The ever-growing implementation of information technologies in healthcare and medicine, especially the developments of electronic medical records (EMR) and the connection of clinical data bases, as well as the freedom these systems offer in relation to their usage force the development of new policy and security procedures for protection the privacy and confidentiality of medical data. As more ...

Communication between healthcare professionals and patients as part of the therapeutic process is often restricted to short, episodic face-to-face encounters within healthcare institutions. The absence of a continuous communication process that extends the face-to-face encounter to include the therapeutic process outside the institution limits the support and guidance healthcare professionals c...

Last year marked the 150th anniversary of the publication of Ignaz Semmelweis’ landmark monograph on hand hygiene – at the time hand disinfection with chlorinated lime solution – as a means to prevent nosocomial infections [1]. All the necessary scientific evidence that improved hand hygiene practices in healthcare indeed reduce healthcare-associated infections and patient-to-patient transmissi...

The increasing demand for nurses in the United States has created a rivalry among healthcare institutions seeking to attract personnel with such enticements as sign-on bonuses, gift incentives, and rewards. Organizations may concentrate on recruitment incentives and ignore their core programs and staff retention efforts. At our large, tertiary academic medical center, we recognized the need to ...

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) simulation and audiovisual (AV) devices are technological tools that can improve the patient experience during imaging procedures and lead to overall healthcare benefits for patients, healthcare providers, and institutions. AV devices, such as MRI-compatible goggles and headphones, offer the potential to improve the patient experience. These options can be offer...

Interconnections between the faith-based and medical sectors are multifaceted and have existed for centuries, including partnerships that have evolved over the past several decades in the U.S. This paper outlines ten points of intersection that have engaged medical and healthcare professionals and institutions across specialties, focusing especially on primary care, global health, and community...

The Francis report reflects the need for students, like all members of the healthcare team, “to make the protection of patients their priority.” 2 Since 2008, when the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Open School opened its virtual doors, more than 150 000 students and faculty across the world have accepted this call. The school provides online courses in quality improvement, patient ...