With so many emerging drugs, medical devices, and procedures coming to market, how can health professionals, administrators, and patients identify the ones that could truly have a significant impact in Canada? That’s where the Canadian Network for Environmental Scanning in Health (CNESH) comes in. For the second consecutive year CNESH, along with a panel of clinical experts, have been working to identify which new and emerging health technologies hold the greatest promise to improve both the lives of patients and the delivery of health care. The 2015 Top 10 New and Emerging Health Technology Watch List includes five emerging drugs and five innovative medical devices. “Every day we read sensational stories about the promise of new health technologies and wonder if they will really make a difference to
Category: hospitals
Smuggling a Beer for My Hospital Patient
When I think about being a doctor, I think of adrenaline and a rush of decisions and the hope of saving lives. But I also think of one moment in a hospital room sharing a smuggled Guinness.
A notable passing
The New York Times reports on the closing of the F. A. O. Schwarz toy store at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street. Many people will remember a scene from the store in the Tom Hanks movie Big.My memory is related to that scene. My best friend growing up, Michael Sack, was the son of Harold Sack, one of the brothers who owned and operated Israel Sack, Inc., the most prominent antiques dealer in America. They sold furniture to Jackie Kennedy at the White House, among other places. Their showroom was on 57th Street, just a few yards from Schwarz. As young boys, Mike and I would sometimes accompany Harold to work, and we’d play ball with our pink “Spauldeens” (yes!) among the
Where you stand . . .
In one of the more interesting demonstrations of “where you stand depends on where you sit,” please note the co-author of this well done Perspective article in the NEJM, “The Good Merger.” The key quote:A “good” merger or affiliation is one that increases the value of health care by reducing costs, improving outcomes, or both, thereby enabling providers to generate and respond to competition. The all-too-common alternative is a merger intended to reduce competition — to ensure referral streams (which would otherwise be earned through superior offerings) or to help providers negotiate higher prices and thereby avoid the difficult work of improving outcomes and efficiency. The co-author, Thomas H. Lee, now the chief medical officer of Press Ganey, was previously
Parkview Health plans $80M cancer center in Fort Wayne
Parkview Health in Fort Wayne has announced plans for an $80 million cancer center on an existing campus in the city. The plan was announced Wednesday.
How to fake science
Journalist Johannes Bohannon tells the story of how he crafted an “experiment” that “proved” that eating chocolate helps weight loss–and sold it to millions of readers in the media world. How timely, especially the part about journalistic laziness. Think of how often the techniques employed here been applied by medical equipment manufacturers and others. Excerpts, with my emphasis:Could we get something published? Probably. But beyond that? I thought it was sure to fizzle. We science journalists like to think of ourselves as more clever than the average hack. After all, we have to understand arcane scientific research well enough to explain it. And for reporters who don’t have science chops, as soon as they tapped outside sources for their stories—really anyone with a science degree,
ECMC appoints Cleland as CEO, Quatroche as president
A year after his appointment to the interim post, Richard Cleland has been approved as permanent CEO for the Erie County Medical Center Corp. , while Thomas Quatroche was named president. The appointments by the ECMC board of directors follow a practice of promoting from within at the Buffalo trauma center.
Traveling nurse accused of diverting drugs from Concord Hospital, altering patients’ medical charts
A traveling nurse assigned to the emergency department of Concord Hospital is accused of pocketing prescription narcotics, including morphine and fetanyl, and altering the medical charts of patients, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. The New Hampshire Board of Nursing found the allegations against nurse Kerry Bridges involved “immenent danger to public health, safety and/or welfare” and immediately suspended her license while it investigates.
F.B.I. Investigates Whether Harm From Surgical Power Tool Was Ignored
A doctor confirmed that the F.B.I. has spoken to him about morcellators, power tools that can slice tissue into tiny pieces for easier removal, but could also scatter undetected cancer cells.
FBI Is Investigating Hysterectomy Device Found to Spread Uterine Cancer
The morcellator surgical tool was found to spread uterine cancer, and the FBI is examining what the largest maker of it, Johnson & Johnson, knew about the hazards The FBI is investigating a surgical device that was found to spread cancer in women, including looking into what the largest manufacturer of it, Johnson & Johnson, knew about the tool’s hazards before pulling it off the market last year, according to people who have been interviewed by the agency. It is unclear what stage the inquiry is in.