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Oslo University Hospital Strengthens Innovation Leadership

June 8, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Deploys Induct Open Innovation Environment Across Entire Organization; Virtual
Communities in Response to Norwegian Government`s Call for Greater Coordination
of Healthcare Providers
OSLO & BOSTON–(Business Wire)–
Oslo University Hospital and Induct Software AS (Induct), “The Open Innovation
Company,” today announced a long term strategic partnership Agreement under
which the parties will work together to help Oslo University Hospital achieve
its goal of becoming the world leader in healthcare innovation.

Oslo University Hospital was formed by the merger of Rikshospitalet (The
National Hospital), Ullevaal University Hospital, and Aker University Hospital.
With 24,000 employees, the new Oslo University Hospital is one of the largest
hospitals in Europe, with a yearly operating budget of 17B NOK ($2.6B).

Oslo University Hospital has a rich history of innovation and is currently
establishing a complete infrastructure for innovation. Its “Clinic of
Innovation” has helped to build an internationally recognized culture of
innovation that reaches from the hospital`s boardroom to workers at every level,
and even involves external constituents such as vendors and suppliers. Oslo
University Hospital is also part of an EU-funded regional healthcare innovation
zone that includes major hospitals in Sweden and Denmark.

Open Innovation Partnership

Under the terms of the Agreement, Oslo University Hospital will work with Induct
to ensure that Induct`s Web-based innovation management service meets the
specialized needs of healthcare professionals at every level.

Induct revolutionizes the way that companies think about innovation. Based on
the pioneering work of UC Berkeley Professor Henry Chesbrough, author of the
book `Open Innovation,` and one of the acknowledged leaders in the open
innovation field, Induct integrates Enterprise 2.0 technology and social
networking concepts with a flexible and customizable innovation process
management framework. The result is a `Software as a Service` (SaaS) platform
that allows organizations to easily practice open innovation through the
creation of virtual Innovation Communities.

“We are dedicated to exploiting the potential for innovation of Norway`s public
health sector, primarily through user-driven and employee-driven innovation,”
said Professor Kari Kvaerner, Innovation Director, Oslo University Hospital.
“The merger of the hospitals has three primary goals; to improve the quality of
care we provide for our patients, increased operational efficiency, and
improvements in the region`s public health sector. To help achieve these goals,
and to facilitate our transition to a more open innovation environment, the
Hospital will be deploying a new platform for innovation cooperation based on
Induct to our employees. The creativity of 24,000 employees in combination with
software that facilitates structured implementation of ideas holds great
promise. We also believe we will realize significant cost savings from the
increased levels of innovation, collaboration, and information sharing achieved
through the Induct Innovation Community.”

Norway Calls for Coordination Reform

Bjarne Hakon Hanssen, Norway`s former Minister of Health and Social Affairs, has
stated, “I have one central aim as Minister of Health. I want to improve
coordination and cooperation between the different health service providers…We
are among the countries spending the most on health and social services in the
world. One fourth of our national budget is spent on health. Our hospital budget
has doubled over the last seven years. However, we do not get enough health care
in return. The analysis is simple; how do we get more health for the money we
spend?…In my view there is a serious lack of coordination between hospitals
and primary health care. There is a lack of coordination in all segments of the
health care services. There is insufficient contact between municipalities and
the hospitals; between the municipalities; within the municipalities; and within
the hospitals. This needs to be addressed.”

“Norway`s Minister of Health has stated that `Norway spends the most money in
the world on health, but does not get the most health in return for each Krone.`
He has presented a new health reform program calling for increased levels of
coordination and cooperation between hospitals and municipalities, and has asked
how technology can help improve the situation,” continued Kari Kvaerner. “Oslo
University Hospital`s intention is to become the world leader in healthcare
innovation. Today we are taking another important step towards that goal by
making Induct`s open innovation management system available to all employees. We
believe that through the use of Induct`s virtual Innovation Communities, we will
start to address these important public healthcare issues, and be able to
deliver better healthcare with less cost.”

“Coordination and cooperation issues have been identified in countries,
municipalities, and hospitals worldwide as one of the root causes of healthcare
delivery inefficiency,” said Alf Martin Johansen, Chairman and founder of Induct
Software, AS. “Our ongoing partnership with a healthcare innovation leader like
Oslo University Hospital ensures that Induct will continue to offer the best
possible solution for innovation management in healthcare and other important
industry sectors.”

To find out more about Oslo University Hospital, visit http://www.oslous.no/

To find out more about Induct, visit www.inductsoftware.com

©2010 Induct Software AS – Induct , Innovation Community, Innovation
Communities, The Open Innovation Company, and the Induct four-colored logo are
trademarks of Induct Software AS. Copyright © Induct Software AS. All rights
reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For Oslo University Hospital
Beate Viktoria Ørbeck, +47 994 92 338
Communication Adviser,
rbbe@uus.no
or
For Induct Software
Alf Martin Johansen, +47 415 80 000
AMJ@InductSoftware.com
or
David M. Burns, 617-487-5872
David.Burns@InductSoftware.com

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Acknowledged Leaders, Boston Business, External Constituents, Healthcare Innovation, Innovation Company, Innovation Environment, Innovation Leadership, Innovation Management Service, Innovation Partnership, Innovation Process Management, Innovation Zone, Networking Concepts, Norwegian Government, oslo university, Partnership Agreement, Professor Henry, Regional Healthcare, social networking, strategic partnership, Uc Berkeley Professor

Regular exercise benefits older women as much as younger women

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 19 (ANI): Regular vigorous exercise benefits postmenopausal women just like younger women, according to two studies.

