New Today, April 22, 2008

AHRQ Web Site Spotlights 100 Examples of Health Care Innovations

Apr. 20--A new Web resource that allows users to learn, share, and adopt innovations in the delivery of health services was launched last week by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The resource--called the Health Care Innovations Exchange--is available at www.innovations.ahrq.gov. More…

Physician-Hospital Integration Redux

Apr. 22--High-performing health systems have aligned themselves more closely with physicians by creating hospital-based, multispecialty group practices. More…

Industry Leaders Set Standards of Excellence for Telephonic Medical Consults

Apr. 21--As the marketplace demonstrates its continued confidence in telephone medical consults delivered by physicians to improve access to quality care in both urban and rural communities throughout the nation, the emergence of industry standards will help to guide decision-makers in public and private sectors. A newly released white paper entitled "A Model for Telephonic Medical Consults: Guidelines for Decision-makers," articulates the optimal standards of care for telehealth programs, which currently serve more than 1.2M Americans.
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Microbial Resistance Towards Antibiotics: Still A Critical Issue

Apr. 21--ECCMID Opening Press Conference. "The problem of antibiotic resistance continues to grow and this is mainly a consequence of longstanding misuse and abuse of antimicrobial agents", said Prof. Fernando Baquero, Congress President (Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid). Among all the pathogens, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a frequent culprit in infections More…

Surgeons give hope to blind with successful 'bionic eye' operations

Apr. 22--Surgeons have carried out the first operations in Britain using a pioneering "bionic eye" that could in future help to restore blind people’s sight.
Two successful operations to implant the device into the eyes of two blind patients have been conducted at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.
The device — the first of its kind — incorporates a video camera and transmitter mounted on a pair of glasses. This is linked to an artificial retina, which transmits moving images along the optic nerve to the brain and enables the patient to discriminate rudimentary images of motion, light and dark. More..