Impacts of expanding provider choice for free flu vaccination among the elderly in Korea

The Korean government, to increase the vaccination rates, implemented the policy expanding provider choice for free seasonal influenza vaccine for the elderly through contracting the provision of immunization to the private sector in 2015. Using the annual nationally representative individual between 2014–2017, this study explores the impacts of the policy change by using a difference-in-differences approach. Results show that influenza vaccine uptake at private clinics increases by 12 percentage points after the policy change. However, this effect is offset by a reduction in uptake at public health centers by 13 percentage points. As a result, we find no evidence that the policy increases overall vaccination coverage among the elderly. These results indicate that policymakers need to explore the reasons for vaccine hesitancy before delivering interventions.     

Purchaser–provider splits in health care—The case of Finland

The purchaser–provider split (PPS) is a service delivery model in which third-party payers are kept organizationally separate from service providers. The operations of the providers are managed by contracts. One of the main aims of PPS is to create competition between providers. Competition and other incentive structures built into the contractual relationship are believed to lead to improvements in service delivery, such as improved cost containment, greater efficiency, organizational flexibility, better quality and improved responsiveness of services to patient needs. PPS was launched in Finland in the early 1990s but was not widely implemented until the early 2000s. Compared to other countries with PPS the development and implementation of PPS in Finland has been unusual. Firstly, purchasing is implemented at the level of municipalities, which means that the size of the Finnish purchasers is extremely small. Elsewhere purchasing is mostly implemented at the regional or national levels. Secondly, PPS is also applied to primary health care and A&E services while in other countries the services mainly include specialized health care and residential care for the elderly. Thirdly, PPS in health and social services is not regulated by any specific legislation, regulative mechanisms or guidelines. Instead it is regulated within the same framework as public procurement in general.     

杭州市社区居民对家庭医生签约服务政策认知情况的调查

目的:了解杭州市社区居民对家庭医生签约服务政策的认知情况,分析其影响因素,为更好的落实家庭医生签约服务政策提供建议。方法:采用分层随机抽样的方法,选取杭州市下城区、江干区和拱墅区三个行政区,每个行政区抽样选取6个社区,每个社区随机入户调查50户家庭。调查数据使用Epidata 3.0软件录入。运用描述性分析、χ~2检验及Logistic回归分析进行统计分析。结果:杭州市签约居民对家庭医生签约服务政策的知晓率为44.9%,不同年龄、职业类型、文化程度、医保类型、个人健康水平的认知差异具有统计学意义(P0.05);对服务内容最了解的一项是门诊医保起付标准降低300元;了解签约服务政策的途径主要是社区宣传;多因素Logistic回归分析发现,年龄、职业类型、是否具有城乡居民基本医疗保险和个人健康水平对认知度有影响。居民签约与否对慢病长处方政策的认知度差异具有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论:杭州市社区居民,尤其是年轻群体,对家庭医生签约服务政策的认知度有待提高;签约居民的认知度高于未签约居民。建议应提高宣传效果,发挥签约人群的"口碑"带动作用,加大对政策内容的解释力度。     

Client incentives versus contracting and staff incentives: How care continuity interventions in substance abuse treatment can improve residential to outpatient transition

Interventions for improving transition from short-term residential to outpatient treatment were examined. Usual care (UC; n = 114) was referral to a preferred outpatient program with advance appointment optional. Client incentive (CI; n = 97) offered up to $100 in gift cards for intake and attendance during the first 30 days of treatment. Contracting with staff incentives (CSI; n = 49) consisted of meeting with an outpatient counselor prior to residential discharge, signing an attendance contract, receiving an appointment and payment to staff if clients attended. CSI significantly improved rates of successful transition (84%) and admission (74%) compared to UC (64% contact; 49% admitted). CI did not result in significantly improved outcomes (74%; 60%). CSI was likely mediated by the reliability (92 versus 52% in UC) and immediacy (1.0 versus 3.9 days) of appointment scheduling. This study supports use of CSI for improving rates of transition between residential and outpatient continuing care treatment.     

The “aid contract” and its compensation scheme: A case study of the performance of the Ugandan health sector

Current literature on aid effectiveness describes increasing use of a more contractual approach to the relationship between donor and recipient government in which a system of rewards and penalties for good and bad performance operates. The purpose of this case study of the Ugandan health sector was to understand the extent to which this approach is influencing processes and effectiveness. This qualitative study used a conceptual framework based on agency theory and ‘realistic evaluation’. Our results showed that the main official mechanism to assess and reward performance established through the Sector Wide Approach lacked objective criteria and was based on an unstructured system of discussions and agreements among donors. The achievement of a satisfactory performance rating was facilitated by the agreeing to undertakings that were under-demanding, vaguely formulated and lacking quantitative benchmarks against which progress could be measured. However, even when poor performance was readily observable, penalties failed to be applied by donors. This was always the case in relation to health sector performance and mostly so in relation to general governance and accountability. Funds continued to be disbursed despite the lack of progress made in achieving targets and undertakings and other evident performance problems (e.g. in the area of governance). A series of explanations of the failure to penalise were put forward by donor representatives in relation to this behaviour including the need to maintain long-term relationships based on trust and not to undermine health sector performance by withdrawing aid. Thus there are likely to be incentives to disburse funds and report success, irrespective of the realities of aid programmes in the context of large foreign aid volumes associated with increased political visibility of aid in donor countries.     

