Fare well to Nova Scotia? Public health investments remain chronically underfunded

Inspired by Fiset-Laniel et al.’s (2020) article entitled “Public health investments: neglect or wilful omission? Historical trends in Quebec and implications for Canada”, we assessed public health investments since the establishment of the Nova Scotia provincial health authority in 2015. We analyzed Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness budgets from 2015−2016 to 2019–2020 and observed that less than 1% of funding was budgeted for public health annually, an amount well below the recommendation that 5–6% of healthcare funding be spent on public health. Healthcare spending has increased annually since 2015–2016, but proportions of funding to different programs and services have remained static. Specifically, we did not observe a change in investment in public health over time, suggesting that while the government does not necessarily spend too much or too little on healthcare, it spends far too little on public health. This chronic under-funding is problematic given the high rates of non-communicable diseases in Nova Scotia and health inequities experienced within the population. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of public health work, and the need for a pandemic recovery plan that prioritizes investment in all areas of public health in Nova Scotia.     

Metadata and meaningful use

The healthcare industry will find out soon if ONC intends to include metadata requirements in stage 2 of the meaningful use program. Many feel it is too soon. But given metadata's potential to support health information exchange, the expanded and standardized use of metadata tagging in healthcare is ultimately a matter of when, not if.     

Career extensions: bringing academicians and practitioners in healthcare management together

A growing number of health administration faculty are realizing that they can learn a lot by periodically stepping out of academe and into practice settings. And healthcare executives who are opening their organizations to faculty fellows are realizing that they can learn a lot, too.     

Factors associated with self‐medication among medicine sellers in urban Vietnam

In Vietnam, many medicine sellers serving pharmacies and retail outlets do not have adequate professional qualifications, and there has been a limited institutional control. The objective of this cross‐sectional study was to examine the prevalence and determinants of self‐medication among medicine sellers in Hanoi, Vietnam. Although 96.55% of medicine sellers had relatively serious health problems, only 61.21% visited a healthcare facility, though self‐medication was moderately high (approximately 39%). Adopting Andersen's conceptual model, it was identified that medicine sellers who reported higher professional education, had low confidence in healthcare services, had not received any professional in‐service during the prior year, had less serious health problems and who perceived the current costs of healthcare as too high were more likely to report self‐medication. The findings have public health policy implications for these healthcare providers in urban Vietnam and other similar developing countries. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The birth of InterQual: evidence-based decision support criteria that helped change healthcare

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: InterQual evidence-based clinical decision support criteria are used by thousands of organizations in healthcare. What industry trends led to their creation, and what accounts for their longevity and widespread acceptance? PRIMARY PRACTICE SETTINGS(S): Hospitals, health systems, and managed care organizations. FINDINGS/CONCLUSIONS: Although the healthcare puzzle sometimes seems too complicated for anyone to solve, passionate people with good ideas have been able to effect substantive and relatively rapid change throughout healthcare history.     

Parent proxy-report of their children's health-related quality of life: an analysis of 13,878 parents' reliability and validity across age subgroups using the PedsQL™ 4.0 Generic Core Scales

Background  

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measurement has emerged as an important health outcome in clinical trials, clinical practice improvement strategies, and healthcare services research and evaluation. While pediatric patient self-report should be considered the standard for measuring perceived HRQOL, there are circumstances when children are too young, too cognitively impaired, too ill or fatigued to complete a HRQOL instrument, and reliable and valid parent proxy-report instruments are needed in such cases. Further, it is typically parents' perceptions of their children's HRQOL that influences healthcare utilization. Data from the PedsQL™ Database^SM were utilized to test the reliability and validity of parent proxy-report at the individual age subgroup level for ages 2–16 years as recommended by recent FDA guidelines.     

Community health improvement: it's time for action

Too many community needs assessments are taking too long, says this community health expert. To get projects under way, she offers the healthcare systems' model for resolving problems in a rapidly changing environment.     

