Supply chain management and collaboration: cardiology device procurement

"This initiative helps organisations within a large geographical area (in this case the South West) to smooth price differentials while maintaining choice for clinicians and focusing strongly on quality. This case study describes a collaborative approach across 10 interested NHS acute trusts in the region for procuring cardiology products."

Supply chain management and collaboration: cardiology device procurement
Avon,Gloucestershire,Wiltshire, and Somerset Cardiac & Stroke Network
NICE Quality and Productivity case study

November 2015

Read more here. 

Insights on earlier adoption of medical innovations

"The aims of this piece of work are:

• To identify the key features of systems in which drugs, devices and diagnostics are assessed from trials to patients quickly, by considering a number of global ‘front-runners’;
• To understand how these systems work in practice;
• To reflect on the challenges and opportunities to effectively translate into the UK’s health system"

Insights on earlier adoption of medical innovations: An international review of emerging and effective practice in improving access to medicines and medical technology
S Wooding, G Cochrane, J Taylor, A Kamenetzky, S Sousa, S Parks
Rand Europe
July 2015

Read more here.

How can we improve the recognition, reporting and resolution of medical device-related incidents in hospitals?

"The results of this qualitative study has the potential to provide some initial steps to the design and development of a hospital medical device surveillance system that would help to improve the patient safety and health care delivery."

How can we improve the recognition, reporting and resolution of medical device-related incidents in hospitals? A qualitative study of physicians and registered nurses
J Polisena, A Gagliardi, T Clifford
BMC Health Services Research 2015, 15:220  doi:10.1186/s12913-015-0886-0

Read more here.

Funding schemes for innovative medical devices

"To manage the uncertainty surrounding the reimbursement of innovation, several European countries have set up temporary funding schemes to generate evidence about the effectiveness of devices. This article explores two different French approaches to funding innovative in-hospital devices and collecting supplementary data."

Special funding schemes for innovative medical devices in French hospitals: The pros and cons of two different approaches
N Martellia, H van den Brink
Health Policy, April 2014

Read more here.

Patient safety alerts to increase incident reporting

NHS England and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency have issued two patient safety alerts to improve incident reporting for medication errors and medical devices. They aim to improve data report quality and prompt the establishment of national networks of online learning which will work to improve communication and sharing of safe practice ideas in order to reduce harm.

Find out more and access the alerts with their supporting information here.

Medical device alarm safety in hospitals

"These devices present a multitude of challenges and opportunities for health care organizations when their alarms create similar sounds, when their default settings are not changed, and when there is a failure to respond to their alarm signals."

Medical device alarm safety in hospitals
The Joint Commission Sentinel Event Alert
Joint Commission
Issue 50
April 2013

Read more here.