Development of a risk-adjusted capitation model based on principal inpatient diagnoses in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) program has considered the use of capitation payments to health care providers as a method for control of the rising costs of the system. The establishment of capitation payments usually requires the performance of risk adjustment. The purposes of this study were to develop a diagnosis-based risk adjustment model for the NHI and to evaluate its predictability. METHODS: Using a 2% random sample of 371,620 NHI enrollees, the authors developed a Taiwan version of the Principal Inpatient Diagnosis Cost Groups (TPIPDCGs) from 1996 claim records to predict an individual's expenditure in 1997. Weighted least squares regression models were built in an estimation sample (two-thirds of the study sample), and were cross-validated in a validation sample (the remaining one-third of the study sample). Predictive R2 and predictive ratios were used to evaluate the model's predictability. RESULTS: Only 7.88% of the study sample could be classified into 1 of the 16 TPIPDCGs. Combined with demographic variables, which alone could explain 3.7% of the variation in an individual's future expenditure, the risk adjustment model based on TPIPDCGs could explain 12.2% of expenditure variation. In addition, the finding that the predictive ratios of the TPIPDCG model approximated unity better than those of the demographic model in all subgroups indicates that the capitation payment as predicted by the TPIPDCG model for each subgroup would better correlate to the actual spending. CONCLUSION: Taiwan's risk-adjusted capitation model based on principal inpatient diagnoses has higher predictability on individual's future expenditure than its counterpart in the USA. This finding provides insight into not only the development of Taiwan's diagnosis-based risk adjustment models but also the necessity of modification when applying foreign-developed risk adjustment models to the NHI.     

如何强化医院医德医风建设

深圳市第二人民医院在不断完善、加大力度、加强医德医风建设方面制订出一系列纠风长效机制，采取有力措施：认真解决“红包”、回扣问题；进一步推动和规范药品集中招标采购工作；加强对中标药品价格和管理；切实加强医德医风建设，规范医疗服务行为；进一步规范药品生产流通秩序，加大源头治理力度；加强监管，严肃查处医药购销和医疗服务中的违纪违法行为。使医德医风常抓不懈，为医院在医疗服务行业、深化改革竞争中赢得了一席之地，也使医院在社会效益和经济效益能在全社会中取得了较高威信奠定了坚实的基础。     

高血压病患者动态脉压与左心室肥厚的关系

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between the left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and the ambulatory pulse pressure and aortic root dimension (AOD) in essential hypertensive patients. METHODS: We monitored the 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure and applied echocardiography in 107 essential hypertensive patients. Using the left ventricular mass index (LVMI) as an index in evaluating LVH, the patients were divided into 2 groups: 29 cases in the LVH group and 78 in the non-LVH group. RESULTS: The average levels of 24-hour pulse pressure, daytime pulse pressure, nighttime pulse pressure and AOD were significantly different between patients with LVH and without LVH (P < 0.05). Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that the changes in nighttime pulse pressure and AOD were closely related to LVMI (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The pulse pressure and AOD are important factors leading to LVH in patients with essential hypertension.     

Lecithin vesicles for topical delivery of diclofenac.

Skin penetration of topically applied diclofenac is important for the treatment of rheumatic diseases and actinic keratoses. We have studied the permeation of diclofenac across human cadaver epidermis in-vitro from four lecithin vesicle formulations and a few marketed semi-solid preparations. The lecithin vesicle formulations were prepared by dissolving the lipid contents (lecithin and sodium cholate) in a 1:1 mixture of methanol-chloroform, evaporating the solvents under vacuum, and hydrating the lipid layer with the drug solution in water or 10% ethanol. The vesicles were sonicated for 5 min to reduce the vesicle size and their size and Zeta potential were characterized. The cumulative amount and maximum flux of diclofenac was 69.7+/-40.3 micrograms and 4.77+/-3.16 micrograms/hcm(2) from lecithin vesicles containing sodium cholate and 10% ethanol, and is the highest of all formulations studied. The cumulative amount and mean maximum flux obtained from other formulations were in the range of 2.46+/-1.98-29.9+/-10.1 micrograms and 0.53+/-0.46-3.61+/-0.86 micrograms/hcm(2). Based on the results, lecithin vesicles of diclofenac appear to be advantageous for the topical delivery of diclofenac.     

糖尿病患者超声乳化白内障吸除手术的临床观察

目的:探讨糖尿病患者进行超声乳化白内障吸除联合人工晶状体植入手术的临床效果。方法:50例(61只眼)糖尿病患者(设为A组)和同期163例(174只眼)血糖正常患者(设为B组)接受超声乳化白内障吸除联合人工晶状体植入手术。糖尿病患者手术前通过饮食疗法、口服药物或肌注胰岛素治疗,使空腹血糖降到 10mmol/L以下。术后随访 1～28个月(平均 8.6个月),复查视力、裂隙灯及眼底检查。结果:术后矫正视力≥0.5者,A组为77.1%;B组为80.5%。两组经统计学处理差异无显著性(P>0.05)。两组术中出现后囊破裂及术后发生角膜水肿和前房渗出等并发症的差异无显著性(P>0.05 )。结论:糖尿病患者进行超声乳化白内障吸除手术前只要有效控制血糖,其手术效果与对照组患者相同。但术后血糖的控制仍然十分重要。眼科学报2003;19:98-100。     

Working‐correlation‐structure identification in generalized estimating equations

Selecting an appropriate working correlation structure is pertinent to clustered data analysis using generalized estimating equations (GEE) because an inappropriate choice will lead to inefficient parameter estimation. We investigate the well‐known criterion of QIC for selecting a working correlation structure, and have found that performance of the QIC is deteriorated by a term that is theoretically independent of the correlation structures but has to be estimated with an error. This leads us to propose a correlation information criterion (CIC) that substantially improves the QIC performance. Extensive simulation studies indicate that the CIC has remarkable improvement in selecting the correct correlation structures. We also illustrate our findings using a data set from the Madras Longitudinal Schizophrenia Study. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.