Business process modeling in healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruiz, Francisco; Garcia, Felix; Calahorra, Luis; Llorente, César; Gonçalves, Luis; Daniel, Christel; Blobel, Bernd

2012-01-01

The importance of the process point of view is not restricted to a specific enterprise sector. In the field of health, as a result of the nature of the service offered, health institutions' processes are also the basis for decision making which is focused on achieving their objective of providing quality medical assistance. In this chapter the application of business process modelling - using the Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) standard is described. Main challenges of business process modelling in healthcare are the definition of healthcare processes, the multi-disciplinary nature of healthcare, the flexibility and variability of the activities involved in health care processes, the need of interoperability between multiple information systems, and the continuous updating of scientific knowledge in healthcare.

Consumer-perceived value: the key to a successful business strategy in the healthcare marketplace.

Science.gov (United States)

Ettinger, W H

1998-01-01

The Medicare market is becoming increasingly competitive and uncertain. To compete successfully for a share of the Medicare market, providers must: Have a cogent strategy that defines their customers and the value proposition for those customers Design their services to maximize the benefits of outcomes and service process that are important to consumers Determine the needed structure and infrastructure to put those services in place Marketing research is critical in this regard, as is effectiveness tracking. This approach is different from that usually taken by healthcare providers in the marketplace. It means being strategic rather than tactical and proactive rather than reactive. Most importantly, providers must shift their focus externally to the consumer's needs rather than their own. Finally, this approach requires working together in an integrated organization with common goals.

Exploring Healthcare Consumer Acceptance of Personal Health Information Management Technology through Personal Health Record Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Huijuan

2013-01-01

Healthcare technologies are evolving from a practitioner-centric model to a patient-centric model due to the increasing need for technology that directly serves healthcare consumers, including healthy people and patients. Personal health information management (PHIM) technology is one of the technologies designed to enhance an individual's ability…

Sustainability in health care by allocating resources effectively (SHARE) 4: exploring opportunities and methods for consumer engagement in resource allocation in a local healthcare setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Claire; Ko, Henry; Waller, Cara; Sloss, Pamela; Williams, Pamela

2017-05-05

This is the fourth in a series of papers reporting a program of Sustainability in Health care by Allocating Resources Effectively (SHARE) in a local healthcare setting. Healthcare decision-makers have sought to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of services through removal or restriction of practices that are unsafe or of little benefit, often referred to as 'disinvestment'. A systematic, integrated, evidence-based program for disinvestment was being established within a large Australian health service network. Consumer engagement was acknowledged as integral to this process. This paper reports the process of developing a model to integrate consumer views and preferences into an organisation-wide approach to resource allocation. A literature search was conducted and interviews and workshops were undertaken with health service consumers and staff. Findings were drafted into a model for consumer engagement in resource allocation which was workshopped and refined. Although consumer engagement is increasingly becoming a requirement of publicly-funded health services and documented in standards and policies, participation in organisational decision-making is not widespread. Several consistent messages for consumer engagement in this context emerged from the literature and consumer responses. Opportunities, settings and activities for consumer engagement through communication, consultation and participation were identified within the resource allocation process. Sources of information regarding consumer values and perspectives in publications and locally-collected data, and methods to use them in health service decision-making, were identified. A model bringing these elements together was developed. The proposed model presents potential opportunities and activities for consumer engagement in the context of resource allocation.

Tailor-made finance versus tailor-made service : Can the state improve consumer choice in healthcare by reforming the financial structure?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

K.J. Grit (Kor); A.A. de Bont (Antoinette)

2010-01-01

textabstractABSTRACT Background: Policy instruments based on the working of markets have been introduced to empower consumers of healthcare, however it is not easy to become a critical consumer in healthcare. Objectives: The aim of this study is to analyze the possibilities of the state to

Benefits and Risks of Electronic Medical Record (EMR): An Interpretive Analysis of Healthcare Consumers' Perceptions of an Evolving Health Information Systems Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Chester D.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to explore healthcare consumers' perceptions of their Electronic Medical Records (EMRs). Although there have been numerous studies regarding EMRs, there have been minimal, if any, research that explores healthcare consumers' awareness of this technology and the social implications that result. As consumers' health…

The Social and Economic Factors Influence upon the Healthcare Services Consumers Behaviour

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Adrian GÂRDAN

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The research in the field of healthcare services consumer behaviour represents a very complex task with multiple implications. The consumer behaviour is much nuanced depending on the type of services or products that we are referring on. In the case of healthcare services, the behaviour is more complex than other services and is influenced mainly by special motivations like the need for a proper health status or the need to recover from a certain disease. The present article is proposing a qualitative type research as an in-depth interview with dentists regarding their perception about the influence that social and economic factors can have upon the consumers’ behaviour. The results of the research suggest that the influence of social factors is very complex, from the simple more intense concern related with dental hygiene and appearance of teeth up to anxious behaviour and isolation in the case of patients with severe dental diseases that have affected their face bones structure or the capacity to chew and speak. These findings shows that the consumers’ behaviour can be shaped by the complex interaction of different factors, and the response from dentists and those in charge with the provision of dental healthcare services can make the difference between a sustainable consumption and a dramatic route of unsatisfied consumers’ expectations.

Consumer directed healthcare: except for the healthy and wealthy it's unwise.

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Woolhandler, Steffie; Himmelstein, David U

2007-06-01

Many politicians and business leaders are advocating high deductible health insurance plans linked with health savings accounts--so-called consumer-directed healthcare. These policies penalize the sick, discourage needed care (especially primary and preventive care), and direct tax subsidies towards the wealthiest Americans. They offer little hope of slowing the growth of health care costs and add further bureaucratic costs and complexity to our health care financing system.

Consumer input into health care: Time for a new active and comprehensive model of consumer involvement.

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Hall, Alix E; Bryant, Jamie; Sanson-Fisher, Rob W; Fradgley, Elizabeth A; Proietto, Anthony M; Roos, Ian

2018-03-07

To ensure the provision of patient-centred health care, it is essential that consumers are actively involved in the process of determining and implementing health-care quality improvements. However, common strategies used to involve consumers in quality improvements, such as consumer membership on committees and collection of patient feedback via surveys, are ineffective and have a number of limitations, including: limited representativeness; tokenism; a lack of reliable and valid patient feedback data; infrequent assessment of patient feedback; delays in acquiring feedback; and how collected feedback is used to drive health-care improvements. We propose a new active model of consumer engagement that aims to overcome these limitations. This model involves the following: (i) the development of a new measure of consumer perceptions; (ii) low cost and frequent electronic data collection of patient views of quality improvements; (iii) efficient feedback to the health-care decision makers; and (iv) active involvement of consumers that fosters power to influence health system changes. © 2018 The Authors Health Expectations published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Process Management Practices In Healthcare Institutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Şükrü Kılıç

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Healthcare institutions differ from other service businesses by their “matrix organizational structure” and “error-free output” requirement. However, the processes stay the same for all organizational activities at different levels. One of the post-modern management approach is to focus on basis of necessary processes and fundamental organizational changes. This case study aims to initially explain the characteristics of healthcare institutions and the basic conceptual properties of process and process management. Then the effect of the “management throughprocesses approach” over organization will be discussed. Finally; process management at healthcare institutions, scope of health care and examples of the other post-modern approaches will be examined with their outputs

Constructive Consumer Choice Processes.

OpenAIRE

Bettman, James R; Luce, Mary Frances; Payne, John W

1998-01-01

Consumer decision making has been a focal interest in consumer research, and consideration of current marketplace trends ( e.g., technological change, an information explosion) indicates that this topic will continue to be critically important. We argue that consumer choice is inherently constructive. Due to limited processing capacity, consumers often do not have well-defined existing preferences, but construct them using a variety of strategies contingent on task demands. After describing c...

Process improvement in healthcare: Overall resource efficiency

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Mast, J.; Kemper, B.; Does, R.J.M.M.; Mandjes, M.; van der Bijl, Y.

2011-01-01

This paper aims to develop a unifying and quantitative conceptual framework for healthcare processes from the viewpoint of process improvement. The work adapts standard models from operation management to the specifics of healthcare processes. We propose concepts for organizational modeling of

Overcoming information asymmetry in consumer-directed health plans.

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Retchin, Sheldon M

2007-04-01

Consumer-centric healthcare has been extolled as the centerpiece of a new model for managing both quality and price. However, information asymmetry in consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) is a challenge that must be addressed. For CDHPs to work as intended and to gain acceptance, consumers need information regarding the quality and price of healthcare purchases. The federal government, particularly the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, could function as an official resource for information on performance and comparisons among facilities and providers. Because of workforce constraints among primary care physicians, a new group of healthcare professionals called "medical decision advisors" could be trained. Academic health centers would have to play a critical role in devising an appropriate curriculum, as well as designing a certification and credentialing process. However, with appropriate curricula and training, medical decision advisors could furnish information for consumers and aid in the complicated decisions they will face under CDHPs.

