A marketing strategy for consultation and education services

Summary This paper has discussed the several steps essential to effectively marketing C&E. The major points considered are philosophy, assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation. Sub categories under these are discussed in some detail with particular importance placed on the issue of reimbursement. Although each step is important to the overall marketing process, it is suggested that the pre-assessment and post-evaluation phases are probably the most neglected factors in the program-planning process. This paper was developed out of their joint professional experience in marketing consultation and education programs.     

Spanish international cooperation in health

In this chapter, there is a view of the relationships between the Spanish policy for international cooperation aid and the main health problems of the developing world, with a gender perspective. The population health is a result of the development inequity between rich and poor countries. The international institutions have established the frame and priorities of the cooperation aid, being poverty eradication the main priority. The compromise of the Millennium Conference was to reduce in 2/3 child mortality and 3/4 maternal mortality before year 2015, to stop and reduce HIV-AIDS, malaria and others serious diseases as tuberculosis and to facilitate developing countries the access to drugs. Although the resources allocated, the total amount for cooperation has been reduced 30% during the last years. The Spanish AOD in health is difficult to account because it is considered among social basic services and it is not addressed to solve the main health problems in the poorest countries.     

Cuba's international cooperation in health: an overview.

In the first years after Cuba's 1959 revolution, the island's new government provided international medical assistance to countries affected by natural disasters or armed conflicts. Step by step, a more structural complementary program for international collaboration was put in place. The relief operations after Hurricane Mitch, which struck Central America in 1998, were pivotal. From November 1998 onward, the "Integrated Health Program" was the cornerstone of Cuba's international cooperation. The intense cooperation with Hugo Chávez's Venezuela became another cornerstone. Complementary to the health programs abroad, Cuba also set up international programs at home, benefiting tens of thousands of foreign patients and disaster victims. In a parallel program, medical training is offered to international students in the Latin American Medical School in Cuba and, increasingly, also in their home countries. The importance and impact of these initiatives, however, cannot and should not be analyzed solely in public health terms.     

Self-administered interventions: a health education strategy for improving population health

A case is presented for using self-administered interventions (SAIs) as a viable public health education/promotion option. SAIs are promulgated as a means to more fully participate in projected health care changes. One readily available opportunity is to incorporate SAIs into managed care organizations concerned about balancing costs and care, and responsible for the health care of the populations they serve. SAIs are both clinical and 'population-based' strategies that are viable alternatives to 'usual' care because SAIs offer a means to enhance reach, efficiency and efficacy when used independently or as part of a sequential, systematic series of interventions. SAIs also have other advantages such as being easily shared, disseminated, reusable and capable of including a valuable, inexpensive human resource, trained peer helpers or volunteers. The SAIs of minimal intervention and self-instruction have been widely used with a variety of lifestyle behaviors associated with cardiovascular disease. Research from the weight management literature is used as a heuristic illustration of the application of SAIs, and to describe the nature and potential of SAIs as public health strategies to meet health care challenges of the future related to service delivery.     

Community-oriented primary care: critical assessment and implications for resident education

BACKGROUND: Community-oriented primary care (COPC) is a systematic approach to health care based on principles derived from epidemiology, primary care, preventive medicine, and health promotion that has been shown to have positive health benefits for communities in the United States and worldwide. METHODS: MEDLINE was searched using the key phrase "community-oriented primary care." Other sources of information were books and other documents. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Because of lack of predictable reimbursement for COPC services and difficulties encountered incorporating COPC in medical and residency curricula, widespread application of COPC has not occurred. Recent trends in public health initiatives, managed health care, and information technology provide an environment ripe for application of COPC in medical practice. Also, recent recommendations made by the Strategic Planning Working Group of the Academic Family Medicine Organizations and the Association of Family Practice Residency Directors regarding specific community competencies for residency training have direct bearing on COPC and family medicine educators. These trends and recommendations, properly configured, will produce a medical training and practice environment conducive to COPC.     

中国-澳大利亚合作开展卫生管理教育的尝试

中国的卫生事业管理教育已经有10多年的发展史，培养了大量的卫生管理人才，为推动中国卫生改革起到了积极作用。作者报道了一项中国－澳大利亚合作开展卫生事业管理培训的情况，总结了项目的发展、运作和特征。认为该课程的设计是有创意的，较好地将西方卫生管理学理论和经验与中国的实际情况，特别是与当前中国所进行的卫生改革的实践相结合，不公注重提高卫生管理干部相关的理论水平，更重要的是结合他们面临的挑战，培养解决实际管理问题的技能和积极投身于改革浪潮中的理论水平，更重要的是结合他们面临的挑战，培养解决实际管理问题的技能秀积极投身于改革浪潮中的策略方法，以有培养不断学习、进取的精神。探讨和摸索了一种新的中国卫生管理教育的办学模式。     

Reforming the Swedish health services: the international context

This article reviews the performance of Swedish health services in the international context. It notes that Sweden stands out as a country which has made a major commitment to the welfare state. Nowhere is this more evident than in the health services. Expenditure on health care is high by international standards and over 90% of expenditure derives from public sources. Despite Sweden's achievement in providing comprehensive health care to its population, a number of problems have emerged in recent years. In response to these problems, there has been a debate about options for reform. It is suggested that management reforms may offer the best way forward in improving the performance of health services. Policy makers should take advantage of the decentralised nature of the Swedish system to initiate and evaluate different reforms in different county councils.     

