Volume 9 - Issue 4, 2009

Dear Readers, The concept of auditing the quality of care provided by a healthcare facility and of clinical outcome, is not a new one. However, in a number of countries the importance of auditing clinical work has risen rapidly up the agenda and is now included as a quality standard for healthcare facilities. Evidence of involvement in the audit of the quality of care is also likely to be one of the fact...

Swedish Presidency Seeks to Strengthen Knowledge Triangle The Swedish presidency plans to encourage interaction between education, research and innovation by promoting better coordination between these three sides of the 'knowledge triangle'. Of the three points of the triangle, the presidency plans to focus specifically on the role of education. Dr. Jan Potocnik described the complex role that mus...

CARS Congress 2010 Announced The CARS Congress Organising Committee invites you to be part of their congress which will be held in Geneva, Switzerland from 23 – 26 June, 2010. The congress is aimed at those who work in the fields of radiology, surgery, engineering, informatics and/or health care management and have an interest in topics, such as • Image guided interventions; • Medical imaging;...

Eurostat Figures Show Growth in Research Funding Recent figures from Eurostat on research spending across the European Union show a growing trend in research investment. In 2007, the EU spent 229 billion euro on research and development (R&D), equivalent to 1.85% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The EU has set itself the goal of spending 3% of GDP on R&D by 2010; however, spending has remained st...

Making Imaging RelevantThe 12th edition of the annual Management in Radiology (MIR) congress, a professional meeting aimed at leaders, practitioners, managers and administrators of radiology departments worldwide, took place in Riga, Latvia from 30 September until 2 October, 2009. The meeting experienced a large boost in the number of attendees, compared with previous years, with a large number of local par...

Contact ECRI Institute Europe, Weltech Centre Ridgeway, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL7 2AA, United Kingdom [email protected] - www.ecri.org.u ECRI Institute, a non-profit organisation, dedicates itself to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research in healthcare to uncover the best approaches to improving patient care. As pioneers in this science for nearly 40 years, ECRI Instit...

Author Hannu Järvinen Principal Advisor for Radiation in Healthcare Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) Radiation Practices Regulation Helsinki, Finland [email protected] The concept of clinical audit is not a new one, but has long been applied in some healthcare practices. The European Commission (EC) directive 97/43/EURATOM (MED) introduced this concept for the ass...

Author Dr. Jane Adam Radiologist Department of Radiology St George’s Hospital London, UK [email protected] Clinical audit has an image problem in Europe. Firstly, there is wide variation in the way the term is interpreted. It can be used in a way that variously overlaps with regulation, accreditation, management and research. The second is encapsulated in the word ‘audit’ and...

Author Prof. Seppo Soimakallio Chairman Department of Radiology Tampere University Hospital Tampere, Finland [email protected] In Finland, the introduction of the requirement for clinical audits in the legislation in accordance with Council Directive 97/43/EURATOM has resulted in a systematic approach of regular external auditing, while the legislation also requires self-assessm...

What Needs to be Done to Improve Uptake?Author Dr. Andras Vargha Chief Radiologist Department of Radiology Gróf Eszterházy Hospital Pápa, Hungary [email protected] In today’s medical imaging department, the sophistication of technology means that we already automatically know quite a lot about some processes and their efficiency. However, this only gives information about equipmen...

Part II - Developing Intelligent Structures and Managing the Change Authors Prof. Dr. Frederik L. Giesel National German Cancer Centre Department of Radiology Heidelberg, Germany [email protected] Dr. Philipp Herold Project Manager Radiological Imaging Training & Consulting (RICT) Heidelberg Heidelberg, Germany In the first part of this series on the concept of...

Author Prof. Frank Boudghene Radiologist Hopital Tenon Paris, France [email protected] Technology and tools in medical imaging are rapidly evolving. Demand for medical imaging continues to grow and concomitantly, new needs will rapidly appear. Thus, as we enter this new era, it seems probable that, to respond appropriately to our colleagues and patients, we must adapt our practi...

Authors Janne Rasmussen Consultant MedCom Odense, Denmark [email protected] Dr. Peder Jest Director OUH Odense University Hospital Odense, Denmark A smooth, functional and efficient system for managing and overcoming the short or long-term challenges in imaging diagnostic services is a necessity – especially as human and economic resources are scarce in the healthcare sector. One no...

Interviewee Prof. Jose L. Zamorano Director Cardiovascular Institute Hospital Clínico San Carlos Madrid, Spain Also, President European Association of Echocardiography [email protected] With over 190 peer-reviewed publications and an impact factor of over 500, Prof. José L. Zamorano, the current president of the European Association of Echocardiography of the Europ...

Author Dr. Drazen Jurkovic State Secretary Ministry of Health and Social Welfare Republic of Croatia [email protected] The dissatisfaction of Croatian citizens with the healthcare system is reflected through the use of private doctors. About 45% of Croatians have used the services of a private doctor and the main reason why people see private doctors are the speed of the service (58...

Author Prof. Boris Brkljacic President Croatian Society of Radiology Also, Chairman Dept. of Radiology University Hospital Zagreb Zagreb, Croatia [email protected] Prof. Boris Brkljacic works as professor and chairman of the department of radiology at the medical faculty of the University of Zagreb in Croatia, and is the current president of the Croatian Society of Radio...

Author Asst. Prof. Drazen Huic Head of Department Centre for Radiation Medicine and Protection University Hospital Rebro Zagreb, Croatia [email protected] Asst. Prof. Drazen Huic, 46, has been working in nuclear medicine since 1991. He is a nuclear medicine specialist and presently works as head of the Centre for Radiation Medicine and Protection in Clinical Department of Nuclear Me...

Author Asst. Prof. Vinko Vidjak Acting Head Clinical Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology University Hospital “Merkur” Zagreb, Croatia [email protected] Asst. Prof. Vinko Vidjak was the first attendee of a two-year interventional radiology subspecialty programme and undertook further training with a specia...