Cellphone hospital ban under review

Many hospitals ban the use of cellphones because of the risk that they may interfere with the functioning of medical equipment. A new study suggests, however, that such bans may actually increase danger to patients, according to CNet.

Using a survey completed by more than 4 000 participants in a meeting of anaesthesiologists in 2003, researchers found that interference from cellphones was rare: Only 2.4% of respondents reported encountering the problem.

At the same time, the researchers found that using cellphones instead of pagers was associated with a 22% reduction in the risk of medical error or injury resulting from communication delay.

Revivio, provider of continuous data protection (CDP) technology, showcased its application recovery solutions at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2006 annual conference and exhibition, according to a company statement.

The conference, held on 12 February in California, is dedicated to transforming healthcare through IT. Attendees were shown how Revivio`s offerings recover healthcare applications such as McKesson Horizon and Lawson Financial systems.

Based on Revivio`s CDP technology, Revivio`s solutions are used for rapid application recovery in the event of local or site-wide disaster such as the hurricanes of 2005.

The World Health Organisation has produced a policy brief titled: Health technology assessment: an introduction to objectives, role of evidence, and structure in Europe, reports Medical Technology Business Europe.

The policy brief introduces the concept of a health technology assessment, which examines the short and long-term consequences on health and resource use of the application of a health technology.

It is concerned with the medical, organisational, economic and societal consequences of implementing health technology or interventions within the health system. It systematically evaluates the effects of a technology on health, on the availability and distribution of resources and on other aspects of health system performance such as equity and responsiveness.