Eight-Year Experience with Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery

Background  

Over the past decade, minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS) has emerged as an accepted approach for the management of cardiac disease that requires a surgical solution. We report the results of an 8-year, single-institution experience with MICS.     

Models of Case Mix Adjustment for Ohio Mental Health Consumer Outcomes Among Children and Adolescents

Outcome data collection systems provide the opportunity for comparing agencies, programs, and therapists. However, the political stakes of comparisons raise important issues regarding their perceived validity. The goal of case-mix adjustment is to eliminate potential biasing factors that might render comparisons as inappropriate or irrelevant. In this paper, case-mix adjustment variables are identified using regression analysis followed by developing models of case mix adjustment using a sample of youth participants in the Ohio Mental Health Consumer Outcomes System. Results indicate that certain client level variables do predict outcomes. The total variance accounted for by variables other than baseline ratings of the outcome measure was small. When comparing agencies using adjusted and unadjusted models, some agencies did vary relative to other agencies. As with previous studies, however, the rank order of agencies was largely unchanged and the correlation between adjusted and unadjusted outcomes among agencies was significant.     

Parent and Adolescent Satisfaction with Mental Health Services: Does it Relate to Youth Diagnosis,Age, Gender,or Treatment Outcome?

Consumer satisfaction with treatment is important information for providers of mental health services. The goal of the current study was to examine the relationship between youth and parent satisfaction ratings and the following youth variables: gender, age, primary diagnosis, and changes in functioning and symptomatology after 6 months of services. Results demonstrated that in a large sample of youth receiving community mental health services satisfaction with services differed as a function of the adolescents’ clinician-derived primary diagnosis, age, and reported changes in symptoms and functioning. Although significant, these variables accounted for only a small portion of the variance in satisfaction. Additionally, the relationship between parent and youth ratings of satisfaction was low, but significant. The implications of these findings are discussed as well as future directions for clinicians and researchers.