DRGs in Transfusion Medicine and Hemotherapy in Germany.

'Sterility Testing of Blood Components and Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products' (Munich, April 29, 2010) Organized by the DGTI Section 'Safety in Hemotherapy' - Meeting Report.

Neither screening method completely detects all clinically relevant bacterial contaminations. The effect of sampling time and volume as well as standardization of the assay applied has also to be taken into account. Therefore, minimizing the risk of contamination during manufacture by measures such as donor selection, skin disinfection, division, and processing within closed systems remains cru...

Perspectives in transfusion medicine and cellular therapies.

ticular, represent novel therapeutic approaches in the attempt to reverse disease progression and to cure patients in the long term. The latest advances in these fields raise hope for many patients. Specialists in transfusion medicine are encouraged to get more involved to help improving the practice and standardization of cellular therapies such as the so-called advanced therapeutical medicina...

Diagnostic methods for platelet bacteria screening: current status and developments.

Bacterial contamination of blood components and the prevention of transfusion-associated bacterial infection still remains a major challenge in transfusion medicine. Over the past few decades, a significant reduction in the transmission of viral infections has been achieved due to the introduction of mandatory virus screening. Platelet concentrates (PCs) represent one of the highest risks for b...

The Art of Compromise in Transfusion/Transplantation Medicine (and Some Parallels in Classical Literature).

Heterogeneity of European DRG Systems and Potentials for a Common Eurodrg System; Comment on “Cholecystectomy and Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRGs): Patient Classification and Hospital Reimbursement in 11 European Countries”

Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) systems across Europe are very heterogeneous, in particular because of different classification variables and algorithms as well as costing methodologies. But, given the challenge of increasing patient mobility within Europe, health systems are forced to incorporate a common patient classification language in order to compare and identify similar patients e.g. for ...