MedicalFacts

Visit the MedicalFacts Holland Innovations stand at Exposanita

Redactie Medicalfacts — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:55:38 +0000

Hal.: 25 Stand: B59 Exposanita 16 – 19 May 2012 The Netherlands are the host country for Exposanità 2012 With the support of MedicalFacts.nl Consultants, Exposanità will host a group of innovative lifestyle, eHealth and health gaming companies are coming from the Netherlands that will be reserved special economic conditions together with a program of [...]

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Hospital readmissions reduced by cutting down on infections

Medicalfacts René Luigies — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:01:00 +0000

Hospital readmission has been identified as a key quality indicator and target for reducing healthcare spending. For example, approximately 20% of Medicare beneficiaries in 2004 were readmitted within 30 days after hospital discharge at a cost of approximately $17.4 billion.1 Similarly, healthcare-associated infections are associated with higher healthcare costs and may act as a surrogate [...]

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Telehealth network can be used to certify nurses in chemotherapy

Medicalfacts René Luigies — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:21:29 +0000

A telehealth network is effective at delivering certification courses in chemotherapy biotherapy to oncology nurses living in rural areas, according to research presented at the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) 37thAnnual Congress. In Kansas, availability of certified chemotherapy/biotherapy trainers is limited to metropolitan areas of the state. To meet the growing demand for chemotherapy certified nurses, [...]

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Cancelled Surgeries Costing Hospitals Millions

Medicalfacts René Luigies — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:53:29 +0000

Patient no-shows and cancellations on the day of surgery are costing hospitals millions of dollars each year, Anesthesiology News reported. Researchers at Tulane University Medical Center found that 6.7 percent of scheduled elective outpatient surgeries were cancelled in 2009, totaling almost $1 million in lost revenue for that year. Since surgeries account for almost 60 [...]

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Staff must communicate mortality risk to patients leaving against medical advice

Medicalfacts René Luigies — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:09:25 +0000

Hospital patients who leave against medical advice may have an increased risk of being readmitted or dying within a month, a study at one New York medical center finds. In the U.S., about 500,000 hospital patients a year sign themselves out against medical advice. Studies have suggested that decision can be unwise: patients hospitalized for [...]

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The American College of Rheumatology Issues Guidelines for Management of Lupus Nephritis

Medicalfacts René Luigies — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:20:23 +0000

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has issued newly created guidelines for the screening, treatment, and management of lupus nephritis—a severe manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) where the disease attacks the kidneys. Previously, only general guidelines for SLE existed for clinicians. The guidelines, available today in Arthritis Care & Research, are specific to lupus [...]

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Children with Juvenile Arthritis Have Higher Rates of Bacterial Infection

Medicalfacts René Luigies — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:48:07 +0000

High-Dose Steroids Found to Significantly Increase Infection Risk Children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) have higher rates of hospitalized bacterial infection than children without JIA according to an observational study appearing in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). The findings show that the risk [...]

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Unnecessary imaging for cancer patients persists

Medicalfacts René Luigies — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:41:25 +0000

Unnecessary imaging was recommended in a significant number of studies but referring physicians often did not adhere to PET/CT report recommendations Advanced imaging has been identified as one factor that contributes to the overall rising cost of healthcare in the US. Unnecessary or inappropriate imaging utilization magnifies the cost burden associated with advanced imaging studies [...]

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Report of the WHO: E-health in low- and middle-income countries.

Medicalfacts René Luigies — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:40:09 +0000

Health systems in low- and middle-income countries continue to face considerable challenges in providing high-quality, affordable and universally accessible care. In response, policy-makers, donors and programme implementers are searching for innovative approaches to eliminate the geographic and financial barriers to health. This has resulted in mounting interest in the potential of e-health (the use of [...]

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Norwegian eHealth Professional Dr. Steinar Pedersen Receives HIMSS Europe Award for eHealth Leadership

Redactie Medicalfacts — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:47:29 +0000

HIMSS Europe today delivered its annual Leadership award to Steiner Pedersen, MD, a Norwegian internationally renowned IT health professional ”for having created Europe’s first Research and Development Centre for Telemedicine and for making Tromsø,Norway the centre for development of Telemedicine.” Steinar Pedersen is a medical doctor (ENT) and today he is the CEO of Tromsø [...]

