Readers of this journal will be familiar with the power of data to inform healthcare decisions, processes, policies and investments, with the goal of better patient care. They may also know first-hand how these data are always limited, partial, political and context-dependent,1–3 yet useful and necessary nonetheless. This is one of the data paradoxes recounted in the book by the same name,4 by Professor Klaus Hoeyer, University of Copenhagen. The book examines the work that is required to produce and use data in healthcare, while also exploring the contradictions inherent in these data that make it challenging to inform improvements, practice and policy. It is based on research about the Danish healthcare system, although its arguments are applicable internationally. The paradoxes are universal, as is the data work involved.

The book is rich in conceptual insight, anecdotes and storytelling and questions...

Great diagnosticians are often portrayed as recognising rare diseases that evade the efforts of mere mortals. This makes for great TV and local legends, but does not reflect daily practice, where the most common diagnostic challenge is discriminating between common conditions like pneumonia and heart failure or appendicitis and gastroenteritis.

Questions about how to train the brain to make those distinctions are central to the efforts of many clinician educators. An unresolved issue is whether the structure of knowledge (about diseases and diagnostic pathways) in the physician’s long-term memory or the clinician’s mode of cognition (intuitive or analytical thinking) is more deterministic of diagnostic success. A study1 in this issue of BMJQS sheds light on this issue, but also invites a broader question: is physician cognition still essential for this task at all?

A test of lookalikes

In a two-phase experiment, Mamede et al1...

Telehealth has been in use for decades, yet prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, its adoption rapidly expanded globally, including Australia, India, Europe and North America.1–4 Telehealth is a broad term for healthcare that can be delivered or supported remotely by a variety of clinicians and healthcare professionals. Through telehealth, patients and clinicians do not need to be colocated within the clinic or hospital. Delivered through various modalities, telehealth encompasses video visit encounters, telephone-based encounters, remote patient monitoring technology that transmits data to clinicians and e-visits conducted through secure messages.5 For example, a video visit consists of a real-time virtual interaction among clinicians, patients and potentially caregivers through a secure system, such as Zoom. Telehealth can include patient and provider education, public health and administrative services,5 but our focus is delivery and support of healthcare involving a patient...

Patients are increasingly seeking more accessible, simpler and more streamlined experiences across healthcare. These evolving expectations offer healthcare providers new opportunities to engage with service users, through a growing wave of direct-to-consumer care solutions. The advent of home diagnostics, online pharmacies and, importantly, telemedicine are some key examples of this emerging trend.1 2

By enhancing accessibility, enabling timely care and improving patient engagement, telemedicine holds the potential to significantly improve health outcomes and, potentially, the overall efficiency of healthcare delivery.3 In particular, direct-to-consumer telemedicine allows users to independently initiate medical services remotely. By bypassing traditional intermediaries such as referral clinicians or facilitators, users can establish a direct engagement with healthcare providers via text messaging, video or telephone calls. Despite the advancements in telemedicine adoption during the pandemic,4 its impacts on the various dimensions of quality, as defined by the Institute of...

Listing of Medical Device 2024 Safety Communications

2024 Medical Device Recalls

Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc. (Nasdaq: TNDM) today provided an update on the March 2024 recall of its Apple iOS t:connect mobile app in the United States relating to an issue that can cause rapid depletion of a user’s t:slim X2 insulin pump battery. This battery depletion can result in the pump shuttin

Abiomed Impella CP with SmartAssist provides short-term support to the heart’s ventricle. Nine pumps that failed inspections were mistakenly sent to customers.

On August 5, 2024, Breas Medical initiated a U.S. nationwide correction of 8,186 Vivo 45 LS ventilator devices. Internal testing of the ventilator identified the potential for short term elevated levels of formaldehyde exposure to users under specific conditions. Short term formaldehyde emissions m

B. Braun Medical Inc. (B. Braun), is voluntarily recalling two (2) lots of 0.9% Sodium Chloride for Injection USP 1000 mL in E3 containers within the United States to the consumer level. The voluntary recall has been initiated due to the potential for particulate matter and fluid leakage of the resp

NIM Vital is used during surgery to find, monitor, and stimulate nerves. A software issue is causing issue false negatives even when in contact with a nerve.

Older software versions for CADD-Solis and CADD-Solis VIP may cause pump issues that can cause serious injury or death.

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) is voluntarily recalling one lot of Heparin Sodium in 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection to the consumer level due to the potential for elevated endotoxin levels based on issues related to the bacterial endotoxin test specific to lot number N008235.

Many Exactech knee, ankle, and hip replacement devices were packaged in defective bags and may fail.

ABBOTT PARK, Ill., July 24, 2024 – Abbott has initiated a voluntary medical device correction for a small number of FreeStyle Libre® 3 sensors distributed in the United States during the first half of May 2024. The FreeStyle Libre 3 system includes a sensor, reader and app. This medical device cor

Megadyne is updating the instructions and product labeling to reflect that the Mega Soft Universal pads should not be used in patients under 12 years old.

MEGA Patient Return Electrodes used during monopolar electrosurgery may cause serious burn injuries to patients.

Read the FDA’s recommendations related to four recalls of Megadyne Mega 2000 and Mega Soft patient return electrodes for patient burn injuries.

East Windsor, New Jersey. Aurobindo Pharma USA, Inc., on behalf of AuroHealth, is voluntarily recalling one lot (refer table below) of Healthy Living Migraine Relief, Acetaminophen 250mg, Aspirin (NSAID) 250mg & Caffeine 65mg tablets, to the consumer level as sold through Amazon to known within th

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are one of the most common complications of hospital care and a leading cause of death worldwide.1 Many countries have therefore implemented surveillance systems for HAIs and multifaceted infection prevention and control programmes to reduce their burden. In the USA, regulators have made HAI prevention a national priority by requiring hospitals to report key infections, including central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), catheter-associated urinary tract infections, certain surgical site infections, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia, and Clostridioides difficile infections, to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) via the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) tracking system.2 These data are used to benchmark hospitals and inform CMS’s pay-for-performance programmes.

The result in the USA has largely been a success story that demonstrates the potential impact of coordinated local and federal patient safety efforts, coupled with patient advocacy...