Health technology assessment in Austria

The Austrian healthcare system relies mainly on physicians in private practice and on various services provided by hospitals. The social health insurance scheme is compulsory, covering 99% of the population. The system is very decentralized. While the federal state provides the framework, the nine autonomous provinces are responsible for administering health and social services. There is ongoing public discussion about centralizing the healthcare system to make it more efficient and to enforce structural reforms. Because of concerns about healthcare expenditures, in 1997 the Performance-Related Hospital Financing System (LKF), a system similar to the diagnosis-related group system, was introduced for hospitals, including a plan for large medical devices. It is too early to evaluate the success of this new system, although some effects of the LKF system that could have been anticipated, such as shortened lengths of stay and more hospitalizations, have been seen. Previously, health technologies have been almost uncontrolled in Austria. The evaluation of health technologies as an instrument to support or to control their dissemination and use or to help define policies is not institutionalized or systematically used. It seems clear that structural reforms of the Austrian healthcare system are needed. Health technology assessment should be part of such reforms.     

China's 2009 health reform: What implications could be drawn for the NHS Foundation Trusts reform?

China's market-oriented health reforms since the early 1980s created a range of problems in its healthcare system. By mid-2000 healthcare costs had increased to a level which was too expensive even for average income families without any form of healthcare subsidy. On realising the severity of health related problems, China's central government launched its large-scale, expensive health reform in April 2009, intending to re-establish the universal healthcare system which would provide affordable basic health care to everyone in the country.Using unformatted, in-depth interviews with multiple stakeholders of health care in China, this study aimed to provide the latest research-based evidence about access to health care for ordinary citizens in China two years into the April 2009 health reform. It aimed to find out what implications could be drawn for the English NHS (National Health Service) Foundation Trusts reform pursued by the UK Coalition Government from China's experience of health reforms.The study provided evidence that, two years into the April 2009 health reform, there was a newly re-established, public health insurance based healthcare system in China. The new system was providing affordable basic health care to even the most remote and poorest of our participants who were among the most remote and poorest in China in July–August 2011. Given the geographical and population size of China, this is an enormous achievement.The Chinese experience implies that if there is no effective and powerful regulatory system, the UK Coalition Government's policy to abolish the arbitrary private patient income cap on the amount of income NHS Foundation Trusts may earn from privately funded patients could have some negative impacts, for instance, on tackling health inequalities and ensuring good provider behaviour.     

Rural healthcare needs and solutions

Many rural communities are finding it necessary to create innovative ways to make healthcare more accessible to their residents. Successful rural healthcare delivery systems require the resources of an institution willing to serve the rural healthcare market, a community wanting to improve its healthcare, and dedicated practitioners. Physicians must be willing to see Medicaid and charity care patients. If physicians in the community are too busy or unwilling to accept indigent patients, the community may need more physicians. When the community recruits additional physicians, leaders must clarify that all physicians have a responsibility to serve indigent patients. As a result, a community-wide healthcare planning process is essential. Because residents might not always be aware that they should receive certain routine healthcare services or how to access those services, the community must establish strategies to reduce this knowledge gap. Urban healthcare centers can help by bringing health screening services to the rural community and by providing health education programs. Providers can close another part of the knowledge gap by helping patients fill out the insurance forms required to receive payment and by helping them find and apply for indigent patient coverage. To help solve the physician shortage problem in rural areas, communities can work with urban healthcare providers to purchase or start new practices in rural areas and then supplement the practices with additional primary care physicians or other healthcare practitioners.     

Guidance for a failing system. Catholic social teachings provide the needed principles

Catholic healthcare has traditionally relied on four major ethical principles--nonmaleficence, beneficence, autonomy, and justice--to address conflicts between various goods. However, all healthcare now finds itself facing great changes. "Principleism" is too limited to guide the Church's health ministry through the current crisis. But the Church possesses a body of social justice teachings that may provide healthcare with the necessary guidance. Eight inseparable but distinct themes are found in the social teachings: human dignity, human solidarity, the option for the poor, the common good, human rights, social justice, stewardship, and liberation. The eight themes are here applied to five critical healthcare issues: the patient-physician relationship, the right to choose, healthcare as a communal good, rationing and limits, and work and its implications. The Church's social teachings may provide us with a basis for a structural reexamination of healthcare--including Catholic healthcare. In that analysis, we may find that Catholic healthcare has developed practices and standards that are at odds with its own teachings. Such an analysis will be painful, but it must be done.     