Process Management Practices In Healthcare Institutions

OpenAIRE

Şükrü Kılıç; Cumhur Aydınlı

2015-01-01

Healthcare institutions differ from other service businesses by their “matrix organizational structure” and “error-free output” requirement. However, the processes stay the same for all organizational activities at different levels. One of the post-modern management approach is to focus on basis of necessary processes and fundamental organizational changes. This case study aims to initially explain the characteristics of healthcare institutions and the ba...

Improving healthcare using Lean processes.

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Baker, G Ross

2014-01-01

For more than a decade, healthcare organizations across Canada have been using Lean management tools to improve care processes, reduce preventable adverse events, increase patient satisfaction and create better work environments. The largest system-wide effort in Canada, and perhaps anywhere, is currently under way in Saskatchewan. The jury is still out on whether Lean efforts in that province, or elsewhere in Canada, are robust enough to transform current delivery systems and sustain new levels of performance. This issue of Healthcare Quarterly features several articles that provide a perspective on Lean methods in healthcare. Copyright © 2014 Longwoods Publishing.

Video Analysis and Remote Digital Ethnography: Approaches to understanding user perspectives and processes involving healthcare information technology.

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Kushniruk, Andre W; Borycki, Elizabeth M

2015-01-01

Innovations in healthcare information systems promise to revolutionize and streamline healthcare processes worldwide. However, the complexity of these systems and the need to better understand issues related to human-computer interaction have slowed progress in this area. In this chapter the authors describe their work in using methods adapted from usability engineering, video ethnography and analysis of digital log files for improving our understanding of complex real-world healthcare interactions between humans and technology. The approaches taken are cost-effective and practical and can provide detailed ethnographic data on issues health professionals and consumers encounter while using systems as well as potential safety problems. The work is important in that it can be used in techno-anthropology to characterize complex user interactions with technologies and also to provide feedback into redesign and optimization of improved healthcare information systems.

Why bother about health? A study on the factors that influence health information seeking behaviour among Malaysian healthcare consumers.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaafar, Noor Ismawati; Ainin, Sulaiman; Yeong, Mun Wai

2017-08-01

The general improvement of socio-economic conditions has resulted in people becoming more educated to make better-informed decisions in health related matters. Individual's perspective on health increases with better understanding of ways to improve lifestyle for better health and living. With the increase in lifestyle related diseases that lead to health problems, there is an increase in the availability of healthcare information. Thus, it is important to identify the factors that influence information seeking behaviour in the area of healthcare and lifestyle. This exploratory study examines the relationship between the factors that affect online health information-seeking behaviour among healthcare product in the capital city of Malaysia. Survey questionnaire was used to collect empirical data. A survey was conducted among 300 healthcare consumers in three main cities in Malaysia where questionnaires were personally distributed through snowball sampling. A total of 271 questionnaire forms were used in the analysis. Health Behaviour of the consumers influences Health Information Seeking Behaviour. And this relationship is strongly affected by Gender whereby the affect is strongly among females compared to males. The findings indicate that Health Behaviour influences Health Information Seeking Behaviour. Marketers can find out which target segment of population to target when devising information channels for consumers, especially through the Internet. However, message that promotes positive health behaviour to a target audience who already has positive Health Behaviour increase the motivation to Health Information Seeking Behaviour. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Process-driven selection of information systems for healthcare

Science.gov (United States)

Mills, Stephen F.; Yeh, Raymond T.; Giroir, Brett P.; Tanik, Murat M.

1995-05-01

Integration of networking and data management technologies such as PACS, RIS and HIS into a healthcare enterprise in a clinically acceptable manner is a difficult problem. Data within such a facility are generally managed via a combination of manual hardcopy systems and proprietary, special-purpose data processing systems. Process modeling techniques have been successfully applied to engineering and manufacturing enterprises, but have not generally been applied to service-based enterprises such as healthcare facilities. The use of process modeling techniques can provide guidance for the placement, configuration and usage of PACS and other informatics technologies within the healthcare enterprise, and thus improve the quality of healthcare. Initial process modeling activities conducted within the Pediatric ICU at Children's Medical Center in Dallas, Texas are described. The ongoing development of a full enterprise- level model for the Pediatric ICU is also described.

Consumer-led health-related online sources and their impact on consumers: An integrative review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Laukka, Elina; Rantakokko, Piia; Suhonen, Marjo

2017-04-01

The aim of the review was to describe consumer-led health-related online sources and their impact on consumers. The review was carried out as an integrative literature review. Quantisation and qualitative content analysis were used as the analysis method. The most common method used by the included studies was qualitative content analysis. This review identified the consumer-led health-related online sources used between 2009 and 2016 as health-related online communities, health-related social networking sites and health-related rating websites. These sources had an impact on peer support; empowerment; health literacy; physical, mental and emotional wellbeing; illness management; and relationships between healthcare organisations and consumers. The knowledge of the existence of the health-related online sources provides healthcare organisations with an opportunity to listen to their consumers' 'voice'. The sources make healthcare consumers more competent actors in relation to healthcare, and the knowledge of them is a valuable resource for healthcare organisations. Additionally, these health-related online sources might create an opportunity to reduce the need for drifting among the healthcare services. Healthcare policymakers and organisations could benefit from having a strategy of increasing their health-related online sources.

Use of healthcare consumer voices to increase empathy in nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

Heidke, Penny; Howie, Virginia; Ferdous, Tabassum

2018-03-01

Nurses need to be well prepared to address the needs of a diverse population and facilitate positive experiences in an equitable and inclusive approach to care. The aim of the study was to determine whether the integration of consumer lived experience interviews into the content of a first-year course influenced empathy in nursing students. A one group pre-test, post-test design was used. A convenience sample of first-year undergraduate nursing students (N = 32) from a regional Australian university was recruited for the study. The pre and post tests were conducted using the Kiersma Chen Empathy Scale and t-tests performed to analyse the data. Results showed overall that nursing students demonstrated moderate levels of empathy; pre-test score of (M = 75.53; SD = 5.76). After the intervention the post-test results showed that there was a statistically significant increase in students' empathy towards vulnerable, disadvantaged and stigmatised population groups. The healthcare consumer voice has the potential to strengthen current teaching practices that promote caring behaviours in nursing students. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Consumers' conceptualization of ultra-processed foods.

Science.gov (United States)

Ares, Gastón; Vidal, Leticia; Allegue, Gimena; Giménez, Ana; Bandeira, Elisa; Moratorio, Ximena; Molina, Verónika; Curutchet, María Rosa

2016-10-01

Consumption of ultra-processed foods has been associated with low diet quality, obesity and other non-communicable diseases. This situation makes it necessary to develop educational campaigns to discourage consumers from substituting meals based on unprocessed or minimally processed foods by ultra-processed foods. In this context, the aim of the present work was to investigate how consumers conceptualize the term ultra-processed foods and to evaluate if the foods they perceive as ultra-processed are in concordance with the products included in the NOVA classification system. An online study was carried out with 2381 participants. They were asked to explain what they understood by ultra-processed foods and to list foods that can be considered ultra-processed. Responses were analysed using inductive coding. The great majority of the participants was able to provide an explanation of what ultra-processed foods are, which was similar to the definition described in the literature. Most of the participants described ultra-processed foods as highly processed products that usually contain additives and other artificial ingredients, stressing that they have low nutritional quality and are unhealthful. The most relevant products for consumers' conceptualization of the term were in agreement with the NOVA classification system and included processed meats, soft drinks, snacks, burgers, powdered and packaged soups and noodles. However, some of the participants perceived processed foods, culinary ingredients and even some minimally processed foods as ultra-processed. This suggests that in order to accurately convey their message, educational campaigns aimed at discouraging consumers from consuming ultra-processed foods should include a clear definition of the term and describe some of their specific characteristics, such as the type of ingredients included in their formulation and their nutritional composition. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (OAS CAHPS) survey for hospital outpatient departments - Facility

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — A list of hospital outpatient department ratings for the Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (OAS CAHPS)...

A Lexical-Ontological Resource for Consumer Heathcare

Science.gov (United States)

Cardillo, Elena

In Consumer Healthcare Informatics it is still difficult for laypersons to understand and act on health information, due to the persistent communication gap between specialized medical terminology and that used by healthcare consumers. Furthermore, existing clinically-oriented terminologies cannot provide sufficient support when integrated into consumer-oriented applications, so there is a need to create consumer-friendly terminologies reflecting the different ways healthcare consumers express and think about health topics. Following this direction, this work suggests a way to support the design of an ontology-based system that mitigates this gap, using knowledge engineering and Semantic Web technologies. The system is based on the development of a consumer-oriented medical terminology which will be integrated with other existing domain ontologies/terminologies into a medical ontology repository. This will support consumer-oriented healthcare systems by providing many knowledge services to help users in accessing and managing their healthcare data.

Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (OAS CAHPS) survey for ambulatory surgical centers - Facility

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — A list of ambulatory surgical center ratings for the Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (OAS CAHPS) survey....

Assessing healthcare process maturity: challenges of using a business process maturity model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tarhan, A.; Turetken, O.; van den Biggelaar, F.J.H.M.

2015-01-01

Doi: 10.4108/icst.pervasivehealth.2015.259105 The quality of healthcare services is influenced by the maturity of healthcare processes used to develop it. A maturity model is an instrument to assess and continually improve organizational processes. In the last decade, a number of maturity models

Adopting software quality measures for healthcare processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Yildiz, Ozkan; Demirörs, Onur

2009-01-01

In this study, we investigated the adoptability of software quality measures for healthcare process measurement. Quality measures of ISO/IEC 9126 are redefined from a process perspective to build a generic healthcare process quality measurement model. Case study research method is used, and the model is applied to a public hospital's Entry to Care process. After the application, weak and strong aspects of the process can be easily observed. Access audibility, fault removal, completeness of documentation, and machine utilization are weak aspects and these aspects are the candidates for process improvement. On the other hand, functional completeness, fault ratio, input validity checking, response time, and throughput time are the strong aspects of the process.

Effective healthcare process redesign through an interdisciplinary team approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Snyder, Rita; Huynh, Nathan; Cai, Bo; Vidal, José; Bennett, Kevin

2013-01-01

Healthcare process redesign is a complex and often high risk undertaking. Typically, there is a limited understanding of the baseline process and often inadequate tools by which to assess it. This can be confounded by narrow redesign team expertise that can result in unanticipated and/or unintended redesign consequences. Interdisciplinary research teams of healthcare, biostatistics, engineering and computer science experts provide broad support for a more effective and safer approach to healthcare process redesign. We describe an interdisciplinary research team focused on medication administration process (MAP)redesign and its achievements and challenges.

PERSPECTIVES ON MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM PROCESSES AMONG HEALTHCARE EXECUTIVES: PROCESSES THAT FACILITATE TEAM EFFECTIVENESS.

Science.gov (United States)

Landry, Amy; Erwin, Cathleen

2015-01-01

Multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) are used in healthcare organizations to address both clinical and managerial functions. Despite their prevalence, little is known about how team processes work to facilitate effectiveness among MDT leadership teams. This study explores perceptions of MDT participation experienced by organizational leaders in healthcare organizations in the United States. A survey of American College of Healthcare Executives members was conducted to assess involvement and perceptions of MDTs among health care management professionals. Descriptive statistics, independent T-Tests and Chi-square analyses were used to examine participation in MDTs, perception of MDT processes, and the association of participation and perceived processes with employee and organizational characteristics. The survey yielded a sample comprised of 492 healthcare executive or executive-track employees. An overwhelming majority indicated participation in MDTs. The study identified team processes that could use improvement including communication, cooperation, and conflict resolution. The study provides evidence that can help guide the development of training programs that focus on providing managerial leaders with strategies aimed at improving communication, coordination, and conflict resolution that will improve the effectiveness of MDT functioning in healthcare organizations.

A Big Data-driven Model for the Optimization of Healthcare Processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Koufi, Vassiliki; Malamateniou, Flora; Vassilacopoulos, George

2015-01-01

Healthcare organizations increasingly navigate a highly volatile, complex environment in which technological advancements and new healthcare delivery business models are the only constants. In their effort to out-perform in this environment, healthcare organizations need to be agile enough in order to become responsive to these increasingly changing conditions. To act with agility, healthcare organizations need to discover new ways to optimize their operations. To this end, they focus on healthcare processes that guide healthcare delivery and on the technologies that support them. Business process management (BPM) and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) can provide a flexible, dynamic, cloud-ready infrastructure where business process analytics can be utilized to extract useful insights from mountains of raw data, and make them work in ways beyond the abilities of human brains, or IT systems from just a year ago. This paper presents a framework which provides healthcare professionals gain better insight within and across your business processes. In particular, it performs real-time analysis on process-related data in order reveal areas of potential process improvement.

Towards a stakeholders' consensus on patient payment policy: the views of health-care consumers, providers, insurers and policy makers in six Central and Eastern European countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Tambor, Marzena; Pavlova, Milena; Golinowska, Stanisława; Sowada, Christoph; Groot, Wim

2015-08-01

Although patient charges for health-care services may contribute to a more sustainable health-care financing, they often raise public opposition, which impedes their introduction. Thus, a consensus among the main stakeholders on the presence and role of patient charges should be worked out to assure their successful implementation. To analyse the acceptability of formal patient charges for health-care services in a basic package among different health-care system stakeholders in six Central and Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Ukraine). Qualitative data were collected in 2009 via focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with health-care consumers, providers, policy makers and insurers. The same participants were asked to fill in a self-administrative questionnaire. Qualitative and quantitative data are analysed separately to outline similarities and differences in the opinions between the stakeholder groups and across countries. There is a rather weak consensus on patient charges in the countries. Health policy makers and insurers strongly advocate patient charges. Health-care providers overall support charges but their financial profits from the system strongly affects their approval. Consumers are against paying for services, mostly due to poor quality and access to health-care services and inability to pay. To build consensus on patient charges, the payment policy should be responsive to consumers' needs with regard to quality and equity. Transparency and accountability in the health-care system should be improved to enhance public trust and acceptance of patient payments. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Process-oriented integration and coordination of healthcare services across organizational boundaries.

Science.gov (United States)

Tello-Leal, Edgar; Chiotti, Omar; Villarreal, Pablo David

2012-12-01

The paper presents a methodology that follows a top-down approach based on a Model-Driven Architecture for integrating and coordinating healthcare services through cross-organizational processes to enable organizations providing high quality healthcare services and continuous process improvements. The methodology provides a modeling language that enables organizations conceptualizing an integration agreement, and identifying and designing cross-organizational process models. These models are used for the automatic generation of: the private view of processes each organization should perform to fulfill its role in cross-organizational processes, and Colored Petri Net specifications to implement these processes. A multi-agent system platform provides agents able to interpret Colored Petri-Nets to enable the communication between the Healthcare Information Systems for executing the cross-organizational processes. Clinical documents are defined using the HL7 Clinical Document Architecture. This methodology guarantees that important requirements for healthcare services integration and coordination are fulfilled: interoperability between heterogeneous Healthcare Information Systems; ability to cope with changes in cross-organizational processes; guarantee of alignment between the integrated healthcare service solution defined at the organizational level and the solution defined at technological level; and the distributed execution of cross-organizational processes keeping the organizations autonomy.

Healthcare services consumer behavior in the light of social norms influence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Adrian GÂRDAN

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Healthcare services consumers’ behavior represents an multidimensional concept, that implies the cumulative effects of different factors. The process of consumption is very different and complex in the case of healthcare services due to the nature of the needs and consumption motivations on one hand and because of the complexity of the services itself on the other hand. Amongst the factors that are influencing the consumer’s behaviour, the social ones represent a particular type. In the case of healthcare services this is because the social interactions of the patients can contribute to their own perception regarding the post consumption satisfaction, or can influence the buying decision in the first place. The influence of social factors can be analysed on multiple layers – from the effect of the affiliation and adhesion groups to the effect of social norms and regulations.

A Mixed-Methods Research Framework for Healthcare Process Improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Bastian, Nathaniel D; Munoz, David; Ventura, Marta

2016-01-01

The healthcare system in the United States is spiraling out of control due to ever-increasing costs without significant improvements in quality, access to care, satisfaction, and efficiency. Efficient workflow is paramount to improving healthcare value while maintaining the utmost standards of patient care and provider satisfaction in high stress environments. This article provides healthcare managers and quality engineers with a practical healthcare process improvement framework to assess, measure and improve clinical workflow processes. The proposed mixed-methods research framework integrates qualitative and quantitative tools to foster the improvement of processes and workflow in a systematic way. The framework consists of three distinct phases: 1) stakeholder analysis, 2a) survey design, 2b) time-motion study, and 3) process improvement. The proposed framework is applied to the pediatric intensive care unit of the Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital. The implementation of this methodology led to identification and categorization of different workflow tasks and activities into both value-added and non-value added in an effort to provide more valuable and higher quality patient care. Based upon the lessons learned from the case study, the three-phase methodology provides a better, broader, leaner, and holistic assessment of clinical workflow. The proposed framework can be implemented in various healthcare settings to support continuous improvement efforts in which complexity is a daily element that impacts workflow. We proffer a general methodology for process improvement in a healthcare setting, providing decision makers and stakeholders with a useful framework to help their organizations improve efficiency. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Customer privacy on UK healthcare websites.

