Volume 13, Issue 2/2011

The title of the Directive 2001/24, published on 4th of April 2011 in the Official Journal of the European Union, already says it all: The issue at hand is the 'exercise of patient rights in cross-border healthcare'. It took the Commission, the EU-Parliament and the Council of Ministers – the health ministers of the 27 EU member states in particular – almost three years to reach a compromise and fine-t...

EAHM's "Working Party Hospital IT-Managers" has sprung into action. Members met recently in Brussels and finalised arrangements for IT workshops to take place in September. These actions are the first direct result of last year's reflection process, where the association realised the increasing importance and potential of IT in the healthcare sector. Quality through sharing experiences and best practice...

"Europa and care institutions: What's in it for you?" was the thought-provoking title of a conference organised by Zorgnet Vlaanderen, the Federation of Flemish Private Care Institutions. Held in January of this year, the main topic was "what can Europe mean to daily management of care institutions?" The goal of the conference was to highlight the three opportunities of the EU internal market for directo...

The Golden Helix Award has been awarded annually since 1992 and entries for 2011 are now open. Organised by the German Association of Hospital Directors (VKD), the Golden Helix awards projects in healthcare from Germany, Austria and Switzerland that limit costs and raise quality standards bringing benefits to both patients and healthcare facilities. The award winners must demonstrate quantitatively the imp...

The Danish Association of Hospital Managers' annual meeting takes place on 12-13 May 2011. The seminar is interdisciplinary and directed to politicians, health leaders and managers at all levels. The presentations are applicable to hospitals, primary care, GPs, regions and municipalities. While many hospitals and healthcare institutions place most importance on clinical tasks, the conference will highlig...

John Dalli, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy spoke recently at a dinner debate hosted by COCIR, the European Coordination Committee of the Radiological, Electromedical and Healthcare IT Industry and HOPE, the European Hospital and Healthcare Federation. The theme of the evening was "Hospitals of Tomorrow" and the discussion centred on how to develop efficient and sustainable hospitals...

The European Commission is seeking citizens' and other interested parties' views on how the EU can help to deliver widespread benefits to the quality and efficiency of healthcare by applying information and communication technologies (ICT) otherwise know as e-health. Promoting e-health is a key objective of the Digital Agenda for Europe. The online public consultation runs until 25 May. The answers will...

By 2013, a new system of cross-border healthcare will be in place throughout the European Union. This will enable patients to receive reimbursable healthcare in another EU country, provided the costs would normally have been covered if they had been treated at home. Although only one percent of national heath budgets are currently spent on cross-border healthcare, patients facing the prospect of long wai...

Authors Robert Forsyth Bruno Raeymaekers ARCADIS Community of Practice (COP) of Data Centers [email protected] Growing IT applications are taking a central position in the functioning of any healthcare facility. Existing sites are commonly relying on older IT and technical facilities, unable to support the new and demanding requirements of tomorrow's organisations. Cooperation with other similar...

The greatest expenditure of hospitals today is on mobile medical devices, starting from patient beds to other technologically advanced diagnostic systems. The efficiency of a healthcare organisation largely depends on its ability to know where things are and on how efficiently these resources are used by the hospital staff and patients. Asset Management Systems: An Overview Hospital IT systems have been...

A crucial challenge facing the development sector is the inability of communities living in rural and hinterland areas, which often account for 75 percent of the population in developing countries, to access vital health and reproductive health services. For over 60 years, the focus was on strengthening the public sector for this responsibility. In countries where this has worked—Iran, Cuba, Vietnam to n...

Using High-Intensity Narrowspectrum Light (HNS-Light) Authors Prof. Scott J. MacGregor Prof. John G. Anderson Prof. Gerry Woolsey Dr. Michelle Maclean The Robertson Trust Laboratory for Electronic Sterilisation Technologies (ROLEST), University of Strathclyde [email protected] Increased awareness of the importance of the hospital environment as a potential source of nosocomial pathogens has led to an up...

Author Robert Orenstein Associate Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases Mayo Clinic College of Medicine Rochester, Minnesota, US [email protected] Protecting patients from acquiring Clostridium difficile infection has become a major challenge for healthcare institutions worldwide. Antimicrobial stewardship, early isolation, accurate diagnosis, and environmental disinfection are the key steps...