农民工社区医疗卫生服务的现状及对策

随着我国城镇化进程的不断推进,解决好农民工"看病难"、"看病贵"的问题是深化医疗卫生体制改革的重要内容.文章介绍了农民工医疗卫生服务的现状,基于农民工对社区卫生服务机构的可及性较高,文章从政府、社会和农民工三个角度分析了社区卫生服务中心服务在农民工医疗卫生服务方面存在的问题,同时针对三个方面提出利用社区卫生服务中心完善农民工医疗卫生服务合理化建议.

Abstract：

As urbanization moves on in China, the ongoing health reform tums to focus on the problems of "Too difficult and too expensive to see doctors" for migrant workers. The paper covered the present medical and healthcare services available to migrant workers. From the aspects of government,community and migrant workers, the paper analyzed problems found in services offered by community healthcare centers. In the end, the author came up with recommendations to rationalize such services by means of community healthcare centers.     

社区健康服务中心绩效考核

目的考核社区健康服务中心的绩效。方法采用KPI关键指标法选择了8个指标:人均就诊医疗费、人均就诊药费、人日均医疗收入、人日均诊疗人次、双向转诊比例、病人满意度、投诉次数、医疗事故次数作为考核指标对三类社区健康服务中心及社康科按月进行绩效考核。结果所考核的月份绩效考核得分不高;药品控制较好,病人负担较轻;由于社康站化验及辅助检查设备少导致每患者人均医疗费偏低;双向转诊比例偏低;部分社康站人均工作量及业务收入都偏低。结论对社区健康服务中心进行绩效考核是必须的而且可行的。     

Inter-state disparities in health care and financial burden on the poor in India

Over five decades of independence, India has made rapid strides in various sectors. However, its performance in social sectors and particularly the healthcare sector has not been too rosy. Being the State's responsibility the healthcare has traditionally been influenced by individual State's budgetary allocation. Consequently inter-state disparity in availability and utilization of health services and health manpower are distinctly marked. This has implications for achievement of Health for All for the nation as a whole. Keeping in view the significance of studying inter-state variations in healthcare, this study focuses on the performance of healthcare sector in 15 major States in India. This is attempted through a comparative analysis of various parameters depicting availability of health services, their utilization and health outcomes. Our analysis depicts the prevalence of considerable inequity favoring high income group of States. In terms of healthcare resources, for instance, it indicates that the high income States hold a superior position in terms of: per capita government expenditure on medical and public health, total number of hospitals and dispensaries, per capita availability of beds in hospitals and dispensaries and health manpower in rural and urban areas. These parameters of availability have an impact on utilization levels and health outcomes in these States. A comparative profile of high and low income States as well as middle and low income States, both in rural and urban areas, reaffirms a greater financial burden in availing treatment at OPD and inpatient in low income States. In line with the higher financial burden and low per capita health expenditure, the health outcome indicators also depict a disconcerting situation in regard to low income States. These States are marked by lower life expectancy and higher incidence of diseases as well as high mortality rates. In this regard, demand as well as supply side constraints are observed which restrain the optimum utilization of existing health services. Among the low income States the main constraints on the demand side include illiteracy, malnutrition, and lack of infrastructure in accessing the facilities. Certain state specific supply side factors add significantly to under-utilization in low income States. In some of the States, however, corrective actions have been initiated to overcome the problem of the quality and low utilization of health facilities. In due course of time, it is likely that proper implementation of these measures may result in improved utilization level of existing health services, which may be useful to improve health status indicators. Nonetheless, overcoming the current levels of regional disparities in healthcare across three income groups of States may also require additional resources. The latter could be mobilized through assistance of donor agencies and appropriate mix of social and private insurance. Ultimately mitigating the problem of regional disparities in healthcare and protecting the poor and vulnerable from financial burden may require establishing and maintaining proper linkages between socio-economic development and healthcare planning.     

The pursuit and possibilities of evidence-based medicine

Evidence-based medicine has been used to guide healthcare that works, but sometimes, the system delivers care that ends up too little, too much, or just wrong. Participants at a Washington, DC, forum looked recently at what can be done to make a smoother path to the most effective set of practices that improve healthcare quality.     

