Propensity score-matching analyses on the effectiveness of integrated prospective payment program for patients with prolonged mechanical ventilation
Prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV) is defined in the USA, UK, and Taiwan as continuous mechanical ventilator support of more than 6 h a day for over 21 days [1–3]. The incidence rates of PMV were 4–13% in USA, UK, and Canada [1,2,4,5] and 20.7% in Taiwan [6]. The main factors affecting PMV included age, condition severity [7,8], history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic renal disease, procedure variables [ 9] and psychophysiological issues [10,11]. (Source: Health Policy)
Source: Health Policy - July 19, 2018 Category: Health Management Authors: Chin-Jung Liu, Pei-Tseng Kung, Chia-Chen Chu, Wen-Yu Chou, Yueh-Hsin Wang, Wen-Chen Tsai Source Type: research
Local authority commissioning of NHS Health Checks: a regression analysis of the first three years
The overarching aim of the national NHS Health Check (NHSHC) programme is to reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks and events by addressing behavioural and physiological risk factors driving premature mortality and preventable morbidity [1,2]. Considered to be the largest and most ambitious programme of its type worldwide [3], it targets people aged 40 to 74 who have no diagnosed vascular disease such as CVD, diabetes or other cardio-metabolic condition [4]. (Source: Health Policy)
Source: Health Policy - July 19, 2018 Category: Health Management Authors: Anne Mason, Dan Liu, Linda Marks, Howard Davis, David Hunter, Llinos Mary Jehu, Shelina Visram, Joanne Smithson Source Type: research
Healthcare assistants in EU Member States: an overview
With many European countries facing health workforce shortages, especially in nursing, as well as a growing number of chronically ill patients and an increasing demand for healthcare [1], the importance of healthcare assistants (HCAs) in modern healthcare systems is expected to grow strongly. HCAs now comprise a significant part of healthcare teams, working closely with registered nurses and other health professionals [2,3]. Their positions are proliferating across all healthcare settings [4] and they are undertaking a substantial number of tasks, as acknowledged by other health workers, including nurses [5]. (Source: Health Policy)
Source: Health Policy - July 15, 2018 Category: Health Management Authors: Marieke Kroezen, Willemijn Sch äfer, Walter Sermeus, Johan Hansen, Ronald Batenburg Source Type: research
An analysis of expenditures on primary care prescription drugs in the United States versus ten comparable countries
Concern about the cost of prescription medications in the United States (US) is growing, in large part due to recent increases in the prices of new drugs and older ones.[1,2] Prudent management of pharmaceutical expenditures is important so that health systems can ensure universal and affordable access to available medicines,[3] and so that the pricing system provides appropriate incentives for valued innovation. (Source: Health Policy)
Source: Health Policy - July 15, 2018 Category: Health Management Authors: Steven G. Morgan, Chester B. Good, Christine Leopold, Anna Kaltenboeck, Peter B. Bach, Anita Wagner Source Type: research
Public policies on healthcare associated infections: a case study of three countries
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a phenomenon of global concern, leading to high morbidity and mortality, and requiring the implementation of effective public policies to defeat them [1,2]. So far, few national programs for prevention and control of HAIs are fully successful. Many countries still present insufficient actions to achieve good results [3]. (Source: Health Policy)
Source: Health Policy - July 15, 2018 Category: Health Management Authors: Cassimiro Nogueira, Maria Clara Padoveze Source Type: research
Healthcare reforms, inertia polarization and group influence
Given the amount of resources invested, the symbolic importance attributed to the concept of health, and the healthcare system ’s role in determining health, care delivery systems are core components of modern societies. This makes them the focal point of intense policy and media attention. Suboptimal care accessibility or quality, as well as inefficiencies in resource allocation, are generally perceived in the media and political spheres as legitimate policy intervention targets. Common wisdom dictates that governments and public institutions are expected to "do something" to correct existing deficiencies. (Source: Health Policy)
Source: Health Policy - July 15, 2018 Category: Health Management Authors: Damien Contandriopoulos, Astrid Brousselle, Catherine Larouche, Mylaine Breton, Mich èle Rivard, Marie-Dominique Beaulieu, Jeannie Haggerty, Geneviève Champagne, Mélanie Perroux Source Type: research
Primary health care nurses ’ views on patients’ abilities and resources to make choices and take decisions on health care
Health care organisations are expert organisations in which patients have traditionally had little influence on the care they receive, let alone on the practices of health care facilities. While this view has not completely disappeared, we can observe a general trend towards patients ’ increasing involvement in their care [1]. One example of this is the increased amount of choice that patients have, which has been an important aim in many health care reforms implemented around Europe (e.g. [2–6]). (Source: Health Policy)
Source: Health Policy - July 15, 2018 Category: Health Management Authors: Outi Jolanki, Liina-Kaisa Tynkkynen Source Type: research
Towards incentivising integration: A typology of payments for integrated care
There is a general policy consensus that current models of care are not adequate for addressing health system challenges faced globally [1]. Ageing populations and rising levels of multimorbidity are increasing demand for services across sectors of care. This increases the risks of fragmented or conflicting treatment with potential for inefficiency and for harm [2,3]. Concurrently, healthcare budget restraints in light of financial crises and concerns over long-term fiscal burden have created a move towards ‘integrated care’, which are “structured efforts to provide coordinated, pro-active, person-centred, multidisci...