Science.gov (United States)

Mundy, Darren P

2006-09-01

Privacy has been and continues to be one of the key challenges of an age devoted to the accumulation, processing, and mining of electronic information. In particular, privacy of healthcare-related information is seen as a key issue as health organizations move towards the electronic provision of services. The aim of the research detailed in this paper has been to analyse privacy policies on popular UK healthcare-related websites to determine the extent to which consumer privacy is protected. The author has combined approaches (such as approaches focused on usability, policy content, and policy quality) used in studies by other researchers on e-commerce and US healthcare websites to provide a comprehensive analysis of UK healthcare privacy policies. The author identifies a wide range of issues related to the protection of consumer privacy through his research analysis using quantitative results. The main outcomes from the author's research are that only 61% of healthcare-related websites in their sample group posted privacy policies. In addition, most of the posted privacy policies had poor readability standards and included a variety of privacy vulnerability statements. Overall, the author's findings represent significant current issues in relation to healthcare information protection on the Internet. The hope is that raising awareness of these results will drive forward changes in the industry, similar to those experienced with information quality.

Factors that predict consumer acceptance of enriched processed meats

OpenAIRE

Shan, Liran Christine; Henchion, Maeve; De Brún, Aoife; Murrin, Celine; Wall, Patrick G.; Monahan, Frank J.

2017-01-01

The study aimed to understand predictors of consumers' purchase intention towards processed meat based functional foods (i.e. enriched processed meat). A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 486 processed meat consumers in spring 2016. Results showed that processed meats were perceived differently in healthiness, with sausage-type products perceived less healthy than cured meat products. Consumers were in general more uncertain than positive about enriched processed meat but differences ...

Factors that predict consumer acceptance of enriched processed meats.

Science.gov (United States)

Shan, Liran C; Henchion, Maeve; De Brún, Aoife; Murrin, Celine; Wall, Patrick G; Monahan, Frank J

2017-11-01

The study aimed to understand predictors of consumers' purchase intention towards processed meat based functional foods (i.e. enriched processed meat). A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 486 processed meat consumers in spring 2016. Results showed that processed meats were perceived differently in healthiness, with sausage-type products perceived less healthy than cured meat products. Consumers were in general more uncertain than positive about enriched processed meat but differences existed in terms of the attitudes and purchase intention. Following regression analysis, consumers' purchase intention towards enriched processed meat was primarily driven by their attitudes towards the product concept. Perceived healthiness of existing products and eating frequency of processed meat were also positively associated with the purchase intention. Other factors such as general food choice motives, socio-demographic characteristics, consumer health and the consumption of functional foods and dietary supplements in general, were not significant predictors of the purchase intention for enriched processed meat. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Benchmarking healthcare logistics processes: a comparative case study of Danish and US hospitals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Feibert, Diana Cordes; Andersen, Bjørn; Jacobsen, Peter

2017-01-01

Logistics processes in hospitals are vital in the provision of patient care. Improving healthcare logistics processes provides an opportunity for reduced healthcare costs and better support of clinical processes. Hospitals are faced with increasing healthcare costs around the world and improvement...... initiatives prevalent in manufacturing industries such as lean, business process reengineering and benchmarking have seen an increase in use in healthcare. This study investigates how logistics processes in a hospital can be benchmarked to improve process performance. A comparative case study of the bed...... logistics process and the pharmaceutical distribution process was conducted at a Danish and a US hospital. The case study results identified decision criteria for designing efficient and effective healthcare logistics processes. The most important decision criteria were related to quality, security...

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CONSUMER PREFERENCES RESEARCH PROCESS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MIRELA-CRISTINA VOICU

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Information is one of the most important resources that a company must possess. Some information is hidden deep in the black box - the mind of the consumer, as in the case of information about consumer preferences. Although it seems a concept difficult to grasp, it was shown that consumer preferences can be effectively measured and their research may provide a deeper understanding of the choices that consumers make when deciding to select an offer against another and when deciding to continue in time the relationship with one supplier. The following paper reveals some important aspects regarding the use of information regarding consumer preferences, the fundamentals behind consumer preferences research and the milestones in the consumer preferences research process.

Characteristics of the consumer preferences research process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirela-Cristina Voicu

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Information is one of the most important resources that a company must possess. Some information is hidden deep in the black box - the mind of the consumer, as in the case of information about consumer preferences. Although it seems a concept difficult to grasp, it was shown that consumer preferences can be effectively measured and their research may provide a deeper understanding of the choices that consumers make when deciding to select an offer against another and when deciding to continue in time the relationship with one supplier. The following paper reveals some important aspects regarding the use of information regarding consumer preferences, the fundamentals behind consumer preferences research and the milestones in the consumer preferences research process.

Patients as healthcare consumers in the public and private sectors: a qualitative study of acupuncture in the UK.

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, Felicity L; Barlow, Fiona; Coghlan, Beverly; Lee, Philippa; Lewith, George T

2011-05-27

The aim of this study was to compare patients' experiences of public and private sector healthcare, using acupuncture as an example. In the UK, acupuncture is popular with patients, is recommended in official guidelines for low back pain, and is available in both the private sector and the public sector (NHS). Consumerism was used as a theoretical framework to explore patients' experiences. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted in 2007-8 with a purposive sample of 27 patients who had recently used acupuncture for painful conditions in the private sector and/or in the NHS. Inductive thematic analysis was used to develop themes that summarised the bulk of the data and provided insights into consumerism in NHS- and private practice-based acupuncture. Five main themes were identified: value for money and willingness to pay; free and fair access; individualised holistic care: feeling cared for; consequences of choice: empowerment and vulnerability; and "just added extras": physical environment. Patients who had received acupuncture in the private sector constructed detailed accounts of the benefits of private care. Patients who had not received acupuncture in the private sector expected minimal differences from NHS care, and those differences were seen as not integral to treatment. The private sector facilitated consumerist behaviour to a greater extent than did the NHS, but private consumers appeared to base their decisions on unreliable and incomplete information. Patients used and experienced acupuncture differently in the NHS compared to the private sector. Eight different faces of consumerist behaviour were identified, but six were dominant: consumer as chooser, consumer as pragmatist, consumer as patient, consumer as earnest explorer, consumer as victim, and consumer as citizen. The decision to use acupuncture in either the private sector or the NHS was rarely well-informed: NHS and private patients both had misconceptions about acupuncture in the

Patients as healthcare consumers in the public and private sectors: a qualitative study of acupuncture in the UK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Coghlan Beverly

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The aim of this study was to compare patients' experiences of public and private sector healthcare, using acupuncture as an example. In the UK, acupuncture is popular with patients, is recommended in official guidelines for low back pain, and is available in both the private sector and the public sector (NHS. Consumerism was used as a theoretical framework to explore patients' experiences. Methods Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted in 2007-8 with a purposive sample of 27 patients who had recently used acupuncture for painful conditions in the private sector and/or in the NHS. Inductive thematic analysis was used to develop themes that summarised the bulk of the data and provided insights into consumerism in NHS- and private practice-based acupuncture. Results Five main themes were identified: value for money and willingness to pay; free and fair access; individualised holistic care: feeling cared for; consequences of choice: empowerment and vulnerability; and "just added extras": physical environment. Patients who had received acupuncture in the private sector constructed detailed accounts of the benefits of private care. Patients who had not received acupuncture in the private sector expected minimal differences from NHS care, and those differences were seen as not integral to treatment. The private sector facilitated consumerist behaviour to a greater extent than did the NHS, but private consumers appeared to base their decisions on unreliable and incomplete information. Conclusions Patients used and experienced acupuncture differently in the NHS compared to the private sector. Eight different faces of consumerist behaviour were identified, but six were dominant: consumer as chooser, consumer as pragmatist, consumer as patient, consumer as earnest explorer, consumer as victim, and consumer as citizen. The decision to use acupuncture in either the private sector or the NHS was rarely well-informed: NHS

12 CFR Appendix A to Part 536 - Consumer Grievance Process

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Consumer Grievance Process A Appendix A to Part 536 Banks and Banking OFFICE OF THRIFT SUPERVISION, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY CONSUMER PROTECTION IN SALES OF INSURANCE Pt. 536, App. A Appendix A to Part 536—Consumer Grievance Process Any consumer who...

