Effects of managed care on alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment

The article represents the proceedings of a symposium at the 2001 RSA Meeting in Montreal, Canada. The organizer/chair was Stephen Magura. The presentations examined: (1) How managed care organization policies may affect enrollees' use of alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment, by Constance Horgan and associates; (2) The determinants of patients' access to and utilization of AOD treatment in a large health maintenance organization, by Jennifer R. Mertens and Constance Weisner; (3) The impact on treatment access and costs of a statewide carve-out for AOD treatment for Medicaid, by Donald Shepard and associates; and (4) The predictive validity of a new patient assessment technology developed, in part, to better justify AOD treatment in response to the demands of managed care, by Stephen Magura and associates.     

A case history of training outside the hospital and its future.

Hospital-based medical residencies are slowly changing to include experience in ambulatory practices. This development is traced by the case example of the medical residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital which has always contained a component of ambulatory training. The history reveals that the institution's economy and work have determined the content and sequence of residency training, perhaps more than educational ideas on the proper training of the doctor. The early ambulatory experience (1900–1940) was prompted by the need to take care of a large number of outpatients, supported by the view of training for future private practice in the office. The residency became hospital-based (1940–1972) with the expansion of hospital beds, hospital insurance and of specialized jobs in academic medical centers. Residents were now required to care for more hospital patients, to manage the technology of acute care and to aid the growth of subspecialization. Although public interests today demand more ambulatory care, the future of expanded ambulatory training remains problematic, although a modern necessity if medicine is to redirect its attention to prevention and care outside the hospital. Expanded training outside the hospital depends on better financing of ambulatory services, the modernization of outpatient departments as group practices providing primary care, the development of teaching units and research in ambulatory practices, along with support for the idea of the generalist, which itself has had limited support by treatment and learning institutions.     

Trends in Long-Term Mortality After Congenital Heart Surgery

Background

Congenital heart surgery has improved the survival of patients with even the most complex defects, but the long-term survival after these procedures has not been fully described.

Substance use-related outpatient consultations in specialized health care: an underestimated entity

Background To study the occurrence and documentation of substance use related outpatient visits in specialized health care.
Methods The diagnosis recorded in retrospective discharge data in Tampere University Hospital for 6 years was compared with the prospective data gathered from separately completed forms added during an 8-week period to every outpatient's discharge data. In this form, the relation of substance use and the actual reason for the consultation were specifically elicited.
Results On the basis of diagnoses, retrospectively, 0.4% (6,666 of 1,555,898) of outpatient visits were caused by substance use. In the prospective part of the study, 5.6% of visits (1,401/25,014) were related to substance use. Retrospective study demonstrated 2% prevalence of substance use, whereas prospective study showed 36% substance use–related visits at the emergency room. According to the retrospective discharge data, alcohol-related organ damages were the major reason for substance use–related outpatient visits. In the prospective study, the proportion of acute traumas was most prevalent.
Conclusions Our study indicates that substance use–related visits often remain undetected in specialized health care. Substance use–related visits were underdocumented/undetected in the emergency room. Using a simple separate form could dramatically increase the detection of substance use–related visits.     

风湿免疫疾病中的并发症预防治疗与护理

目的：对于风湿免疫疾病中的并发症预防治疗与护理的讨论与分析。方法对于该院患有风湿免疫性疾病的100例患者随机分为两组,分别为对照组和观察组,每组50例患者。对照组50例患者进行常规的护理,观察组50例患者在常规护理的基础上对患者进行关于疾病有针对性的护理干预,对两组患者的疾病后的并发症的发生情况进行比较。结果经过对两组患者的疾病并发症进行比较后,观察组患者中出现并发症的患者有2例,并发症发生率为4.0%,对比对照组患者中出现疾病并发症的患者有15例,并发症发生率为30.0%,观察组患者明显并发症发生率更低,差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）。结论在对两组患者的疾病并发症的发生率进行比较后发现,对于患者在常规护理干预后进行有针对性的护理干预,有助于降低并发症的发生,具有很大的临床意义和价值,值得在临床上推广使用。     

基于2D电阻抗成像的位置误差和相对数量指数的后处理方法

本文提出了一种基于2D电阻抗成像的位置误差和相对数量指数的后处理方法,用于多种电导率分布的确定、组织成分的识别以及位置信息的确定。此外,还介绍了一种基于现有两种重建算法的混合正则化算法,并将三种重建算法重建的结果进行了比较。结果证明,这种后处理方法可以提高2D电阻抗成像的位置精度和空间分辨率,使得电阻抗成像适用于临床检查和过程监测。     

志愿服务何以持续：社团化运作的优势与路径分析

本文基于南通市“巾帼挽霞行动”社工服务项目的实践探索,通过对社区志愿者、社团志愿者及高校学生志愿者持续参与志愿服务状况的比较分析,认为志愿服务由社团来承担具有诸多的优越性。社团应逐步成为持续志愿服务的承担主体。社团的志愿服务化以及志愿者的社团化应该成为持续志愿服务管理的努力方向。