Multi stakeholders of health and industries perspectives on medicine price transparency initiative in private health care settings in Malaysia

IntroductionMedicine price transparency initiatives provide public or government on information about the product's prices and the components that may influence the prices, such as volume and product quality. In Malaysia, medicine price transparency has become part of the government's strategies in ensuring adequate, continuous and equitable access to quality, safe, effective and affordable medicines. Since the effect of medicine price transparency depend critically on how prices are presented, this study aims to evaluate the stakeholders' perspective of medicine price transparency practice in the private healthcare system in Malaysia.MethodsThis study was conducted as face-to-face, semi-structured interview. Respondents from private pharmaceutical industries, community pharmacists, general practitioners, private hospital pharmacists, governments, academicians and senior pharmacist were recruited using purposive sampling. Using phenomenological study approach, interviews were conducted, and audio recorded with their consent. Data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis with Atlas.ti 8 software and categorised as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT).ResultsA total of 28 respondents were interviewed. There was a mixed perception regarding the price transparency implementation in Malaysia's private healthcare settings. The potential strengths include it will provide price standardization, reduce price manipulation and competition, hence allowing the industry players to focus more on patient-care services. Moreover, the private stakeholders were concerned that the practice may affect stakeholders' business and marketing strategy, reduce profit margin, increase general practitioner's consultation fees and causing impact on geographical discrepancies. The practice was viewed as an opportunity to disseminate the truth price information to consumer and strengthen collaboration between healthcare industries and Ministry of Health although this may become a threat that affect the business survival.ConclusionPrice transparency initiatives would benefit the pharmaceutical industries, consumer and countries, but it needs to be implemented appropriately to prevent price manipulation, market monopoly, and business closure. Future study may want to evaluate the impact of the initiatives on the business in the industry.     

Focusing climate negotiations on a uniform common commitment can promote cooperation

International cooperation on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, disarmament, or free trade needs to be negotiated. The success of such negotiations depends on how they are designed. In the context of international climate change policy, it has been proposed [e.g., M. L. Weitzman J. Assoc. Environ. Resour. Econ. 1, 29–49 (2014)] that shifting the negotiation focus to a uniform common commitment (such as a uniform minimum carbon price) would lead to more ambitious cooperation. Yet, a proof-of-concept for this important claim is lacking. Based on game theoretical analyses, we present experimental evidence that strongly supports this conjecture. In our study, human subjects negotiate contributions to a public good. Subjects differ in their benefits and costs of cooperation. Participation in the negotiations and all commitments are voluntary. We consider treatments in which agreements are enforceable, and treatments in which they have to be self-enforcing. In both situations, negotiating a uniform common commitment is more successful in promoting cooperation than negotiating individual commitments (as in the Paris Agreement) and complex common commitments that tailor the commitment to the specific situation of each party (as attempted with the Kyoto Protocol). Furthermore, as suggested by our model, a uniform common commitment benefits most from being enforced.

