Improving the quality of child health services: participatory action by providers.

OBJECTIVE: To test a quality improvement approach called COPE (Client-Oriented, Provider-Efficient services), for use in strengthening health systems and supporting Integrated Management of Child Health (IMCI) efforts. DESIGN: Pre- and post-intervention observations of client/provider interactions, facility audits, staff and client surveys, and focus groups to evaluate differences between eight COPE intervention and eight matched non-intervention facilities after a 15-month intervention in 2001. SETTING: Primary care clinics in Guinea and Kenya. STUDY PARTICIPANTS: Health care providers and child caregivers. INTERVENTIONS: Over 15 months, the intervention supported four COPE exercises at each intervention site, supported supervisor training in quality management, and organized minimal training in topics selected by site staff as areas where training was needed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Differences in staff's and child caregiver's knowledge, attitudes, and practices; differences in the quality of services provided. RESULTS: On almost every quality indicator (over 65 indicators), whether reported by staff, observed by evaluators, or reported by clients, the intervention sites performed statistically significantly better than control sites. INTERVENTION: sites were cleaner and more pleasant, with more respect and information for clients, and more privacy. Staff had better personal communication skills, better diagnostic skills, and prescribing practices and gave better home care instructions to carers. Clients in intervention sites were more informed and more satisfied, and their children had better immunization coverage than those in control sites. CONCLUSION: COPE is a simple process, yet our study confirms that it can have a very dramatic effect on the quality of services. This study demonstrated how all areas of quality can be addressed by empowering health care providers to take action by using COPE. We suggest that COPE can complement Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) training and can help to achieve better health for children.     

Quality of primary health care in Saudi Arabia: a comprehensive review.

OBJECTIVES: Little is known about the quality of primary care in Saudi Arabia, despite the central role of primary care centers in Saudi health strategy. This study presents an overview of quality of primary care in Saudi Arabia, and identifies factors impeding the achievement of quality, with the aim of determining how the quality of Saudi primary care could be improved. METHOD: Using a systematic search strategy, data were extracted from the published literature on quality of care in Saudi primary care services, and on barriers to achieving high-quality care. RESULTS: Of the 128 studies initially identified, 31 met the inclusion criteria for the review. Studies identified were diverse in methodology and focus. Components of quality were reviewed in terms of access and effectiveness of both clinical and interpersonal care. Good access and effective care were reported for certain services including: immunization, maternal health care, and control of epidemic diseases. Poor access and effectiveness were reported for chronic disease management programs, prescribing patterns, health education, referral patterns, and some aspects of interpersonal care including those caused by language barriers. Several factors were identified as determining whether high-quality care was delivered. These included management and organizational factors, implementation of evidence-based practice, professional development, use of referrals to secondary care, and organizational culture. CONCLUSION: There is substantial variation in the quality of Saudi primary care services. In order to improve quality, there is a need to improve the management and organization of primary care services. Professional development strategies are also needed to improve the knowledge and skills of staff.     

急性肛周脓肿手术方法的改进

目的:探讨、研究急性肛周脓肿一期根治新术式.方法:回顾分析 1996～ 2004年 123例急性肛周脓肿一期根治术式 改进后病人的临床资料.结果:所有病人均一次性治愈,无术后复发肛瘘及遗留肛门失禁.结论:采用该术式治疗急 性肛周脓肿,具有治愈率高、病人痛苦小、手术恢复快、费用低、并发症少等优点.     

Patient Satisfaction, Treatment Experience, and Disability Outcomes in a Population-Based Cohort of Injured Workers in Washington State: Implications for Quality Improvement

Objective. To determine what aspects of patient satisfaction are most important in explaining the variance in patients' overall treatment experience and to evaluate the relationship between treatment experience and subsequent outcomes.
Data Sources and Setting. Data from a population-based survey of 804 randomly selected injured workers in Washington State filing a workers' compensation claim between November 1999 and February 2000 were combined with insurance claims data indicating whether survey respondents were receiving disability compensation payments for being out of work at 6 or 12 months after claim filing.
Study Design. We conducted a two-step analysis. In the first step, we tested a multiple linear regression model to assess the relationship of satisfaction measures to patients' overall treatment experience. In the second step, we used logistic regression to assess the relationship of treatment experience to subsequent outcomes.
Principal Findings. Among injured workers who had ongoing follow-up care after their initial treatment ( n =681), satisfaction with interpersonal and technical aspects of care and with care coordination was strongly and positively associated with overall treatment experience ( p <0.001). As a group, the satisfaction measures explained 38 percent of the variance in treatment experience after controlling for demographics, satisfaction with medical care prior to injury, job satisfaction, type of injury, and provider type. Injured workers who reported less-favorable treatment experience were 3.54 times as likely (95 percent confidence interval, 1.20–10.95, p= .021) to be receiving time-loss compensation for inability to work due to injury 6 or 12 months after filing a claim, compared to patients whose treatment experience was more positive.     

Philips Bucky DiagnostTS X线机的数字化改造

采用友通公司的方案，对PhilipsX线机进行了数字化改造，改造后的系统增加了数字化X线平板探测器、控制盒和DR影像工作站，使摄片更加方便快捷，为临床诊断提供了更高质量的图像。     

牙科综合治疗机供水系统的改进

一种简易净水装置，解决没有配备滤水装置的牙科综合治疗机经常出现的手机脏堵问题。     

超声波作用下NaBH4/ZrCl4还原9(E)-红霉素肟制备9(S)-红霉胺

9(S)-红霉胺是合成地红霉素和CP-544372的中间体，此化合物可在超声波的作用下利用NaBH4／ZrCl4于室温下还原9(E)-红霉素肟制得，收率为69％，其结构经IR、NMR和MS确证。该方法是制备9(S)-红霉胺的方便、有效的途径。     

5′-RS-1，5-二氧代-（5′-乙基-5′-羟基-2′H，5′H，6′1-6-氧代吡喃）-[3′，4′，f]．Δ^6（8）-四氢中氮茚的合成工艺改进

目的 改进喜树碱关键中间体5′-RS-，5-二氧代-（5′-乙基-5′-羟基-2′H，5′H，6′H-6-氧代吡喃）-[3′，4′，f]-△^6（8）-四氢中氮茚（1）的合成工艺。方法 以6-氰基-1，1-亚乙二氧基-7-（1′-乙氧羰基）丙基-5-氧代-△^6（8）-四氢中氮茚（2）为原料，经氢化和亚硝化、脱氮、混合金属催化氧化、环合及三氟乙酸脱保护反应得到目标产物。结果与结论 新工艺简化了操作、缩短了反应时间，总产率达到了72．4％。     

中药注射剂安全性的分析与思考

中药注射剂安全性是社会关注的热点问题,正确认识中药注射剂不良反应,将能避免社会民众产生误解或认识错位。目前中药注射剂的生产原料、生产工艺以及突出安全性的质量监控是影响中药注射剂安全性的关键所在,针对各品种临床存在的问题,加强中药注射剂安全性的基础研究,在说明书明确临床药物配伍及使用规范,强化相关物质、不溶性微粒、热原、过敏物质等注射剂安全性质控,确实保证中药注射剂用药安全。