Strategic Purchasing in Practice: Comparing Ten European Countries

Strategic purchasing of health care services is widely recommended as a policy instrument. We conducted a review of literature of material drawn from the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies Health Systems in Transition series, other European Observatory databases, and selected country-specific literature to augment the comparative analysis by providing the most recent healthcare trends in ten selected countries. There is little evidence of purchasing being strategic according to any of the established definitions. There is little or no literature suggesting that existing purchasing mechanisms in Europe deliver improved population health, citizen empowerment, stronger governance and stewardship, or develop purchaser organization and capacity. Strategic purchasing has not generally been implemented. Policymakers considering adopting strategic purchasing policies should be aware of this systemic implementation problem. Policymakers in systems with strategic purchasing built into policy should not assume that a purchasing system is strategic or that it is delivering any expected objectives. However, there are individual components of strategic purchasing that are worth pursuing and can provide benefits to health systems.     

Members of the British Orthodontic Community are still being abused by the European system.

Abstract

This paper discusses the possibility of new forms of contacting or commissioning emerging between UK Health Authorities (or other parties such as Primary Care Groups and Primary Care Trusts) and established providers of specialist orthodontic services.     

Hospital support services and the impacts of outsourcing on occupational health and safety

Background: Outsourcing labor is linked to negative impacts on occupational health and safety (OHS). In British Columbia, Canada, provincial health care service providers outsource support services such as cleaners and food service workers (CFSWs) to external contractors.

Objectives: This study investigates the impact of outsourcing on the occupational health safety of hospital CFSWs through a mixed methods approach.

Methods: Worker’s compensation data for hospital CFSWs were analyzed by negative binomial and multiple linear regressions supplemented by iterative thematic analysis of telephone interviews of the same job groups.

Results: Non-significant decreases in injury rates and days lost per injury were observed in outsourced CFSWs post outsourcing. Significant decreases (P < 0.05) were observed in average costs per injury for cleaners post outsourcing. Outsourced workers interviewed implied instances of underreporting workplace injuries.

Conclusions: This mixed methods study describes the impact of outsourcing on OHS of healthcare workers in British Columbia. Results will be helpful for policy-makers and workplace regulators to assess program effectiveness for outsourced workers.     

东亚钳蝎毒及其成分抗癫痫肽对心脏和血管的作用

本文报告河北产东亚钳蝎(Buthus martensii Karsch)毒及用柱层析法从粗毒中纯化的抗癫痫肽对心脏、血管的作用。实验结果证明蝎毒能使麻醉免LVP、左室dp/dt升高、心率稍减慢;心得安能对抗蝎毒升高LVP和dp/dt的作用。抗癲痫肽对LVP、dp/dt、心率的影响都不明显。蝎毒使离体豚鼠心脏收缩张力增强,心率减慢,并呈现频繁的心律不齐。心得安能对抗蝎毒增强心脏收缩张力的作用,但不能消除心律不齐。抗癫痫肽使心肌收缩张力下降,心率加快,同时也引起心律不齐。蝎毒能引起兔主动脉条明显收缩,作用强度约为NE的1/5,在蝎毒作用的基础上,妥拉苏林使收缩曲线升高,心得安使曲线降低。抗癲痫肽使兔主动脉条轻微松弛。用光电容积搏动法实验,蝎毒和抗癲痫肽都能使小鼠末稍血管收缩。     

城市社区家庭医生签约服务绩效评价指标体系构建研究

目的构建城市社区家庭医生签约服务绩效评价指标体系,以便对家庭医生签约服务实施效果进行评估。方法以家庭医生签约服务绩效评价概念框架为理论基础,采用德尔菲法、层次分析法确定城市家庭医生签约服务绩效评价体系。以广州市为例进行实测模拟检验。结果在家庭医生签约服务"结构、投入、过程、产出、结果"绩效评价概念框架基础上拟定城市社区家庭医生签约服务绩效评价候选指标库。基于此指标库制定问卷,于2018年12月至2019年6月对20名专家进行函询。根据专家函询结果,建立了包括了4个一级指标、10个二级指标及34个三级指标的广州市家庭医生签约服务绩效评价体系。其中,一级指标包括组织结构与管理(权重0.21)、资源投入(权重0.24)、签约服务过程(权重0.19)、签约服务效果(权重0.36)。以广州市某社区卫生服务中心作为实测对象对个别指标的数据获取方式或评分标准进行了调整完善。结论指标体系构建具有科学性;评价工具设计以结果产出为重点,综合从供需双方、健康管理服务规律等多角度评价签约服务质量;可为政策评估实施部门评价签约服务改革绩效提供评价工具。