International cooperation on climate change, free trade, and disarmament requires successful negotiations about how much each party contributes to the public good. The success or failure of these negotiations depends on how they are designed (1). Particularly, in the context of international climate change policy, it has been hypothesized that negotiating a uniform common commitment would be more successful in achieving cooperation than negotiating individual or complex common commitments (2–5). Yet, a proof-of-concept for this important claim is lacking. Using a laboratory experiment with human subjects and a game theoretical analysis, we fill the gap—and provide strong support for the conjecture.We consider a canonical public good problem. Asymmetry is known to be an essential complication to international agreements (6), so—besides a control with fully symmetric parties—negotiators in our main laboratory treatment differ in their initial endowment, in how much they benefit from the public good, and in how much of it they want to be provided. Lack of enforcement is another fundamental problem that hinders international cooperation (7–9), so we look at a situation where parties can write a binding and enforceable contract and at a situation where the agreement has to be self-enforcing. Negotiations differ in two dimensions. First, parties can negotiate a common goal to be achieved either by individual commitments (each party deciding individually how much to contribute) or by a common commitment (all parties deciding jointly and unanimously on all contributions). Second, a common commitment may be achieved either by a complex assignment (tailoring each individual contribution to its individual costs and benefits) or by a uniform rule (disregarding individual differences). In all treatments, participation in the negotiation and commitments are voluntary.We find that negotiation design is of first-order importance. If negotiations are focused on a uniform common commitment, contribution levels are about twice as high compared to negotiations focusing on individual or complex common commitments. Negotiating a complex common commitment is slightly more successful at the extensive margin by inducing more parties to participate, but it is dominated at the intensive margin by the uniform commitment because negotiators often fail to coordinate any agreement. Negotiating individual commitments is equally as successful as a uniform common commitment in getting parties to participate, but again at substantially lower contribution levels. One reason for the superior performance at the intensive margin is that negotiating a uniform common commitment turns (reciprocal) cooperation into a weakly dominant strategy for all participating parties. The results are robust and hold not only in the case where contracts are binding and enforceable (as predicted by theory) but even in the case where agreements cannot be enforced but have to be self-enforceable (in which case, standard game theory predicts zero cooperation across all treatments).Our study is motivated by, and potentially important for, international negotiations on climate change (5). There have been two major approaches to negotiating international climate cooperation. In the Kyoto negotiations, the developed countries strived for a complex assignment of national emission caps. However, no such assignment (that the negotiating parties could all agree upon) has been found. Eventually, each country chose its emission cap individually, which then became part of the Kyoto Protocol (4, 10). Some countries later withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol, others did not live up to their promises, and a planned follow-up protocol was never ratified.In the Paris negotiations, instead of attempting a common commitment, each country pledged an individually chosen commitment (“nationally determined contributions”). The Paris Agreement succeeded in being signed by all countries (although the United States decided later to withdraw its participation). However, the announced individual commitments fall substantially short of achieving the two-degree goal (11, 12).There is a new proposal that negotiations should focus on a common carbon price (2, 3, 13, 14). Previous authors advocated carbon pricing as an instrument to implement the reduction of carbon emissions at low economic cost (15, 16). The new proposal points to a different and independent argument: A carbon price provides a simple focal point for a common commitment in climate negotiations—one number that applies to all countries in the same way. This facilitates agreement (17) and fosters reciprocity (2, 3, 14, 18, 19) which is key to cooperation (20–24). Yet, evidence showing that negotiating a uniform carbon price can be more successful than negotiating a vector of emissions caps (as in Kyoto) or nationally determined contributions (as in Paris) is lacking.This paper provides evidence, based on experimental and game theoretical analyses, that a uniform common commitment better promotes cooperation than the alternative commitments. The advantage of a laboratory experiment is that it allows study of the negotiation outcomes after exogenous changes in the negotiation design, as well as the mechanisms that causally drive behavior. While all theory and experiments necessarily abstract from many real-world complexities, our study informs the important debate about how to approach climate negotiations by providing a proof-of-concept, experimentally and theoretically, that negotiating a uniform common commitment may be more successful than previous negotiation designs.     

Development of Innovative Contra-angle Handpiece Device with Piston Movement for Root Canal Preparation

IntroductionThe purpose of this study was to assess the optimal amplitude and weight of the newly developed contra-angle handpiece. The handpiece uses piston movement without using an endodontic motor and enables a safe, quick, and reliable canal preparation.MethodsA prototype handpiece was designed. Instrumentation was performed on root canal resin blocks by 20 operators in 3 groups: the prototype handpiece with an H file (a stainless steel #25 manual H file, the piston group), a manually standardized technique with a K file (stainless steel #15–25 K files, the manual group), and a nickel-titanium (NiTi) reciprocating file with an endodontic motor (Reciproc Blue R25 [VDW, Munich, Germany], the NiTi group). Transportation of the canal center line and the time required for preparation were measured and statistically analyzed.ResultsThe optimal condition was an amplitude of 1.35 mm and a weight of 61.0 g. Transportation of the canal center was observed in all groups. A statistically significant difference was found at 2.0–3.0 mm from the apical foramen between the piston or NiTi group and the manual group, but no significant difference was found between the piston and NiTi groups. The least transportation was found in the NiTi and piston groups. The handpiece with a #25 H file demonstrated a good centering ability, similar to the NiTi file, which enabled speedy preparation. The time required for preparation between the piston or NiTi group and the manual group was statistically different. No significant difference was observed between the piston and NiTi groups (P < .05).ConclusionsWe concluded that the newly designed handpiece achieved efficient canal preparation and negotiation. The handpiece could avoid endodontic accidents, including ledge formation, instrument separation, and perforation.     