Source: Health Policy - July 12, 2018 Category: Health Management Authors: Jonathan Stokes, Verena Struckmann, S øren Rud Kristensen, Sabine Fuchs, Ewout van Ginneken, Apostolos Tsiachristas, Maureen Rutten van Mölken, Matt Sutton Source Type: research
Migration intentions of Lithuanian physicians, nurses, residents and medical students
Intra-EU disparities foster considerable international mobility of healthcare professionals within the EU [1,2]. Destination country health systems benefit from free mobility as foreign-trained workforces fill healthcare professionals ’ shortages, increase the cultural diversity of employees, and save financial, time and organizational resources related to educating healthcare professionals, though foreign personnel inflows can raise issues like onward mobility, repatriation, the time-, capacity- and money-consuming integration of foreign healthcare professionals (e.g., language, induction courses) [2,3]. (Source: Health Policy)
Source: Health Policy - July 6, 2018 Category: Health Management Authors: Bernadeta Go štautaitė, Ilona Bučiūnienė, Žemyna Milašauskienė, Karolis Bareikis, Eglė Bertašiūtė, Gabija Mikelionienė Source Type: research
Centralisation of cancer surgery and the impact on patients ’ travel burden
Over the last decades, the association between hospital treatment volumes and outcomes of treatment has been widely reported, most notably with respect to complex surgical treatment and surgery-related outcome measures like postoperative mortality [1 –4]. Although the exact mechanisms underlying a volume-outcome relationship remain to be elucidated [5], observations of this association across different types of cancer surgery appeared to have provided ample warrant for the trend towards centralising these procedures in many Western countries [ 6–10]. (Source: Health Policy)
Source: Health Policy - July 6, 2018 Category: Health Management Authors: S.E. Versteeg, V.K.Y. Ho, S. Siesling, M. Varkevisser Source Type: research
The role of national culture in shaping health workforce collaboration: Lessons learned from a case study on attitudes to interprofessional education in Malta
Interprofessional collaboration has been identified as a key mechanism to ensure that health systems can effectively address new and emerging challenges, including non-communicable diseases [1]. Professional health care education is a cornerstone of health workforce governance [2] yet fragmented and static curricula are producing graduates bereft of the appropriate competencies for effective teamwork [3]. Interprofessional Education (IPE) has been proposed as a means to create a collaborative practice-ready workforce better equipped to address challenges faced by health systems worldwide and improve health outcomes [4]. (S...
Source: Health Policy - July 5, 2018 Category: Health Management Authors: Marjorie Bonello, Jane Morris, Natasha Azzopardi Muscat Source Type: research
Doctors, nurses, and the optimal scale size in the Portuguese public hospitals
Health care systems all over the world have been struggling with questions associated with the optimal scale of providers and how to (re)allocate their resources to better serve citizens [1]. The main objective of those systems is to deliver the most efficient and effective care to any citizen [2]. Optimal scale has been measured by means of beds [3], as proxy for the hospital capacity. However, no optimal scale regarding hospital employees has been computed until now. Reallocating employees from places where they are in excess to places where they are missing requires knowing exactly how much are they in excess/missing. (...
Source: Health Policy - July 4, 2018 Category: Health Management Authors: Diogo Cunha Ferreira, Alexandre Morais Nunes, Rui Cunha Marques Tags: < ![CDATA[Health Reform Monitor]] > Source Type: research
Socioeconomic inequalities in health among Indigenous peoples living off-reserve in Canada: Trends and determinants
There is great interest in reducing health inequalities across different social groups in Canada [1,2] and globally [3]. This interest was further invigorated by the work of the World Health Organization ’s Commission on the Social Determinants of Health and the subsequent Rio Political Declaration in 2011 [4], in which participating countries, including Canada, committed to reducing health inequalities [1,5]. In fact, achieving health equity – eliminating unfair inequalities in health – is no w considered as one of the strategic priorities for many jurisdictions across Canada [6,7]. (Source: Health Policy)
Source: Health Policy - July 3, 2018 Category: Health Management Authors: Mohammad Hajizadeh, Min Hu, Amy Bombay, Yukiko Asada Source Type: research
“Not an afterthought”: Power imbalances in systemic partnerships between health service providers and consumers in a hospital setting
Contemporary health policies require consumers be involved at all stages of health service planning, implementation, delivery, and evaluation. The extent to which this policy is met, however, varies widely across the sector. One barrier to meeting policy requirements is power imbalances within systemic partnerships between consumers and other health professionals. Between September 2016 and February 2017, interviews were conducted with health care managers, clinicians, and consumers working on partnerships across various health service departments in one hospital. (Source: Health Policy)
Source: Health Policy - July 2, 2018 Category: Health Management Authors: Brett Scholz, Julia Bocking, Chris Platania-Phung, Michelle Banfield, Brenda Happell Source Type: research
A Multi-Criteria Decision Approach for Ranking Unmet Needs in Healthcare
Access to innovative medicines for high unmet medical needs has been a concern for policy makers since many decades in view of the rapidly evolving discovering by the pharmaceutical industry of personalized treatment options and not the least in view of the escalating costs related to this. On the regulatory side, early access schemes have been developed in the EU, e.g. compassionate use programmes, accelerated assessment, conditional marketing authorization and the PRIME initiative (priority medicines) [1,2]. (Source: Health Policy)
Source: Health Policy - July 2, 2018 Category: Health Management Authors: Irina Cleemput, Stephan Devriese, Laurence Kohn, Ren é Westhovens Source Type: research