The results were based on the studies of endurance training in 50-something women.

“There is some good news here for older women in the population, in that they respond much like younger women do to training. The results are very encouraging for exercise without weight loss as an effective means for increasing vigour and controlling risk factors for chronic diseases in older women,” said study leader and exercise physiologist George Brooks, UC Berkeley professor of integrative biology.

“There have been very few studies looking at postmenopausal women, who are different because of decreased estrogen, decreased lean body mass and decreased aerobic capacity. Yet, despite changes in hormones and changes in body composition, postmenopausal women can make significant changes in their cardiovascular fitness without going on extreme diets,” said Dr. Zinta Zarins.

Although the endurance training involved cycling on an exercise bike for an hour, five days a week, at 65 percent of maximum lung capacity, the researchers noted that even less strenuous aerobic exercise would likely produce some benefit.

“Most people don’t exercise at this level, but some exercise is better than none at all,” said Zarins.

He noted that 60 minutes of jogging on a treadmill or swimming should be as effective as an hour on a stationary bike.

Brooks noted that a woman’s metabolism changes as her hormone levels change after menopause, affecting glucose clearance from the blood, for example.

The study was conducted to determine whether women achieve the same benefits from endurance training after menopause as they did before.

“We’ve done lots of studies on the effects of activity and training on metabolism in younger men and women, but this is the first in an older population,” said Brooks.

The researchers found that participants increased their body’s capacity to consume and use oxygen – their VO2 max – by an average of 16 percent and dropped their resting heart rates by an average of 4 beats per minute.

Brooks said that after the age of 30, people lose the capacity to consume and use oxygen at about 1 percent per year.

“So, in effect, the women in our study had the cardiovascular and metabolic capabilities of women 16 years younger,” he said.

At the end of the study, the women’s blood pressure during exercise had dropped by 8 millimetres of mercury, while their heart rates were 19 beats per minute less when performing at the same intensity as early in the study.

Besides, the women decreased their carbohydrate burning during exercise and increased their fat burning by about 10 percent.

Women in the study maintained their body weight as a way to balance energy input and expenditures.

A second paper showed that the women’s use of blood glucose and their insulin levels during exercise showed similarities to those of younger women.

The first study was published in the latest issue of the journal Metabolism – Clinical and Experimental, while the second study was published in an earlier issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: aerobic capacity, Aerobic Exercise, Body Composition, cardiovascular fitness, chronic diseases, controlling risk, Endurance Training, exercise bike, exercise physiologist, george brooks, hormone levels change, integrative biology, lean body mass, lung capacity, postmenopausal women, stationary bike, study leader, Uc Berkeley Professor, vigorous exercise, zarins

Spraying DDT indoors to fight malaria may affect human health

May 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 5 (ANI): A review of recent studies on the link between DDT and human health has determined that the current practice of spraying the pesticide DDT indoors to fight malaria is leading to unprecedented and insufficiently monitored levels of exposure to it.

The review was done by a panel of experts and citizens.

After a review of nearly 500 epidemiological studies, the researchers developed a consensus statement calling for increased efforts to reduce exposure to DDT, to understand the health effects of exposure to DDT, and to develop alternatives to using DDT so that other methods could ultimately be relied upon for malaria control.

Examples of non-chemical measures to control malaria include the use of bed nets, draining sources of standing water or filling them up with soil, and the rapid diagnosis and treatment of malaria cases.

“We have to put our concerns in the context of people dying of malaria,” said lead author Brenda Eskenazi, UC Berkeley professor of epidemiology and of maternal and child health at the School of Public Health.

“We know DDT can save lives by repelling and killing disease-spreading mosquitoes. But, evidence suggests that people living in areas where DDT is used are exposed to very high levels of the pesticide,” she added.

According to Eskenazi, the only published studies on health effects conducted in these populations have shown profound effects on male fertility.

“Clearly, more research is needed on the health of populations where indoor residual spraying is occurring, but in the meantime, DDT should really be the last resort against malaria rather than the first line of defense,” she said.

The researchers noted that the majority of studies on DDT have focused on the impact on wildlife and the environment.

Of the studies published on human health, almost all have dealt with populations exposed to low, background levels of DDT.

Nevertheless, some of those studies have suggested links between DDT and cancer risk, diabetes, developmental problems in fetuses and in children, and decreased fertility.

“Any studies conducted up to now on the human health effects from DDT exposure may not be relevant to the populations currently exposed to the pesticide through indoor residual spraying,” said Eskenazi.

Moreover, most of the studies on DDT and human health were done in developed countries where the pesticide was banned in the 1970s, the researchers said.

According to co-author Jonathan Chevrier “DDT is now used in countries where many of the people are malnourished, extremely poor and possibly suffering from immune-compromising diseases such as AIDS, which may increase their susceptibility to chemical exposures.” (ANI)

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Regular exercise benefits older women as much as younger women

Spraying DDT indoors to fight malaria may affect human health

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