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Use of iPhone to help diagnose nasal fractures in the Emergency Department

Medicalfacts René Luigies — Sat, 05 May 2012 10:56:06 +0000

Nasal fractures are among the most common fractures presenting at the emergency department yet at times can be difficult to initially diagnose due to nasal edema and other factors. Patients are often referred to an ear-nose-throat clinic after being assessed by an emergency department but a 2004 study by Karagama showed that about 80% of nasal [...]

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Key factors linked to lower death rates among patients with heart attacks

Medicalfacts René Luigies — Sat, 05 May 2012 09:45:48 +0000

Reviewing heart attack cases during monthly meetings with emergency medical services and maintaining a positive working environment are two of the relatively inexpensive strategies that can reduce mortality rates among patients with heart attacks, Yale researchers report in a study published in the May issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. These strategies could potentially save [...]

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European Parliament’s Resolution on PIP received with mixed feelings by industry

Medicalfacts René Luigies — Sat, 05 May 2012 08:23:12 +0000

Eucomed welcomes most of the measures in the PIP resolution proposed by the Environment and Public Health (ENVI) Committee of the European Parliament. The PIP resolution was passed unanimously on Wednesday. Many of the measures will improve the current legislative framework for medical devices and have a positive effect on patient safety. However, Eucomed does [...]

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Telehealth technology gets smaller and cheaper; barriers to mHealth remain

Medicalfacts René Luigies — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:13:09 +0000

The devices are getting smaller and the technology’s getting cheaper–but barriers to mHealth have pretty much stayed the same. At this week’s meeting of the American Telemedicine Association in San Jose, Calif., presenters shared ways they’re using smartphones and other hand-held devices to deliver remote care. One example comes out of George Washington University Hospital [...]

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Medtronic Lays Off 220 Workers at Cardiac Unit

Medicalfacts René Luigies — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:21:21 +0000

Medtronic Inc. confirmed that it is laying off about 220 workers from a Mounds View division that makes pacemakers and implantable heart defibrillators. Workers in the cardiac rhythm disease management division were notified last week after officials decided to restructure the unit. It is not clear what types of jobs are being cut. Piper Jaffray [...]

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Withings Body Scale enters into partnership with BodyMediaFIT Armband

Medicalfacts René Luigies — Wed, 02 May 2012 10:40:39 +0000

Withings (@withings) has entered into a partnership with BodyMedia to export data from their popular Wi-Fi Body Scale to the BodyMedia (@BodyMedia) FIT Activity Manager (@BodyMediaFIT) online portal and mobile app. BodyMedia’s FIT armbands capture over 5,000 data points per minute to track every relevant metric of physical activity, including calories burned, steps taken, the level of [...]

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Announcing our first two Medicine X 2012 media partners

Medicalfacts, Janine Budding — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:15:48 +0000

With the inaugural Stanford Medicine X conference just a few months away, I’m so excited to share that Medgadget and Medicalfacts will be joining us in September as media partners. Medgadget, which calls itself as “the Internet journal of emerging medical technologies,” has years of experience covering medicine and emerging technology and is also a [...]

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Doctors divided over value of mobile phone apps to help patients monitor their health

Medicalfacts René Luigies — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:53:51 +0000

A poll conducted by Doctors.net.uk – the UK’s largest and most active network of medical professionals – has found doctors are divided over the benefits of mobile phone apps to help patients better manage their health. The poll of 550 GPs and secondary care doctors across the UK found that 54% agreed that mobile phone [...]

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Survey Finds 85 Percent of Nurses Want to Use Smartphones to Access Current Drug Information

Medicalfacts René Luigies — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:51:20 +0000

Nurses and future nurses are using smartphones at the bedside, and want immediate access to drug reference tools. A recent survey of nearly 4,000 nurses and nursing students found that more and more nurses are turning to mobile technology to help them provide efficient and effective care. Conducted by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW), publisher [...]

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Medical errors reduced by I-PASS, new patient safety and medical education initiative.

Medicalfacts René Luigies — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:59:08 +0000

A new patient safety and medical education initiative, standardizing and improving how patient care is “handed off” during hospital shift changes, can reduce medical errors by as much as 40 percent, report physicians at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Boston. The initiative, called I-PASS, was developed at Boston Children’s Hospital and is currently [...]

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