The effect of patellar thickness on gait biomechanics following total knee arthroplasty

BackgroundPatella resurfacing is commonly performed during total knee arthroplasty; however, determining the appropriate patellar thickness remains a challenge. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of post-TKA patellar thickness on knee extensor strength and biomechanical joint loading forces during walking and stair negotiation.MethodsFifteen patients (21 knees) underwent gait analysis prior to TKA and post-TKA at six weeks, three months, six months, and one year. Knee extensor strength and biomechanics were collected during level walking and stair negotiation and analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients.ResultsKnee extensor strength was positively correlated to patellar thickness at three months and one year post-TKA (p ≤ .05). During walking, no significant correlations were present. During stair ascent, there was a positive correlation between patellar thickness and peak knee flexion angle one year post-TKA (p ≤ .05). During stair descent, there was a positive correlation between patellar thickness and maximum vertical ground reaction forces at one year post-TKA (p ≤ .01).ConclusionsThe loss of patellar thickness when compared to measured pre-resurfacing thickness was correlated with a decrease in knee extensor strength; however, changes in patellar thickness were not significantly correlated to biomechanical loading forces during walking. Increases in demand of activity increase the torque to the knee joint, which elicit increases in compensatory motions, likely reducing the extent to which differences in joint loading during stair negotiation may be attributable to changes in patellar thickness. Therefore, the effect of post-patellar thickness on patient function in primary TKA is limited.     

Informal caregivers’ views on the division of responsibilities between themselves and professionals: A scoping review

This scoping review focuses on the views of informal caregivers regarding the division of care responsibilities between citizens, governments and professionals and the question of to what extent professionals take these views into account during collaboration with them. In Europe, the normative discourse on informal care has changed. Retreating governments and decreasing residential care increase the need to enhance the collaboration between informal caregivers and professionals. Professionals are assumed to adequately address the needs and wishes of informal caregivers, but little is known about informal caregivers’ views on the division of care responsibilities. We performed a scoping review and searched for relevant studies published between 2000 and September 1, 2016 in seven databases. Thirteen papers were included, all published in Western countries. Most included papers described research with a qualitative research design. Based on the opinion of informal caregivers, we conclude that professionals do not seem to explicitly take into account the views of informal caregivers about the division of responsibilities during their collaboration with them. Roles of the informal caregivers and professionals are not always discussed and the division of responsibilities sometimes seems unclear. Acknowledging the role and expertise of informal caregivers seems to facilitate good collaboration, as well as attitudes such as professionals being open and honest, proactive and compassionate. Inflexible structures and services hinder good collaboration. Asking informal caregivers what their opinion is about the division of responsibilities could improve clarity about the care that is given by both informal caregivers and professionals and could improve their collaboration. Educational programs in social work, health and allied health professions should put more emphasis on this specific characteristic of collaboration.     

社区安宁疗护服务项目成本测算研究

背景　安宁疗护项目面临总体经费补偿不足问题,致使安宁疗护服务发展受限,而合理的补偿依赖于对安宁疗护服务项目成本的精确核算。现有研究对安宁疗护补偿分析,多从机构收支缺口入手,缺乏对各项成本消耗的精确核算。目的　测算社区安宁疗护服务项目成本,为安宁疗护服务项目的合理补偿提供参考。方法　以上海市静安区静安寺街道社区卫生服务中心2018年开展的安宁疗护服务项目为研究对象,进行服务项目成本数据的采集和测算。结果　共234项服务项目,检验项目合并后共179项,成本46.5（23.0,84.0）元。其中,总成本最低的为人工辅助通便（1.3元）,最高的为Ⅰ级护理（401.7元）。179项服务中共包含138项收费项目,仅37项（26.8%）成本低于收费价格;3项（2.2%）成本等于收费价格;成本高于收费价格的有98项（71.0%）,包含全科14项、中医7项、护理32项、放射27项、心电B超4项、检验14项。结论　社区安宁疗护服务项目经费投入需重视分类补偿,且全科、中医、护理、放射、心电B超、检验等安宁疗护服务项目补偿不足。     

Presence of serum and tissue forms of N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase in urine from patients with renal disease.

1. The A, B, I1 and I2 forms of N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase present in urine, serum, kidney, liver and cerebral spinal fluid were separated on DEAE-cellulose and their presence confirmed by cellogel electrophoresis. The relative activities of each enzyme were determined by integrating the area under the elution peaks. 2. Serum A-form was eluted at a lower molarity of chloride than liver A-form and this was designated the As-form to distinguish it from the A-form of N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase found in liver and kidney. 3. The P-form of N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase present in the serum of a group of pregnant women was not detectable in urine samples from the same women. 4. Urinary NAG activities were found to be abnormally high in patients with impaired renal function. 5. The activity of both N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidases A and B increased in pathological urines. The higher the total N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase activity excreted the higher the % of activity of the B-form present. 6. In a number of patients with haematuria an A-form similar to the serum As-form was present in the urine.