The Effect of Cuts in Medicare Reimbursement on Hospital Mortality

Objective. To determine if patients treated at hospitals under different levels of financial strain from the Balanced Budget Act (BBA) of 1997 had differential changes in 30-day mortality, and whether vulnerable patient populations such as the uninsured were disproportionately affected.
Data Source. Hospital discharge data from all general acute care hospitals in Pennsylvania from 1997 to 2001.
Study Design. A multivariate regression analysis was performed retrospectively on 30-day mortality rates, using hospital discharge data, hospital financial data, and death certificate information from Pennsylvania.
Data Collection. We used 370,017 hospital episodes with one of four conditions identified by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality as inpatient quality indicators were extracted.
Principal Findings. The average magnitude of Medicare payment reduction on overall net revenues was estimated at 1.8 percent for hospitals with low BBA impact and 3.6 percent for hospitals with a high impact in 1998, worsening to 2 and 4.8 percent, respectively, by 2001. Operating margins decreased significantly over the time period for all hospitals ( p <.05). While unadjusted mortality rates demonstrated a disproportionate rise in mortality for patients from high impact hospitals from 1997 to 2000, adjusted analyses show no consistent, significant difference in the rate of change in mortality between high-impact and low-impact hospitals ( p =.04–.94). Similarly, uninsured patients did not experience greater increases in mortality in high-impact hospitals relative to low-impact hospitals.
Conclusions. An analysis of hospitalizations in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania did not find an adverse impact of increased financial strain from the BBA on patient mortality either among all patients or among the uninsured.     

对近年来国内部分医院应用主要抗生素的分析

本文通过抽样统计国内部分医院抗生素用药数据，分析了近年来主要抗生素作为医院主力品种（列前１０名）的普及概率、用量逐年的位次变化及变化趋势。同时还对不同类型医院在用药上的差别作了分析。     

Integrated plasma cortisol concentration in children with asthma receiving long-term inhaled corticosteroids.

We assessed the effect of long-term therapy with inhaled beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) on the pituitary-adrenal axis, by measuring the integrated concentration (IC) of plasma cortisol in eight children with asthma (age, 6-16 years) who regularly used inhaled BDP in doses ranging from 8 to 26.5 micrograms/kg (200-450 micrograms/day) for 6 months to 4 years. The control group included six children (age, 6-16 years) who had the IC of plasma cortisol measured as part of an endocrinological evaluation and were found to be healthy. Cortisol concentration was measured in blood samples collected continuously over a 24-hr period. Mean IC of plasma cortisol in the study group was significantly lower than in the healthy controls (mean +/- SD, 4.9 +/- 3.3 vs 9.1 +/- 1.9 micrograms/mL; P less than 0.02). Cortisol response to 0.25 mg ACTH (iv) was abnormal in one of the eight BDP-treated patients. No correlation was found between IC of plasma cortisol and the BDP dose, severity of asthma, height percentile, or the Tanner stage. We conclude that long-term therapy, even with relatively conventional doses of inhaled BDP may cause reduction in the normal physiological secretion of cortisol. The clinical relevance of low IC of plasma cortisol is not clear, but it may reflect partial suppression of the pituitary-adrenal axis.     

试论医院药剂科的法律地位和作用

本文论述了医院药剂科的法律地位和作用,药政部门的执法盲点,提出法律措施是促使医药同步发展的可靠保障。     

开展电话回访搭建医患沟通桥梁

通过对3 500余人次的有效电话回访,实施健康教育、健康指导3000余人次,受理健康咨询500余人次,协调和化解各类医疗纠纷20余起。电话回访搭起了和谐医患关系的桥梁。     

浅谈综合性医院目标成本管理

医院目标成本管理是医院经营管理的重点,本文讨论了目标成本管理的相关概念和内涵,阐述了医院目标成本管理的特点和作用,在此基础上,提出了加强医院目标成本管理的思路。     

对医院药事管理委员会系统工程管理的初探

本文通过对医院药事管理委员会的组织形式以及在医院药学事业中的特殊地位、工作任务、工作职责及职能效应的初步探讨,指出医院药事管理委员会在发展和建设医院药学事业中具有十三种职能、七大效应。认为加强医院药事管理委员会建设,是发展医院药学事业和保证医院药品质量的一种好方式。     

用科学理论指导"五四一"医院经营管理模式的研究

本文介绍了广东省第二人民医院,用科学理论指导"五四一"医院经营管理模式研究的改革实践.分别阐述了"五四一"医院经营管理模式的研究基础、方向和核心目标.     

Patient satisfaction with and recommendation of a hospital: effects of interpersonal and technical aspects of hospital care.

OBJECTIVES: To examine patient satisfaction with and recommendation of a hospital, with a special focus on the correlation of these measures to patient ratings of interpersonal and technical performance of the hospital. DESIGN: Telephone survey of patients with four specific conditions after their discharge from hospitals. SETTING: Accredited district teaching hospitals and above, nationwide in Taiwan. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 4945 patients from 126 hospitals diagnosed with or undergoing procedures related to stroke, diabetes mellitus, Caesarean section, or appendectomy were interviewed by telephone. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Overall patient satisfaction and recommendation were measured by single-item questions. Interpersonal skills were measured by three items: doctors' explanation, attitude, and caring. Technical skills were measured by another three items: hospital equipment, clinical competence, and outcome of treatment. RESULTS: Interpersonal skills were as influential or more influential than clinical competence on patient satisfaction for three of the four disease categories. In contrast, technical competence was a more influential predictor for recommendation for patients in all four disease categories. CONCLUSION: The preliminary results imply that a hospital with high percentage of patient satisfaction does not necessarily receive a high level of recommendation. This finding provides new insights for researchers and for hospital managers who devote resources exclusively for achieving the highest possible levels of patient satisfaction.     

医院治理结构改革与医院管理职业化

通过对当前两种医院治理结构的六个要素比较，认为这两种改革模式的主要问题在于不能很好地解决委托人(或董事会)人员来源和委托人的所有权约束和激励以及代理人的约束和激励等两个问题。并据此提出政策建议，认为解决委托人与经营者的约束和激励问题是医院治理中非常关键的一环，国资委应在医院经营中培育一个专业化、职业化的委托人和代理人阶层。