PurposeBeing able to compare hospitals in terms of quality and safety between countries is important for a number of reasons. For example, the 2011 European Union directive on patients' rights to cross-border health care places a requirement on all member states to provide patients with comparable information on health-care quality, so that they can make an informed choice. Here, we report on the feasibility of using common process and outcome indicators to compare hospitals for quality and safety in five countries (England, Portugal, The Netherlands, Sweden and Norway).Main Challenges IdentifiedThe cross-country comparison identified the following seven challenges with respect to comparing the quality of hospitals across Europe: different indicators are collected in each country; different definitions of the same indicators are used; different mandatory versus voluntary data collection requirements are in place; different types of organizations oversee data collection; different levels of aggregation of data exist (country, region and hospital); different levels of public access to data exist; and finally, hospital accreditation and licensing systems differ in each country.ConclusionOur findings indicate that if patients and policymakers are to compare the quality and safety of hospitals across Europe, then further work is urgently needed to agree the way forward. Until then, patients will not be able to make informed choices about where they receive their health care in different countries, and some governments will remain in the dark about the quality and safety of care available to their citizens as compared to that available in neighbouring countries.

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This article examines career building for visual artists, whereby a successful career is defined as exhibiting work, reaching a wide audience, and making a living by selling art. Using insights from management, marketing, entrepreneurship, and sociology, the authors develop a conceptual model for constructing a successful career, the Building Blocks of Artistic Careers model (BBAC). Pursuing such a career entails entrepreneurial and marketing skills, cultivation of relationships with art world gatekeepers, brand creation strategies, and reputation management. The article contributes to the literature of visual arts entrepreneurship, has implications for art school curricula, and raises issues for further research.

The oil & gas companies operating in the Norwegian Continental Shelf have commonly used the capabilities approach within the context of Integrated Operations. This approach focuses on understanding organisations as dynamic systems and provides concepts and a language for developing resources. Recent efforts are focusing on extending Integrated Operations and the capabilities approach to medical services offshore, specifically on the use of telemedicine. Telemedicine in this context involves the connection between offshore and onshore medical staff through the use of communication systems, as well the distribution of medical data obtained offshore (for instance HD images or vital signs readings). In this work we describe the elaboration of a new tool: the Capability Development Resource Matrix, based on the People - Capability Maturity Model (P-CMM) proposed by Curtis, Hefley, and Miller in 2009. This tool is designed to guide organisational development and is generated directly from the work with industry partners, being continuously tested and improved. We discuss the tool’s value for planning, development, and implementation of telemedicine in Oil & Gas and other contexts. We wrap-up with considerations about future steps in the methodology conception and evaluation.

Background: Norway has one of the best health systems in the world. However, it has a low birth rate, which decreased by 21.2% between 2009 and 2018, and one of the highest rates of infertility prevalence. The aim of this study is to understand how Norwegian doctors perceive female infertility diseases, namely those that are more difficult to diagnose and to treat, and that are more common in their practice. Method: Descriptive qualitative study was conducted with gynecologists and general practitioners. The sample resulted from the establishment of five criteria and on the doctors’ acceptance to participate in this study. Our sample comprised thirteen highly qualified and experienced doctors. Qualitative content analysis was the method chosen to analyze the collected data. Results: Clinical diseases (polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis and vulvodynia) and consequences of these diseases were the pinpointed themes. These led to a set of sub-themes: the main symptoms and the treatment of the diseases, from the perspective of both women and doctors (stigmatization, disturbances in women’s daily life, diagnostic delay, and governmental support). Conclusions: The three most relevant disorders mentioned were polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis and vulvodynia. These diseases cause several impacts on the lives of women, because they feel stigmatized and limited in their daily life and sexuality, and the diagnosis of these diseases takes too much time. Governments should better redistribute the financing of women’s health and allocate resources to specialized centers.