12 CFR Appendix A to Part 14 - Consumer Grievance Process

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Consumer Grievance Process A Appendix A to Part 14 Banks and Banking COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY CONSUMER PROTECTION IN SALES OF INSURANCE Pt. 14, App. A Appendix A to Part 14—Consumer Grievance Process Any consumer who...

Process management in healthcare. Sant Camil Hospital case study

OpenAIRE

Sánchez Ruiz, Lidia; Blanco Rojo, Beatriz; Simón, Rosa María

2013-01-01

Nowadays due to the crisis, some government measures are aimed at reducing healthcare spending, affecting in some level or another the quality offered. Process management is said to be a useful tool for reducing healthcare costs by improving management without any additional economic investment. That is doing more with the same resources and without reducing the quality offered. In this study an empirical case of a Catalan hospital is presented. Overall, the usefulness of process management i...

European consumers' acceptance of beef processing technologies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

de Barcellos, Marcia Dutra; Kügler, Jens Oliver; Grunert, Klaus G.

2010-01-01

The use of new technologies in beef production chains may affect consumers' opinion of meat products. A qualitative study was performed to investigate consumers' acceptance of seven beef processing technologies: marinating by injection aiming for increased 1) healthiness; 2) safety; and 3) eating...... adults (19-60 years old) participated in eight focus groups in Spain, France, Germany and the UK. Results suggested a relationship between acceptance of new beef products, technology familiarity and perceived risks related to its application. Excessive manipulation and fear of moving away from 'natural......' beef were considered negative outcomes of technological innovations. Beef processing technologies were predominantly perceived as valuable options for convenience shoppers and less demanding consumers. Overall, respondents supported the development of 'non-invasive' technologies that were able...

A consumer decision process model for the Internet

OpenAIRE

Ambaye, Michele

2005-01-01

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University. This investigation attempts to improve understanding of the behaviour of internet consumers from an empirical basis. It reports on the results of studies into decision-making processes of consumers on the internet in the context of apparel retailing. Consumers consisting of a profile sample of working female consumers, aged between 18 and 45, in the ABC1 social group, are considered in terms ...

Improving healthcare practice behaviors: an exploratory study identifying effective and ineffective behaviors in healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Fleet, David D; Peterson, Tim O

2016-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of exploratory research designed to develop an awareness of healthcare behaviors, with a view toward improving the customer satisfaction with healthcare services. It examines the relationship between healthcare providers and their consumers/patients/clients. The study uses a critical incident methodology, with both effective and ineffective behavioral specimens examined across different provider groups. The effects of these different behaviors on what Berry (1999) identified as the common core values of service organizations are examined, as those values are required to build a lasting service relationship. Also examined are categories of healthcare practice based on the National Quality Strategy priorities. The most obvious is the retrospective nature of the method used. How accurate are patient or consumer memories? Are they capable of making valid judgments of healthcare experiences (Berry and Bendapudi, 2003)? While an obvious limitation, such recollections are clearly important as they may be paramount in following the healthcare practitioners' instructions, loyalty for repeat business, making recommendations to others and the like. Further, studies have shown retrospective reports to be accurate and useful (Miller et al., 1997). With this information, healthcare educators should be in a better position to improve the training offered in their programs and practitioners to better serve their customers. The findings would indicate that the human values of excellence, innovation, joy, respect and integrity play a significant role in building a strong service relationship between consumer and healthcare provider. Berry (1999) has argued that the overriding importance in building a lasting service business is human values. This exploratory study has shown how critical incident analysis can be used to determine both effective and ineffective practices of different medical providers. It also provides guidelines as

A conceptual persistent healthcare quality improvement process for software development management.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Jen-Chiun; Su, Mei-Ju; Cheng, Po-Hsun; Weng, Yung-Chien; Chen, Sao-Jie; Lai, Jin-Shin; Lai, Feipei

2007-01-01

This paper illustrates a sustained conceptual service quality improvement process for the management of software development within a healthcare enterprise. Our proposed process is revised from Niland's healthcare quality information system (HQIS). This process includes functions to survey the satisfaction of system functions, describe the operation bylaws on-line, and provide on-demand training. To achieve these goals, we integrate five information systems in National Taiwan University Hospital, including healthcare information systems, health quality information system, requirement management system, executive information system, and digital learning system, to form a full Deming cycle. A preliminary user satisfaction survey showed that our outpatient information system scored an average of 71.31 in 2006.

Considerations for the design of safe and effective consumer health IT applications in the home.

Science.gov (United States)

Zayas-Cabán, Teresa; Dixon, Brian E

2010-10-01

Consumer health IT applications have the potential to improve quality, safety and efficiency of consumers' interactions with the healthcare system. Yet little attention has been paid to human factors and ergonomics in the design of consumer health IT, potentially limiting the ability of health IT to achieve these goals. This paper presents the results of an analysis of human factors and ergonomics issues encountered by five projects during the design and implementation of home-based consumer health IT applications. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality-funded consumer health IT research projects, where patients used the IT applications in their homes, were reviewed. Project documents and discussions with project teams were analysed to identify human factors and ergonomic issues considered or addressed by project teams. The analysis focused on system design and design processes used as well as training, implementation and use of the IT intervention. A broad range of consumer health IT applications and diverse set of human factors and ergonomics issues were identified. The design and implementation processes used resulted in poor fit with some patients' healthcare tasks and the home environment and, in some cases, resulted in lack of use. Clinician interaction with patients and the information provided through health IT applications appeared to positively influence adoption and use. Consumer health IT application design would benefit from the use of human factors and ergonomics design and evaluation methods. Considering the context in which home-based consumer health IT applications are used will likely affect the ability of these applications to positively impact the quality, safety and efficiency of patient care.

A rapid review of consumer health information needs and preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramsey, Imogen; Corsini, Nadia; Peters, Micah D J; Eckert, Marion

2017-09-01

This rapid review summarizes best available evidence on consumers' needs and preferences for information about healthcare, with a focus on the Australian context. Three questions are addressed: 1) Where do consumers find and what platform do they use to access information about healthcare? 2) How do consumers use the healthcare information that they find? 3) About which topics or subjects do consumers need healthcare information? A hierarchical approach was adopted with evidence first sought from reviews then high quality studies using Medline (via PubMed), CINAHL, Embase, the JBI Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports, the Campbell Collaboration Library of Systematic Reviews, EPPI-Centre, and Epistemonikos. Twenty-eight articles were included; four systematic reviews, three literature reviews, thirteen quantitative studies, six qualitative studies, and two mixed methods studies. Consumers seek health information at varying times along the healthcare journey and through various modes of delivery. Complacency with historical health information modes is no longer appropriate and flexibility is essential to suit growing consumer demands. Health information should be readily available in different formats and not exclusive to any single medium. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Increasing consumer demand for tobacco treatments: Ten design recommendations for clinicians and healthcare systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Woods, Susan Swartz; Jaén, Carlos Roberto

2010-03-01

Health professionals play an important role in addressing patient tobacco use in clinical settings. While there is clear evidence that identifying tobacco use and assisting smokers in quitting affects outcomes, challenges to improve routine, clinician-delivered tobacco intervention persist. The Consumer Demand Initiative has identified simple design principles to increase consumers' use of proven tobacco treatments. Applying these design strategies to activities across the healthcare system, we articulate ten recommendations that can be implemented in the context of most clinical systems where most clinicians work. The recommendations are: (1) reframe the definition of success, (2) portray proven treatments as the best care, (3) redesign the 5A's of tobacco intervention, (4) be ready to deliver the right treatment at the right time, (5) move tobacco from the social history to the problem list, (6) use words as therapy and language that makes sense, (7) fit tobacco treatment into clinical team workflows, (8) embed tobacco treatment into health information technology, (9) make every encounter an opportunity to intervene, and (10) end social disparities for tobacco users. Clinical systems need to change to improve tobacco treatment implementation. The consumer- and clinician-centered recommendations provide a roadmap that focuses on increasing clinician performance through greater understanding of the clinician's role in helping tobacco users, highlighting the value of evidence-based tobacco treatments, employing shared decision-making skills, and integrating routine tobacco treatment into clinical system routines. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Predicting Personal Healthcare Management: Impact of Individual Characteristics on Patient Use of Health Information Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Sandefer, Ryan Heath

2017-01-01

The use of health information and health information technology by consumers is a major factor in the current healthcare systems' effort to address issues related to quality, cost, and access. Patient engagement in the healthcare process through access to information related to diagnoses, procedures, and treatment has the potential to improve…

The use of process mapping in healthcare quality improvement projects.