A framework for evaluating the impact of health services management education

The objectives of this paper are three-fold. The first is to propose a conceptual and analytical framework for planning and evaluating health services management education programs. The framework was developed in response to the health care industry restructuring and the emerging questions and concerns regarding how to strategically redesign the educational programs for the twenty-first century. Additionally, it was used to develop a questionnaire for the 1998 National Survey of Program Directors. The second objective is to suggest variables for operationalizing the framework as the field considers initiatives such as, "Evidence-Based Health Administration Education" (AUPHA Education Outcomes Task Force 1999; Griffith 2000) and other more standardized, quantifiable approaches to assessing program quality. The third objective is to report selected results from the 1998 National Survey of Program Directors focusing on the major changes impacting the health services industry and the implications for management education and development. In the future, ACEHSA and other accrediting commissions will likely consider evidence-based evaluation criteria for assessing and improving education program quality. The framework presented in this paper can be used as a starting point for conceptualizing and developing valid and reliable measures.     

基于中泰卫生现况的合作策略研究

目的:通过梳理中泰卫生状况及卫生合作现况,探讨中泰卫生合作策略。方法:采用描述性统计及对比分析,探索两国卫生需求的差异和优先领域;采用PEST分析中泰卫生合作外部环境;SWOT分析中泰开展卫生合作的内、外部因素。结果:在卫生状况方面,中国在传染病防控、卫生资源供给方面较有优势。在卫生合作方面,中泰医疗卫生合作主体主要是国家政府,合作领域主要在传染病防控、传统医药和卫生人才培养等方面;医药产品贸易合作主要以西药及医用敷料为主。在外部环境方面,中泰双边关系较好、文化差异不大、国家战略契合。结论:传染病防控、卫生人才培养、医药贸易是未来中泰两国卫生合作的重点领域,全民健康覆盖、传统医药、跨境医疗方面的合作未来也具有较大合作空间,建议中泰卫生合作在这些领域优先开展。     

Distance education as strategy for permanent education in health: possibilities and challenges

The point of this study is to reflect about how important Permanent Education in Health (PEH) is in the promotion of the changes process of professors of UEFS; to establish strategies to promote PEH and show the possibilities and challenges to the operate of DE as strategy to PEH. Bibliographical Revision Study: The result shows that PEH is one strategy to professional formation through colletive works between professors. As possibility: DE makes possible a new style in formation construction. Challenges: Knowledge need to use new technologies of information and communication; difficulty of access to these technologies; scarcity of time to develop the course activities. We learn that DE have a new perspective to PEH.     

Paying for health services: A public health view

Several factors are shaping the need and demand for health care; these include demographic change, the differential improvement in the survival of those with chronic conditions, and the mismatch between personal income and health. Also, medical uncertainty results in vast variations in medical practice and costs. The scope for increasing the supply of medical care, selectively to the rich or across the board, is already vast and growing. It is argued that efficient financing systems can operate only at a level at which the health benefits of interventions are measurable, i.e. the population level. Systems of individual payment are based on inevitable ignorance about expected benefits and must therefore introduce perverse (and necessarily inefficient) incentives. Population based monitoring of outcome, with coupled incentives to efficient producers, would appear to be the only method of encouraging the production of maximum social benefit from the resources used for health.     

Crossing the quality chasm: implications for health services administration education

Programs in Health Services Administration (HSA) should respond to the mandate to improve patient care as put forth by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and other reports on the proliferation and consequences of medical errors. This article will identify a framework to base curriculum change, competency areas, and educational methods to impart quality improvement knowledge and skills. The first six competency areas reflect the six redesign imperatives from the IOM report, Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century (2001): redesign of the care process; use of information technologies; knowledge and skills management; development of effective teams; coordination of care; and use of performance and outcomes measurement. Based on a literature review, five additional areas were identified: strategic quality planning; programs for patient safety and risk management; change management; roles of stakeholders, payers and regulators; and development of a learning environment and blame-free culture. Examples of curriculum content are provided from HSA programs at Georgetown University, University of Washington, and University of California at Berkeley.     

Reimbursement as a legitimizing strategy for health education

The health education profession has made significant advances throughout the past few decades. However, health education is still described as an emerging profession. This article suggests strategies to move health education from its status as an emerging profession into that of an acknowledged profession. The authors assert that actively seeking direct third-party reimbursement will advance health education's emergence as a profession as well as increase its legitimacy in the eyes of other professions. The benefits of direct third-party reimbursement, experiences of the nursing profession's pursuit of direct third-party reimbursement, and the current status of health education are discussed. The article concludes by offering strategies for pursuing direct third-party reimbursement.     

Nutritional education in public health services

The purpose of this study was to discuss the implementation of nutritional education in public health services from the perspective of health professionals (physicians and nurses) working in them. The study was conducted in the Municipality of Campinas, S?o Paulo State, Brazil, from October 1993 to July 1995, using action-based research methodology. The results describe the construction of nutritional knowledge in training and professional institutions; behavior towards food-related problems in daily professional experience as compared to personal life; the contradiction between the apparently trivial act of eating and the complexity of dietary problems; the interface between the acceptance of this work and the incorporation of nutritional education activities and their actual institutionalization; and health professionals' opinions concerning situations permeating the implementation of activities. The paper concludes by referring to the need to implement nutritional education activities, difficulties experienced by physicians and nurses in approaching nutritional problems, and the importance of including nutrition in the curricula of health courses.