Author Stephen R. Baker Professor and Chairman of Radiology New Jersey Medical School New York, US [email protected] A cornerstone of leadership is the mastery of techniques for convincing people to pursue your vision. Sometimes, provided you imbue those who report to you with a sense of urgency and shared passion, your ministrations will be enthusiastically supported. But most of the time such unanimity...

Author Kathryn Taubert Senior Science Officer World Heart Federation Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a debilitating heart condition, caused by abnormal electrical activity in the heart, which results in a cardiac arrhythmia. AF can be a sustained condition or it can come and go. The impact and consequences of AF are substantial: Those with AF are five times more likely to have a stroke than those without AF,...

Author: Anthony Kurec Editor-in-Chief Clinical Leadership & Management Review Clinical Laboratory, Management Association [email protected] In the United States, laboratory medicine has become integral to the diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients. Its rather meagre start began around the 1900s, slowly evolving over the twentieth century. Advances in understanding human biochemistry and phy...

AuthorJos Vanlanduyt Main CharacteristicsThe Belgian healthcare system has the following key features:Compulsory health insurance, managed jointly by the major stakeholders of the sector (insurers, healthcare providers and public authorities) Principles of... Read more...

Freddy Iemants works for Iris Hospitals, which groups public health institutions in Brussels. This group controls five institutions on 11 sites, with 2,300 hospital beds and employs nearly 9,000 people. Mr. Iemants has represented the Belgian Association of Hospital Managers (ABDH/ BVZD/ BVKD) on the Executive Committee of the European Association of Hospital Managers (EAHM) for many years now and is also p...

La Directive Européenne Sur Les Soins De Santé Transfrontaliers Est-Elle Une Étape Importante Pour Les Patients ? La directive 2001/24 a été publiée le 4 avril 2011 dans le Journal officiel de l'Union européenne. Elle concerne l'application des droits des patients dans les soins de santé transfrontaliers. Il a fallu près de trois ans d'échanges ... Read more...

Le Groupe de Travail Informatique Entre en Action Le groupe de travail de l'AEDH « Hospital IT-Managers » est passé à l'action. Ses membres se sont réunis récemment à Bruxelles afin de définir les activités qui se dérouleront durant ses ateliers, les « IT workshops », en septembre prochain. Ces initiatives découlent directement du processus de réflexion amorcé l'année dernière, après qu...

Les Capacités Des Centre de Données Dans le Secteur Des Soins de Santé Par Robert Forsyth, Bruno Raeymaekers Les nouvelles applications informatiques sont devenues capitales pour le fonctionnement des établissement de santé. Les sites doivent souvent s'appuyer sur des installations et des techniques plus anciennes qui ne sont pas en mesure de soutenir les engagements plus exigeantes des nouvelles...

Europäische Richtlinie Zur Grenzüberschreitenden Gesundheitsversorgung Meilenstein Auch Fur Patienten?Die am 4.4.2011 im Amtsblatt der Europäischen Union veröffentlichte Richtlinie 2001/24 macht im Titel bereits deutlich , worüber es eigentlich gehen sollte, nämlich ‚über die Ausübung der Patientenrech... Read more...

IT ArbeitsGruppe Ist AKTIV Die EVKD Arbeitsgruppe ‚Hospital IT-Manager’ hat ihre Arbeit aufgenommen. Die Mitglieder trafen sich kürzlich in Brüssel und schlossen dabei Vorbereitungen für die im September stattfindenden IT-Workshops ab.Dies ist das erste direkte Ergebnis des Reflexionsprozesses vom letzten Jahr, als die Vereinigung die zunehmende Bedeutung und das steigende Potential des Fachgebiet...

Datenzentralen im Gesundheitsbereich: Die Trends Von Robert Forsyth, Bruno Raeymaekers Zunehmend nehmen IT-Anwendungen eine zentrale Position im Funktionieren einer Gesundheitseinrichtung ein. Bestehende Standorte sind meist auf ältere IT- und technische Ausrüstungen angewiesen und daher nicht in der Lage, den neuen und immer höheren Anforderungen der Organisationen von Morgen zu entsprechen. Die Zu...