The impact of TennCare on hospital efficiency

This study measures the effect of TennCare, a Medicaid managed care reform initiated in 1994, on the efficiency of hospitals in Tennessee. We apply a multiple-output stochastic frontier approach to a panel dataset that represents all short-term acute care hospitals operating in Tennessee for 1990–2001 and find a modest gain in operating efficiency overall. Our results also reveal that the effect of reform on hospital efficiency varies significantly with the admitting hospital’s TennCare patient load and whether the hospital is located in an urban or rural area. During the study period, high-TennCare hospitals in urban areas saw efficiency gains in the 4 years immediately after the implementation of the program while high-TennCare hospitals in rural areas had significant efficiency losses. The effects immediately following the program’s implementation on low-TennCare urban and rural hospitals are similar to those experienced by hospitals with high-TennCare admissions but the magnitude of the effects are much smaller. Policymakers considering large scale reforms of this type should be careful to take into consideration the likely differential responses from urban and rural hospitals that are prone to differ in payer mix and capacity to improve efficiency.

浅谈我国药品重点监测的组织主体

通过分别分析基于药品不良反应监测中心和药品生产企业为主体开展重点监测的优、缺点,提出我国现阶段应以药品不良反应监测中心为主体开展重点监测,并指出以企业为主体,政府和企业互动参与是我国今后重点监测的发展方向。     

Trusted messengers and trusted messages: The role for community-based organizations in promoting COVID-19 and routine immunizations

We sought to explore the trust and influence community-based organizations have within the communities they serve to inform public health strategies in tailoring vaccine and other health messages.A qualitative study was conducted between March 15 – April 12, 2021 of key informants in community-based organizations serving communities in and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. These organizations serve communities with high Social Vulnerability Index scores. We explored four key questions including: (1) What was and continues to be the impact of COVID-19 on communities; (2) How have trust and influence been cultivated in the community; (3) Who are trusted sources of information and health messengers; and (4) What are the community’s perceptions about vaccines, vaccinations, and intent to vaccinate in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.Fifteen key informants from nine community-based organizations who serve vulnerable populations (e.g., mental health, homeless, substance use, medically complex, food insecurity) were interviewed. Five key findings include: (1) The pandemic has exacerbated disparities in existing social determinants of health for individuals and families and have created new concerns for these communities; (2) components of how to build the trust and influence (e.g., demonstrate empathy, create a safe space, deliver on results)resonated with key informants; (3) regardless of the source, presenting health information in a respectful and understandable manner is key to effective delivery; (4) trust and influence can be transferred by association to a secondary messenger connected to or introduced by the primary trusted source; and (5) increased awareness about vaccines and vaccinations offers opportunities to think differently, changing previously held beliefs or attitudes, as many individuals are now more cognizant of risks associated with vaccine-preventable diseases and the importance of vaccines.Community-based organizations offer unique opportunities to address population-level health disparities as trusted vaccine messengers to deliver public health messages.     

The international migration of dentists: directions for research and policy

In 2010, the World Health Organization Global Code of Practice for International Recruitment of Health Personnel (the WHO Code) was adopted by the 193 Member States of the WHO. The WHO Code is a tool for global diplomacy, providing a policy framework to address the challenges involved in managing dentist migration, as well as improving the retention of dental personnel in source countries. The WHO Code recognizes the importance of migrant dentist data to support migration polices; minimum data on the inflows, outflows and stock of dentists are vital. Data on reasons for dentist migration, job satisfaction, cultural adaptation issues, geographic distribution and practice patterns in the destination country are important for any policy analysis on dentist migration. Key challenges in the implementation of the WHO Code include the necessity to coordinate with multiple stakeholders and the lack of integrated data on dentist migration and the lack of shared understanding of the interrelatedness of workforce migration, needs and planning. The profession of dentistry also requires coordination with a number of private and nongovernmental organizations. Many migrant dentist source countries, in African and the South‐Asian WHO Regions, are in the early stages of building capacity in dentist migration data collection and research systems. Due to these shortcomings, it is prudent that developed countries take the initiative to pursue further research into the migration issue and respond to this global challenge.     

