News

Efforts to reduce hospital readmissions are working, but they are not always saving money, according to a new study by healthcare provider Cedars-Sinai, which systematically evaluated the effectiveness and financial benefit of quality improvement programmes at medical centres in the US and elsewhere.

The US health plan Harvard Pilgrim Health Care has signed two outcomes-based contracts with AstraZeneca for its acute coronary disease drug Brilinta and Bydureon, a treatment for Type II diabetes, in which the cost of the drugs will be linked to their effectiveness in actual patients.

Better and cheaper care are the main selling points for a major reform scheduled for 2019. But critics says this timetable is too rushed

Prostate cancer survival rates are the same across Germany, but by using outcomes data to drive improvements, Hamburg’s Martini-Klinik ensures better quality of life post-surgery. It is a pioneer and role model, says Michael Porter, father of value-based healthcare

The growing presence in healthcare of companies like Google, Apple and Amazon is driving the proliferation of untested, unregulated tools and poses a threat to a well-functioning and open health system

In its midterm review of the Digital Single Market Strategy published earlier in May, the Commission set out further measures to advance digital health and care, and promote interconnectedness in European healthcare systems

The European Commission published the results of a public consultation it held to assess the opinions and attitudes of individual EU citizens, including patients, clinicians and health professionals, to future EU-level cooperation on HTA

New approaches to drug regulation and reimbursement are needed to improve access to innovation, advance patients’ rights and ensure patients are involved in policy making and regulatory processes, according to speakers at the 11th European Patients’ Rights day, held in Brussels earlier this month

A comprehensive Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) programme implemented at US healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente’s 20 Northern California medical centres involving nearly 9,000 patients, resulted in a one-third reduction in postoperative complication rates and a 21 per cent reduction in prescriptions of opioid painkillers

A handheld tablet device is helping heart failure patients to manage their disease, according to research presented at the European Society of Cardiology meeting EuroHeartCare in Jonkoping, Sweden on Saturday (20 May)

Nearly half of older adults in Sweden take ten or more medications in their last months of life, often receiving drugs of questionable benefit, according to the first study conducted on the burden of end-of-life medications across an entire population

People are dying from preventable causes at rates higher than expected, according to the first-ever global study, which has uncovered massive inequity of access to, and quality of health care among and within countries, and concludes people are dying from causes with well-known treatments

New research points to a dramatic growth in the use of telemedicine for the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders in rural areas of the US, but that there is a strikingly uneven distribution of services across states

A survey by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) shows 21 EU/EEA countries have in place, or are in the process of installing electronic systems for recording nationwide information on vaccination

The use of health data has the potential to offer significant benefits for patients, healthcare systems, research and innovation, but a sustainable and effective health data ecosystem is needed in order to realise the full potential of these data, according to report from RAND Europe

A comparative analysis of six European health technology assessment (HTA) bodies shows they have divergent approaches to integrating real world data into their assessments of the added value of new treatments

Babies born today in 13 US counties have shorter expected lifespans than their parents did when they were born, according to a new study. For example, life expectancy at birth in Owsley County, Kentucky, was 72.4 years in 1980, dropping to 70.2 years in 2014

The country’s first nationwide survey of patients’ views is intended to provide insights that can be used to improve care quality. This is a chance to accelerate much-needed change, say patient advocates

A hospital in Barcelona is saving money by embracing a proven system for speeding recovery from surgery - without jeopardising patient care. Now it is planned to extend the enhanced recovery scheme around the country