Science.gov (United States)

Antonacci, Grazia; Reed, Julie E; Lennox, Laura; Barlow, James

2018-05-01

Introduction Process mapping provides insight into systems and processes in which improvement interventions are introduced and is seen as useful in healthcare quality improvement projects. There is little empirical evidence on the use of process mapping in healthcare practice. This study advances understanding of the benefits and success factors of process mapping within quality improvement projects. Methods Eight quality improvement projects were purposively selected from different healthcare settings within the UK's National Health Service. Data were gathered from multiple data-sources, including interviews exploring participants' experience of using process mapping in their projects and perceptions of benefits and challenges related to its use. These were analysed using inductive analysis. Results Eight key benefits related to process mapping use were reported by participants (gathering a shared understanding of the reality; identifying improvement opportunities; engaging stakeholders in the project; defining project's objectives; monitoring project progress; learning; increased empathy; simplicity of the method) and five factors related to successful process mapping exercises (simple and appropriate visual representation, information gathered from multiple stakeholders, facilitator's experience and soft skills, basic training, iterative use of process mapping throughout the project). Conclusions Findings highlight benefits and versatility of process mapping and provide practical suggestions to improve its use in practice.

Toyota A3 report: a tool for process improvement in healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Te-Shu; Kuo, Mu-Hsing

2009-01-01

It is proposed that the A3 problem solving process be used by hospital staff to improve its healthcare workflow. A hypothetical case study is given to demonstrate the applicability and benefits of the methodology. The research results show that A3 is a useful tool for healthcare organizations seeking to continuously improve their healthcare service quality.

Consumer reporting of adverse drug reactions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aagaard, Lise; Nielsen, Lars Hougaard; Hansen, Ebba Holme

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND: Reporting adverse drug reactions (ADRs) has traditionally been the sole province of healthcare professionals. Since 2003 in Denmark, consumers have been able to report ADRs directly to the authorities. The objective of this study was to compare ADRs reported by consumers with ADRs...... medicines on level 1 of the anatomical therapeutic chemical (ATC) classification system. ADR reports from consumers were compared with reports from other sources (physicians, pharmacists, lawyers, pharmaceutical companies and other healthcare professionals). Chi-square and odds ratios (ORs) were calculated...... to investigate the dependence between type of reporter and reported ADRs (classified by ATC or SOC). FINDINGS: We analysed 6319 ADR reports corresponding to 15 531 ADRs. Consumers reported 11% of the ADRs. Consumers' share of 'serious' ADRs was comparable to that of physicians (approximately 45%) but lower than...

Shared communication processes within healthcare teams for rare diseases and their influence on healthcare professionals' innovative behavior and patient satisfaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Budych Karolina

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A rare disease is a pattern of symptoms that afflicts less than five in 10,000 patients. However, as about 6,000 different rare disease patterns exist, they still have significant epidemiological relevance. We focus on rare diseases that affect multiple organs and thus demand that multidisciplinary healthcare professionals (HCPs work together. In this context, standardized healthcare processes and concepts are mainly lacking, and a deficit of knowledge induces uncertainty and ambiguity. As such, individualized solutions for each patient are needed. This necessitates an intensive level of innovative individual behavior and thus, adequate idea generation. The final implementation of new healthcare concepts requires the integration of the expertise of all healthcare team members, including that of the patients. Therefore, knowledge sharing between HCPs and shared decision making between HCPs and patients are important. The objective of this study is to assess the contribution of shared communication and decision-making processes in patient-centered healthcare teams to the generation of innovative concepts and consequently to improvements in patient satisfaction. Methods A theoretical framework covering interaction processes and explorative outcomes, and using patient satisfaction as a measure for operational performance, was developed based on healthcare management, innovation, and social science literature. This theoretical framework forms the basis for a three-phase, mixed-method study. Exploratory phase I will first involve collecting qualitative data to detect central interaction barriers within healthcare teams. The results are related back to theory, and testable hypotheses will be derived. Phase II then comprises the testing of hypotheses through a quantitative survey of patients and their HCPs in six different rare disease patterns. For each of the six diseases, the sample should comprise an average of 30 patients with

Analysis and Improvement of Healthcare Delivery Processes in ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

... delivery processes given the district's limited human and financial resources. ... Throughout this period of instability and unrest, Lacor Hospital has delivered critical ... and; strengthen the hospital's decision-making around healthcare delivery ...

Consumer acceptance of high-pressure processing and pulsed-electric-field

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Nina Veflen; Grunert, Klaus G.; Sonne, Anne-Mette

2010-01-01

New products and new processing techniques are continuously developed in the food industry. While food scientists may focus on the technical novelty and applaud the progress of science, consumers are often conservative and sceptical towards changes. The advantages that a new processing technology...... has to offer, do not necessarily guarantee the success of a product in the market place. Consumer acceptance depends on whether consumers perceive that there are specific benefits associated with the product. This review focuses specifically on how high-pressure processing (HPP) and pulsed...

Human health risk assessment of chloroxylenol in liquid hand soap and dishwashing soap used by consumers and health-care professionals.

Science.gov (United States)

Yost, Lisa J; Rodricks, Joseph D; Turnbull, Duncan; DeLeo, Paul C; Nash, J Frank; Quiñones-Rivera, Antonio; Carlson, Pete A

2016-10-01

A quantitative human risk assessment of chloroxylenol was conducted for liquid hand and dishwashing soap products used by consumers and health-care workers. The toxicological data for chloroxylenol indicate lack of genotoxicity, no evidence of carcinogenicity, and minimal systemic toxicity. No observed adverse effect levels (NOAEL) were established from chronic toxicity studies, specifically a carcinogenicity study that found no cancer excess (18 mg/kg-day) and studies of developmental and reproductive toxicity (100 mg/kg-day). Exposure to chloroxylenol for adults and children was estimated for two types of rinse-off cleaning products, one liquid hand soap, and two dishwashing products. The identified NOAELs were used together with exposure estimates to derive margin of exposure (MOE) estimates for chloroxylenol (i.e., estimates of exposure over NOAELs). These estimates were designed with conservative assumptions and likely overestimate exposure and risk (i.e., highest frequency, 100% dermal penetration). The resulting MOEs ranged from 178 to over 100, 000, 000 indicating negligibly small potential for harm related to consumer or health-care worker exposure to chloroxylenol in liquid soaps used in dish washing and hand washing. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Social marketing in healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Aras, Radha

2011-01-01

Social marketing is an important tool in the delivery of healthcare services. For any healthcare programme or project to be successful, community/consumer participation is required. The four principles of social marketing can guide policymakers and healthcare providers to successfully plan and implement health programmes. To review the existing literature in order to project the benefits of social marketing in healthcare. A search of periodical literature by the author involving social marketing and marketing concepts in health was carried out. Items were identified initially through health-oriented indexing services such as Medline, Health STAR and Cinahl, using the identifiers "social marketing" and "marketing in health". An extensive search was also carried out on educational database ERIC. A literature review of various studies on social marketing indicated that the selection of the right product (according to the community need) at the right place, with the right strategy for promotion and at the right price yields good results. However, along with technical sustainability (product, price, promotion and place), financial sustainability, institutional sustainability and market sustainability are conducive factors for the success of social marketing. The purpose of this literature review was to ascertain the likely effectiveness of social marketing principles and approaches and behaviour change communication towards health promotion. It is important for all healthcare workers to understand and respond to the public's desires and needs and routinely use consumer research to determine how best to help the public to solve problems and realise aspirations. Social marketing can optimise public health by facilitating relationship-building with consumers and making their lives healthier.

Consumer focus can spur group practice turnaround.

Science.gov (United States)

Foreman, M S; Draper, A

2001-06-01

Many healthcare organizations have lost money on their employed group practices. The solution to this dilemma is not necessarily divestment of the group practices. Instead, some healthcare organizations should view their physicians as an asset. Healthcare organizations and physicians need to develop a new framework for their relationship to optimize their competitive advantage. Three guiding principles that will help accomplish this objective are to recast the healthcare organization-physician relationship to focus on the consumer, reconfigure the economic model to exceed consumer demands, and restructure the group practice to encourage fiscal and service excellence. In developing a new relationship framework, the stakeholders need to define the group practice's mission, strategic direction, composition, infrastructure, compensation model, and structure.

Sensory shelf life estimation of minimally processed lettuce considering two stages of consumers' decision-making process.