Healthcare-financing reforms in transitional society: a Shanghai experience

Since the 1950s, China has had a very wide coverage of healthcare service at the local level. In urban areas, the employment-based healthcare-insurance schemes (Government Insurance Scheme and Labour Insurance Scheme) worked hand in hand with the full employment policy of the Government, which guaranteed basic care for almost every urban resident. However, since the economic reforms of the early 1980s, China's healthcare system has met great challenges. Some came from the reform of the labour system, and other challenges came from the introduction of market forces in the healthcare sector. The new policy of the Chinese Government on the Urban Employees' Basic Health Care Insurance is to introduce a cost-sharing plan in urban China. Like other major social policy changes, this new health policy also has a great impact on the lives of the Chinese people. Affordability has been the major concern among urban residents. Shanghai implemented the cost-sharing healthcare policy in the spring of 2001. It may be too early to assess the pros and cons of the new policy, but evidence shows that the employment-based health-insurance scheme excludes those at high risk and in most need. It is argued that the cost-sharing healthcare system will limit access by some people, especially those who are most vulnerable to the consequences of ill health and those in low-income groups, unless the deductibles vary according to income and unless low-income groups are exempt from paying premiums and deductibles.     

Des réseaux « de nutrition » : pourquoi et comment ?

We hereby intend to clarify the notion of healthcare network in nutrition. Following a brief statement on the background of health and healthcare networks in France, we give a definition of healthcare networks in nutrition. Then we provide some information to answer to the following question: Why do such networks in the nutrition field exist and how to constitute and evaluate them? Although the theory and practice concerning healthcare networks can be surely applied in the nutrition field, the experiences are actually too sparse to provide a strong knowledge in this area. Healthcare networks are certainly a future strategy to take up the great challenges in Public Health (on the one hand, the malnutrition, and on the other hand, obesity and overweight disorders). The development of healthcare networks in nutrition should allow a successful improvement in the nutritional status of the population, as well as a major reorganisation in the clinical practice for nutritional and other disorders. Many efforts must be accomplished, and numerous obstacles must be overcome: definition of operational objectives, creation of adapted tools, development of reference frames, poor motivation of health and social professionals, evolution of medical practices, definition of methodologies for nutrition-specific evaluations (e.g. indicators), creation of flexible sources of income, adapted and enabling the perpetuation of healthcare networks. Healthcare networks in nutrition could help toward the development of real politic in nutrition in France, which was lacking until now. Besides the willing of politics and professionals in nutrition, it will be of primary importance to create a concerning healthcare networks in nutrition newly constituted in order to draw up a new assessment and realise adaptations.     

The relationship between baseline health and longitudinal costs of hospital use

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between baseline health and costs of hospital use over a period of eight years. We combine cross-sectional survey data with information from the Dutch national hospital register. Four different indicators of health (self-perceived health, long-term impairments, ADL limitations and comorbidity) are considered. We find that for ages 50 to 70, differences in hospital costs between good health and bad health are substantial and persist during the whole time period. However, for higher ages expected hospital costs for individuals in bad health decline rapidly and become lower than those for people in good health after about six to seven years. The higher mortality rate among people in bad health is the primary cause here. Our results are confirmed for all four health indicators. We conclude that relying on better health to contain healthcare expenditures is too optimistic, and the interaction between health and mortality should be taken into account when projecting healthcare costs. Healthy ageing is important, but more for health gains than for cost savings.     

Refugee,Migrant and Asylum Seekers’ Experience of Accessing and Receiving Primary Healthcare in a UK City of Sanctuary

The World Health Organisation estimate there are about 1 billion migrants in the world today. The scale of population movement and a global refugee crisis presents an enormous challenge for healthcare provision, and too often the specific health needs of refugees and migrants are not met. This study assessed refugee, asylum seeker and vulnerable migrants’ (AMRs') experience of front line primary healthcare in a region of the United Kingdom designated as a ‘City of Sanctuary’. A questionnaire study explored the views of people seeking refuge and third sector workers supporting them. The majority of AMRs were registered with a GP and positive about their consultations. The views of third sector workers provided a less favourable window into their experience of primary care. In conclusion, the work highlighted patchy experience of primary care, even in a region of the UK designated as a ‘City of Sanctuary’ for people seeking refuge. There is a need for further education of rights to care in the UK, information for people on how to navigate local healthcare systems, consistent access to routine health checks and translation services.