Council Agrees on New Rules for Patients’ rights in Cross-Border Healthcare
EU News 26 Aug 2010
  The Council in charge of Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs has agreed on a draft directive concerning the application of patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare, on the basis of a compromise proposal of the Spanish presidency.   The draft directive aims to facilitate the access to safe and high-quality cross-border healthcare and to promote cooperation on healthcare across member states. The compromise reflects the Council’s intention to fully respect the case law of the European Court of Justice on the patients’ rights while...

Covidien Announces Integration of Nellcor™ BIS™ X4 Technology into Mindray BeneView Series Monitors
  Bilateral brain activity monitoring incorporated into patient monitors used worldwide BOULDER, CO — July 30, 2010 — Covidien (NYSE: COV), a leading global supplier of healthcare products, today announced the integration of its Nellcor™ BIS™ X4 brain monitoring software into the Mindray BeneView Series of...
Industry News

Probiotic Therapy Cuts Risk of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia in Half for Some in ICU, Study Finds
  Daily use of probiotics reduced ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in critically ill patients by almost half, according to new research from Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. The study was published on the American Thoracic Society's Web site ahead of the print edition of the American Journal of...
Research

Council Agrees on New Rules for Patients’ rights in Cross-Border Healthcare
  The Council in charge of Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs has agreed on a draft directive concerning the application of patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare, on the basis of a compromise proposal of the Spanish presidency.   The draft directive aims to facilitate the access to safe and high-quality...
EU News

Smaller Hospitals Can Provide Safe and High-Quality Surgical Care Comparable to Larger Counterparts, Study Finds
  Smaller, rural hospitals may be quicker and more efficient at implementing surgical safety initiatives than their larger, urban counterparts, and are capable of providing a standard of surgical care that is at par with major hospitals that provide a comprehensive array of care services, according to an 18-month series of studies led by...
National

How Likely Is Misdiagnosis?

Management 28 Jun 2010
  A new research project at the University of Leicester will review the accuracy of medical diagnoses. Evaluating diagnostic strategy is crucial to clinical practice as it helps maximise the efficacy of the treatments which are offered to patients. Many lives are affected every day by the diagnoses made by hospitals and medical doctors, and it is vital that diagnoses are accurate. Nicola Novielli, a PhD research student in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Leicester, has carried out research to assess the accuracy of diagnoses made in hospitals and GP surgeries...

Trauma Patients Undergoing Emergency Operations May Receive Transfusions of Their Own Blood
Management 27 Jul 2010
  Transfusion with a trauma patient's own blood may offer a cost-effective alternative to transfusion with blood from another individual as a resuscitation method during surgery, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Injury from trauma is the leading cause of death for individuals age 1 to 44 years, and extensive blood loss plays a significant role in as many as half of these deaths, according to background information in the article. This is particularly true for deaths that occur in the operating room or within the...

Covidien Announces Integration of Nellcor™ BIS™ X4 Technology into Mindray BeneView Series Monitors
Industry News 02 Aug 2010
  Bilateral brain activity monitoring incorporated into patient monitors used worldwide BOULDER, CO — July 30, 2010 — Covidien (NYSE: COV), a leading global supplier of healthcare products, today announced the integration of its Nellcor™ BIS™ X4 brain monitoring software into the Mindray BeneView Series of multi-parameter patient monitors. BIS X4 technology monitors both hemispheres of a patient’s brain simultaneously and in real time, providing highly sophisticated data to help physicians make optimal decisions for safe patient care. Covidien...

Zoll AED Plus and AED Pro Approved by Japan Medical Device Safety Division and Office of Medical Devices
Industry News 29 Jul 2010
    First Approval of ZOLL Rectilinear Biphasic Waveform Clears Path to Resume Distribution to World’s Second Largest Defibrillator Market July 29, 2010─CHELMSFORD, MASS.–ZOLL Medical Corporation (Nasdaq GS: ZOLL), a manufacturer of medical devices and related software solutions, announced today that it has been granted approval by the Japanese Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) to import and distribute the AED Plus® and AED Pro® in Japan. These products are automated external defibrillators that incorporate ZOLL’s real-time...

Early Mobilisation Of Patients In ICU Improves Outcomes
Research 18 May 2009
  Aside from the obvious and immediate health problems that patients undergoing mechanical ventilation face, those who recover often do so with profound loss of strength and mobility that can impair their daily functioning and even lead to increased risk of morbidity and mortality down the line. Now research shows that functional status may be restored earlier to ICU patients by performing daily interruptions in sedation paired with mobilisation and exercise, as led by physical and occupational therapists. The study results will be announced on May 17 at the 105th International...

Smaller Hospitals Can Provide Safe and High-Quality Surgical Care Comparable to Larger Counterparts, Study Finds
National
  Smaller, rural hospitals may be quicker and more efficient at implementing surgical safety initiatives than their larger, urban counterparts, and are capable of providing a standard of surgical care that is at par with major hospitals that provide a comprehensive array of care services, according to an 18-month series of studies led by researchers from the University of Louisville Department of Surgery. "The quality and standard of care in rural and small-town America is an important issue that gets a lot of attention in the mainstream media these days, and research efforts to...