Science.gov (United States)

Ares, Gastón; Giménez, Ana; Gámbaro, Adriana

2008-01-01

The aim of the present work was to study the influence of context, particularly the stage of the decision-making process (purchase vs consumption stage), on sensory shelf life of minimally processed lettuce. Leaves of butterhead lettuce were placed in common polypropylene bags and stored at 5, 10 and 15 degrees C. Periodically, a panel of six assessors evaluated the appearance of the samples, and a panel of 40 consumers evaluated their appearance and answered "yes" or "no" to the questions: "Imagine you are in a supermarket, you want to buy a minimally processed lettuce, and you find a package of lettuce with leaves like this, would you normally buy it?" and "Imagine you have this leaf of lettuce stored in your refrigerator, would you normally consume it?". Survival analysis was used to calculate the shelf lives of minimally processed lettuce, considering both decision-making stages. Shelf lives estimated considering rejection to purchase were significantly lower than those estimated considering rejection to consume. Therefore, in order to be conservative and assure the products' quality, shelf life should be estimated considering consumers' rejection to purchase instead of rejection to consume, as traditionally has been done. On the other hand, results from logistic regressions of consumers' rejection percentage as a function of the evaluated appearance attributes suggested that consumers considered them differently while deciding whether to purchase or to consume minimally processed lettuce.

[Big data in medicine and healthcare].

Science.gov (United States)

Rüping, Stefan

2015-08-01

Healthcare is one of the business fields with the highest Big Data potential. According to the prevailing definition, Big Data refers to the fact that data today is often too large and heterogeneous and changes too quickly to be stored, processed, and transformed into value by previous technologies. The technological trends drive Big Data: business processes are more and more executed electronically, consumers produce more and more data themselves - e.g. in social networks - and finally ever increasing digitalization. Currently, several new trends towards new data sources and innovative data analysis appear in medicine and healthcare. From the research perspective, omics-research is one clear Big Data topic. In practice, the electronic health records, free open data and the "quantified self" offer new perspectives for data analytics. Regarding analytics, significant advances have been made in the information extraction from text data, which unlocks a lot of data from clinical documentation for analytics purposes. At the same time, medicine and healthcare is lagging behind in the adoption of Big Data approaches. This can be traced to particular problems regarding data complexity and organizational, legal, and ethical challenges. The growing uptake of Big Data in general and first best-practice examples in medicine and healthcare in particular, indicate that innovative solutions will be coming. This paper gives an overview of the potentials of Big Data in medicine and healthcare.

12 CFR Appendix A to Part 343 - Consumer Grievance Process

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... POLICY CONSUMER PROTECTION IN SALES OF INSURANCE Pt. 343, App. A Appendix A to Part 343—Consumer... Consumer Protection (DSC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, at the following address: 550 17th Street... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Consumer Grievance Process A Appendix A to Part...

A Suitable Software Process Improvement Model for the UK Healthcare Industry

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Tien D.; Guo, Hong; Naguib, Raouf N. G.

Over the recent years, the UK Healthcare sector has been the prime focus of many reports and industrial surveys, particularly in the field of software development and management issues. This signals the importance of growing concerns regarding quality issues in the Healthcare domain. In response to this, a new tailored Healthcare Process Improvement (SPI) model is proposed, which takes into consideration both signals from the industry and insights from literature.

Exploring consumer values of comparative performance information for hospital choice.

Science.gov (United States)

Ketelaar, Nicole A B M; Faber, Marjan J; Westert, Gert P; Elwyn, Glyn; Braspenning, Jozé C

2014-01-01

In many countries, market orientation in healthcare has resulted in the publication of comparative performance information (CPI). Most of the research in this field is oriented towards the content and the presentation format of CPI while little is known about how consumers value CPI and the use of this information. The aim of this study was to clarify the perceived value that CPI brings for consumers of healthcare. Methods Qualitative research using six focus group interviews. Twenty-seven healthcare consumers were recruited using a mailing list and by personal invitation. Data from focus group interviews were transcribed and thematic analysis undertaken. Most participants were unaware of CPI, and valued alternative sources of information more than CPI. Through discussion with other consumers and by means of examples of CPI, respondents were able to express the values and perceived effects of CPI. Numerous underlying values hindered consumers' use of CPI, and therefore clarification of consumer values gave insights into the current non-usage of CPI. CPI is marginally valued, partly because of conflicting values expressed by consumers and, as such, it does not yet provide a useful information source on hospital choice beyond consumers' current selection routines in healthcare. Future research should be more focused on the values of consumers and their impact on the use of CPI.

[Analysis of the healthcare service decentralization process in Côte d'Ivoire].

Science.gov (United States)

Soura, B D; Coulibaly, S S

2014-01-01

The decentralization of healthcare services is becoming increasingly important in strategies of public sector management. This concept is analyzed from various points of view, including legal, economic, political, and sociological. Several typologies have been proposed in the literature to analyze this decentralization process, which can take different forms ranging from simple deconcentration to more elaborate devolution. In some instances, decentralization can be analyzed by the degree of autonomy given to local authorities. This article applies these typologies to analyze the healthcare system decentralization process in Cote d'Ivoire. Special attention is paid to the new forms of community healthcare organizations. These decentralized structures enjoy a kind of autonomy, with characteristics closer to those of devolution. The model might serve as an example for population involvement in defining and managing healthcare problems in Cote d'Ivoire. We end with proposals for the improvement of the process.

Business process redesign in healthcare : towards an evidence-based holistic approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vanwersch, R.J.B.; Mans, R.S.; Reijers, H.A.; Shiharzi, A.

2012-01-01

The redesign of business processes has become the key challenge for many healthcare organizations. This paper argues that current main research streams fail to assist healthcare practitioners in facing this challenge. More specifically, the main research streams fail to support practitioners in

Shifting subjects of health-care: placing "medical tourism" in the context of Malaysian domestic health-care reform.

Science.gov (United States)

Ormond, Meghann

2011-01-01

"Medical tourism" has frequently been held to unsettle naturalised relationships between the state and its citizenry. Yet in casting "medical tourism" as either an outside "innovation" or "invasion," scholars have often ignored the role that the neoliberal retrenchment of social welfare structures has played in shaping the domestic health-care systems of the "developing" countries recognised as international medical travel destinations. While there is little doubt that "medical tourism" impacts destinations' health-care systems, it remains essential to contextualise them. This paper offers a reading of the emergence of "medical tourism" from within the context of ongoing health-care privatisation reform in one of today's most prominent destinations: Malaysia. It argues that "medical tourism" to Malaysia has been mobilised politically both to advance domestic health-care reform and to cast off the country's "underdeveloped" image not only among foreign patient-consumers but also among its own nationals, who are themselves increasingly envisioned by the Malaysian state as prospective health-care consumers.

Leading processes of patient care and treatment in hierarchical healthcare organizations in Sweden--process managers' experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Nilsson, Kerstin; Sandoff, Mette

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to gain better understanding of the roles and functions of process managers by describing Swedish process managers' experiences of leading processes involving patient care and treatment when working in a hierarchical health-care organization. This study is based on an explorative design. The data were gathered from interviews with 12 process managers at three Swedish hospitals. These data underwent qualitative and interpretative analysis with a modified editing style. The process managers' experiences of leading processes in a hierarchical health-care organization are described under three themes: having or not having a mandate, exposure to conflict situations and leading process development. The results indicate a need for clarity regarding process manager's responsibility and work content, which need to be communicated to all managers and staff involved in the patient care and treatment process, irrespective of department. There also needs to be an emphasis on realistic expectations and orientation of the goals that are an intrinsic part of the task of being a process manager. Generalizations from the results of the qualitative interview studies are limited, but a deeper understanding of the phenomenon was reached, which, in turn, can be transferred to similar settings. This study contributes qualitative descriptions of leading care and treatment processes in a functional, hierarchical health-care organization from process managers' experiences, a subject that has not been investigated earlier.

Audit trails in OpenSLEX : paving the road for process mining in healthcare

NARCIS (Netherlands)

González López De Murillas, E.; Helm, E.; Reijers, H.A.; Küng, J.; Bursa, M.; Holzinger, A.; Elena Renda, M.; Khuri, S.

2017-01-01

The analysis of organizational and medical treatment pro-cesses is crucial for the future development of the healthcare domain. Recent approaches to enable process mining on healthcare data make use of the hospital information systems' Audit Trails. In this work, methods are proposed to integrate

Consumer Behaviour in the Tourist Segmentation Process – a Marketing Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dumitrescu Luigi

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The study of consumer behaviour has become in recent decades increasingly important. Therefore, it is particularly important to understand what processes are acting in the black box of consumers of tourism services before taking any marketing decision. This paper presents a marketing research that aims to identify key dimensions of consumers of tourism services. The marketing research is based on online questionnaire sent by a representative sample shows a number of answers about consumers' purchasing intentions, the main influences on consumer attitudes, motives in choosing the holiday package, the main sources of information accessed in the process of choosing the tourism services, etc.

