Industry News
Eureka! We've Found a Use for the Appendix!
At this year's Australia Museum Eureka Prizes, a ninth-grader stole the show with her myth-busting video explain just exactly why we have an appendix. Her diagnosis of the misunderstood organ's crucial role in gut health saw Paige Bebee from Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School in Victoria awarded the University of Sydney Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize – Secondary category for her video, The Secret of the Appendix. [ + ]
Revisions to National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards
The National Safety and Quality in Health Services Standards were introduced in 2011 by The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission), under the National Health Reform Act. [ + ]
A Guide to a Second Medical Opinion
Michael Vagg, Barwon Health [ + ]
Epigenetics: Phenomenon or Quackery?
Jeffrey Craig, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute [ + ]
Australians Are Undergoing Unnecessary Surgery
For decades, clinicians and researchers have been concerned about patients getting treatments, including operations, that don’t work. As well as failing to treat the original health problem, ineffective care exposes patients to complications and side-effects and waste precious health-care resources. [ + ]
How We Can Increase Australia's Organ Donation Rate
Aric Bendorf, University of Sydney; Ainsley Newson, University of Sydney, and Ian Kerridge, University of Sydney [ + ]
Chronic Insomnia Treatment with Half-And-Half Placebo Replacement
The science of sleep medicine has long proved difficult in the treatment of chronic insomnia, with researchers still not convinced of the effectiveness of sleeping pills currently on the market. However, researchers at Penn University in the US have found that a half-and-half mixture of sleeping pills and placebo tablets might be just as effective as a nightly schedule of sleep medication for treating chronic insomnia. [ + ]
Dancing in the Theatre - Music Improves Surgeons' Performance
Surgeons perform faster and with more accuracy when listening to music, according to a study published in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal. [ + ]
On Our Agenda: Looking Towards the Future of Healthcare
Technology company Polycom conducted a survey of over 1,200 healthcare professionals between October 2014 – April 2015. The respondents were asked about what they believed were the greatest challenges to the future of healthcare. While funding and access to healthcare were clear leaders in current challenges to healthcare, North American respondents indicated that the heavy demand on health service infrastructure was the biggest strain on their own industry. To overcome these healthcare bottlenecks by 2025, technology developments such as mobile, the Internet of Things (IoT) and big data, will play a critical role. [ + ]
Queensland Adds Dedicated eHealth Division
At this week’s Health Informatics Conference 2015, Queensland Health announced the founding of eHealth Queensland, a dedicated eHealth division in a move to bring together the statewide rollout of electronic medical records (EMRs) in state hospitals and patient information viewing solution called The Viewer. [ + ]
Mater Brisbane Upgrades Virtual Desktops with Nutanix-Citrix
Mater Health Services Brisbane has upgraded its IT infrastructure to meet growing demands for its network of 2,000 virtual desktops which will number 5,000 units in hospitals, clinics, remote sites and on ruggedised devices in the field over the next 18 months. [ + ]
Health Check: What Causes Headaches?
Michael Vagg, Barwon Health [ + ]
Reducing Depression in Nursing Homes Requires More than Just Antidepressants
Sunil Bhar, Swinburne University of Technology [ + ]
Strict Guides for Benzodiazepines Prescription
A new set of guidelines has been developed for GPs prescribing benzodiazepines, due to a significant debate in the medical community about the appropriate role and use of these drugs and this has been exacerbated by a lack of clinical guidelines in the area. [ + ]