Workshop Report: European Workshop on Ataxia-Telangiectasia,Frankfurt, 2011

Abstract: Ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) is a devastating human recessive disorder characterized by progressive cerebellar ataxia, immunodeficiency, chromosomal instability, and cancer susceptibility. The European Workshop on Ataxia-Telangiectasia 2011 in Frankfurt focused on status quo of patient care and future clinical research directions. In Europe, approximately 600 patients are registered and many national websites have been established. During the meeting, guidelines of patient care were discussed and all participants agreed to build up an European A-T research network in near future to bring basic research and new therapies into clinical applications.     

Predictors of MRI Leakage Among Patients Attributed to an Academic Medical Center Commercial Risk-Shared Insurance Contract

PurposeFor health care organizations engaged in risk-shared insurance contracts, leakage of advanced diagnostic imaging to imaging sites not affiliated with the risk-sharing organization may undermine performance on financial and quality metrics. The goal of this study was to identify factors that are predictive of leakage of MRI examinations among patients attributed to an academic health care organization’s risk-shared commercial insurance contract.MethodsAdministrative claims data from 2015 through 2016 for patients attributed to a single risk-shared commercial insurance contract at a large academic medical center (AMC) were analyzed. Primary outcome was MRI leakage: an outpatient MRI study performed at a site not affiliated with the AMC’s integrated health care system. Ordering provider alignment with the AMC’s risk-shared insurance contract was categorized as strong, weak, or none. Multivariate regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the relationship between provider alignment and MRI leakage, while adjusting for selected covariates.ResultsAmong 8,215 patients meeting inclusion criteria, there were 13,272 MRI encounters. The overall proportion of leaked MRI studies was 12.7%. MRI studies ordered by providers with weak AMC alignment (odds ratio, 3.16; 95% confidence interval, 2.49-4.02) or no AMC alignment (odds ratio, 3.68; 95% confidence interval, 3.12-4.33) were more likely to leak than MRI studies ordered by providers with strong AMC alignment.ConclusionsAn ordering provider with no alignment with an AMC’s commercial risk-shared insurance contract was the strongest predictor of MRI leakage. Population health management initiatives aimed at reducing leakage should consider the impact of provider networks and clinical referral patterns that drive imaging utilization.     

2015 - 2018年陕西省死因监测网报病例来源分析

目的 解陕西省死因监测病例来源分布,为提高死因监测数据的完整性和准确性提供依据。方法 从《中国疾病预防控制信息系统 - 死因报告信息系统》中导出的陕西省13个国家级死因监测点2015 - 2018年的网报数据进行分析。结果 2015 - 2018年陕西省13个国家级监测点共报告死亡病例129 740例,其中男性75 773例,女性53 688例。分别报告32 489例、33 212例、31 533例和32 227例死亡病例,各年性别比例均衡,趋势无统计学意义（趋势χ2 = 1.84,P = 0.17）。死亡病例主要来源于乡镇卫生院,占58.80%～61.51%,其次为社区卫生服务中心和县及县以上综合医院,二者分别报告占17.60%～19.81%和17.19%～18.69%（趋势χ2 = 27.79,P＜0.01）,在家中死亡的比例占绝大多数,73.06%～76.52%,死于医疗卫生机构的占17.67%～19.93%（趋势χ2 = 38.81,P＜0.01）。死亡病例生前最高诊断单位以二级医院（占46.36%～49.93%）和三级医院（占41.75%～45.63%）为主（趋势χ2 = 48.80,P＜0.01）,最高诊断依据以临床+理化为主（占60.74%～63.57%）。结论 陕西省死因监测中发现虽然大多数病人在二级或三级医院就诊,且这一比例逐年提高,但绝大多数死亡病例死于家中,主要由乡镇卫生院专干完成死亡病例卡网报。因此,在今后工作中应加强对乡镇卫生院及社区卫生服务中心的培训,定期开展数据查漏补报和质量核查工作。