added challenges. #CountOnUs i...

A prefabricated cabin has sprung up just outside the entrance of the giant Henri-Mondor hospital in Créteil, a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris. The unassuming module might look like a trailer home or the temporary office for a construction project, but it’s actually a vital outpost in the hospital’s battle against COVID-19. Nestled inside the specially designed 36-square-meter module is...

There is evidence of viral assaults possible repetitiveness in the foreseeable future. Prevention and preparedness are essential, especially for the health sector. Learning from the dramatic experience of Italy with COVID-19, this article addresses the major aspects of the role of the health technicians who, in parallel with the managerial and medical staff have responded to the continuously changing needs...

An overview of how the Radiology Department at Hospital Clinic in Barcelona handled the COVID-19 pandemic and how this disease will change the way radiology is practiced. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to major changes in clinical activity at our radiology department. The radiology department at Hospital Clínic in Barcelona carries out more than 350,000 imaging examinations per year. When COVID-19 appeare...

Crises pose opportunities as well as threats. The COVID-19 outbreak is a key example. As a result, digital health use is expanding. Dramatic changes to models of patient care are occurring with new technologies, digital solutions and organisational approaches. Mobile apps are coming to the fore. The use of virtual care is likely to be consolidated. A digital-first approach can work, and the European Health...

In a disease surrounded by unknowns, patients’ imaging is shedding a light on the course of COVID-19. During this relative respite that the COVID-19 offers us after the purportedly first peak of the pandemic, we can reflect on how this tiny virus changed our lives. For the healthcare system, the adaptation to the pandemic is being particularly tough. Here we will focus on how COVID-19 is changing radiol...

The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) has just published a cybersecurity guide for hospitals. The body’s director, Juhan Lepassaar, explains how the COVID-19 pandemic has made the need for effective cyber hygiene even more urgent. What has prompted ENISA to release the Cybersecurity Procurement Guide for Hospitals? The EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) is working closely with the cybers...

U.S. radiologists have been significantly negatively impacted by the pandemic but valuable lessons have been learned. As the United States prepared to face an onslaught of COVID-19 cases that could swamp healthcare facilities and decimate the workforce, it became clear that the American College of Radiology needed to use its power as “the Voice of Radiology” to inform the response of the imaging comm...

A global health consultant and top TED Talk presenter comments on how healthcare around the world has responded to COVID-19 and suggests practical steps for avoiding a future pandemic of the same scale. As a global health expert, what do you think some of the best measures against the spread of COVID-19 have been around the world? Which have been lacking? What the data has been showing us is that the tr...

A radiologist in France’s private healthcare sector describes the experience of his clinic and comments on limitations of the system revealed when COVID-19 hit hard. Our imaging centre is located in Sarcelles-Lochères, a suburban area 15 km North of Paris. We are a 250-bed private clinic with an active emergency department, an oncology centre and many outpatient facilities including a comprehensive ima...

The COVID-19 crisis has seen an enormous increase in medical and hazardous waste generation. To protect human health and the environment, it is vital to ensure the safe handling and final disposal of such waste. A UN Environment Programme expert explains the dangers of inadequate medical waste management and outlines the most effective strategies for the future. Could you provide a brief overview of diff...

In this article, we discuss some of the potential opportunities for positive changes in service provision that may emerge from the COVID-19 public health crisis, with a particular emphasis on changes enacted in our own service. “The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be...

The effects of COVID-19 have been manifold but one of the areas which has seen destabilising implications is the training of radiologists. The immediate effects of the coronavirus pandemic have been precipitous and manifold. The longer term consequences promise to be persistent and profound. Its range of disruption is obvious with respect to patient care and the economy in all its manifestations. One of...

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic women are often deprived of necessary health care. The research on women’s health in this context is scarce and might often be compromised, but also widely distributed in the media. The International Academy of Perinatal Medicine, therefore, is adamant to uphold the best scientific standards. Without a doubt, COVID-19 has already changed the world on the magnitude never seen...

A patient engagement authority reflects on the impact of pharma’s response to COVID-19 and outlines hope for a better perception of the sector as providers of health solutions beyond the pill. Since the first awareness of COVID-19 in the medical press and alert to the World Health Organization on December 31 2019, global health agencies and organisations have been in a cooperative and cathartic collisi...

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated implementation of key digitalisation tenets of the UK’s NHS Five-Year Plan for outpatients, but how can healthcare maintain achievements forged under pressure once the crisis has passed? The COVID-19 pandemic is putting global healthcare systems under immense pressure and outpatient services are not excluded. The need to transform and reduce outpatients has never b...

A retired physician offers insights into COVID-19 telemedicine following a stint volunteering for a telephone support service for patients with the disease. After years of serving as a primary healthcare services manager in Barcelona and promoting the use of ICT, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to volunteer as a retired physician for a telephone support service for patients suffering from...