Consumer assessment of healthcare providers and systems surgical care survey: benefits and challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Schulz, Kristine A; Rhee, John S; Brereton, Jean M; Zema, Carla L; Witsell, David L

2012-10-01

To describe the feasibility and initial results of the implementation of a continuous quality improvement project using the newly available Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Surgical Care Survey (S-CAHPS), in a small cohort of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery practices. Prospective observational study using a newly validated health care consumer survey. Two community-based and 2 university-based otolaryngology-head and neck surgery outpatient clinic practices. Fourteen board-certified otolaryngology, head and neck surgeons from 4 practice sites voluntarily participated in this project. All adult patients scheduled for surgery during a 12-month period were asked to complete the S-CAHPS survey through an electronic data capture (EDC) system 7 to 28 days after surgery. The surgeons were not directly involved in administration or collection of survey data. Three sites successfully implemented the S-CAHPS project. A 39.9% response rate was achieved for the cohort of surgical patients entered into the EDC system. While most patients rated their surgeons very high (mean of 9.5 or greater out of 10), subanalysis revealed there is variability among sites and surgeons in communication practices. From these data, a potential surgeon Quality Improvement report was developed that highlights priority areas to improve surgeon-patient rapport. The S-CAHPS survey can be successfully implemented in most otolaryngology practices, and our initial work holds promise for how the survey can be best deployed and analyzed for the betterment of both the surgeon and the patient.

e-Healthcare in India: critical success factors for sustainable health systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Taneja, Udita; Sushil

2007-01-01

As healthcare enterprises seek to move towards an integrated, sustainable healthcare delivery model an IT-enabled or e-Healthcare strategy is being increasingly adopted. In this study we identified the critical success factors influencing the effectiveness of an e-Healthcare strategy in India. The performance assessment criteria used to measure effectiveness were increasing reach and reducing cost of healthcare delivery. A survey of healthcare providers was conducted. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) were the analytical tools used to determine the relative importance of the critical success factors in influencing effectiveness of e-Healthcare and their interplay with each other. To succeed in e-Healthcare initiatives the critical success factors that need to be in place are appropriate government policies, literacy levels, and telecommunications and power infrastructure in the country. The focus should not be on the IT tools and biomedical engineering technologies as is most often the case. Instead the nontechnology factors such as healthcare provider and consumer mindsets should be addressed to increase acceptance of, and enhance the effectiveness of, sustainable e-Healthcare services.

An ontology-based tool for the correspondences between specialist and consumer medical lexicons for the geriatrics domain.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonacina, Stefano; Pinciroli, Francesco

2010-01-01

New services devoted to improve personalized healthcare are emerging from information technology developments. Personal health record systems allow the patients to participate actively in their healthcare process. However, the dissemination and use of personal health record systems face with some barriers, for example low health literacy that leads to discrepancy in understanding medical concepts. While it is important to present health information using consumer-familiar terms in consumer applications, consistently converting medical terms to consumer-familiar ones is a challenging task. We designed and developed both an ontology-like taxonomic structure devoted to the Geriatrics domain for the outpatient and a software tool, for carrying out the matching between the medical vocabulary of the consumer and that of the doctor from the outpatient's and their family point of view.

Method of App Selection for Healthcare Providers Based on Consumer Needs.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jisan; Kim, Jeongeun

2018-01-01

Mobile device applications can be used to manage health. However, healthcare providers hesitate to use them because selection methods that consider the needs of health consumers and identify the most appropriate application are rare. This study aimed to create an effective method of identifying applications that address user needs. Women experiencing dysmenorrhea and premenstrual syndrome were the targeted users. First, we searched for related applications from two major sources of mobile applications. Brainstorming, mind mapping, and persona and scenario techniques were used to create a checklist of relevant criteria, which was used to rate the applications. Of the 2784 applications found, 369 were analyzed quantitatively. Of those, five of the top candidates were evaluated by three groups: application experts, clinical experts, and potential users. All three groups ranked one application the highest; however, the remaining rankings differed. The results of this study suggest that the method created is useful because it considers not only the needs of various users but also the knowledge of application and clinical experts. This study proposes a method for finding and using the best among existing applications and highlights the need for nurses who can understand and combine opinions of users and application and clinical experts.

Directions in healthcare research: pointers from retailing and services marketing.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Rompay, Thomas L J; Tanja-Dijkstra, Karin

2010-01-01

Although the importance of the environment in relation to healing processes has been well established, empirical evidence for environmental effects on patient well-being and behavior is sparse. In addition, few attempts have been made to integrate insights from related fields of research such as retailing and services marketing with findings from healthcare studies. In this paper, relevant findings and insights from these domains are discussed. What insights and findings from retailing and services marketing are (potentially) of interest to the healthcare context, and how should one interpret and follow up on these results in healthcare environments? Research in retailing and services marketing indicates that physical environmental factors (i.e., music and scent) and social environmental factors (i.e., crowded conditions) may affect consumer satisfaction and well-being. In addition, environmental effects have been shown to vary with contextual factors (e.g., the type of environment) and consumer needs (e.g., the extent to which consumers value social contact or stimulation in a specific setting). Although the evidence base for environmental factors in health environments is steadily growing, few attempts have been made to integrate findings from both domains. The findings presented indicate that environmental variables such as music and scent can contribute to patient well-being and overall satisfaction. In addition, findings suggest that these variables may be used to counteract the negative effects resulting from crowded conditions in different healthcare units. Taking into account recent developments in the healthcare industry, the importance of creating memorable and pleasant patient experiences is likely to grow in the years to come. Hence, the finding that subtle and relatively inexpensive manipulations may affect patient well-being in profound ways should inspire follow-up research aimed at unraveling the specifics of environmental influences in health

Tailor-made finance versus tailor-made care. Can the state strengthen consumer choice in healthcare by reforming the financial structure of long-term care?

Science.gov (United States)

Grit, K; de Bont, A

2010-02-01

Policy instruments based on the working of markets have been introduced to empower consumers of healthcare. However, it is still not easy to become a critical consumer of healthcare. The aim of this study is to analyse the possibilities of the state to strengthen the position of patients with the aid of a new financial regime, such as personal health budgets. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with executives, managers, professionals and client representatives of six long-term care institutions. With the introduction of individual budgets the responsibility for budgetary control has shifted from the organisational level to the individual level in the caregiver-client relationship. Having more luxurious care on offer necessitates a stronger demarcation of regular care because organisations cannot simultaneously offer extra care as part of the standard care package. New financial instruments have an impact on the culture of receiving and giving care. Distributive justice takes on new meaning with the introduction of financial market mechanisms in healthcare; the distributing principle of 'need' is transformed into the principle of 'economic demand'. Financial instruments not only act as a countervailing power against providers insufficiently client-oriented, but are also used by providers to reinforce their own positions vis-à-vis demanding clients. Tailor-made finance is not the same as tailor-made care.

[Digital health as a motor for change towards new healthcare models and the relationship between patients and healthcare professionals. Disruption of healthcare processes].

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia-Cuyàs, Francesc; de San Pedro, Marc; Martínez Roldan, Jordi

2015-11-01

We find ourselves at the end of an era of asymmetry in the domain of health information where the majority of this data is in the hands of the healthcare system. Increasingly, the public are calling for a more central role in the new paradigm that enables them to duly exercise their right of access to their health data while availing of more reliable and safer technologies which contribute to the management of their condition and promote healthy lifestyles. So far, the TIC Salud strategic plan has been developed independently from the Generalitat de Catalunya Health Department's Healthcare Plan, which sets out health policy strategy in Catalonia. However, from its initial design stage the new Healthcare Plan (2016- 2020) envisages incorporating a new strategic Information and communications technology (ICT) line called "Digital Health". Incorporating ICT into the Health Plan will allow these technologies to become integral part of all strategic healthcare processes, acting as a driving force for a shift towards a new healthcare models and an innovative relationship between the public and healthcare professionals. The Digital Health implies a disruption in itself, by way of the convergence of several technologies and their positive impact on health and healthcare procedures, by way of the public's access to information concerning their health, and by creating new opportunities for promoting health and the salutogenic paradigm which empowers people to develop their health, welfare and quality of life. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Examining quality and efficiency of the U.S. healthcare system.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Sameer; Ghildayal, Neha S; Shah, Ronak N

2011-01-01

The fundamental concern of this research study is to learn the quality and efficiency of U.S. healthcare services. It seeks to examine the impact of quality and efficiency on various stakeholders to achieve the best value for each dollar spent for healthcare. The study aims to offer insights on quality reformation efforts, contemporary healthcare policy and a forthcoming change shaped by the Federal healthcare fiscal policy and to recommend the improvement objective by comparing the U.S. healthcare system with those of other developed nations. The US healthcare system is examined utilizing various data on recent trends in: spending, budgetary implications, economic indicators, i.e., GDP, inflation, wage and population growth. Process maps, cause and effect diagrams and descriptive data statistics are utilized to understand the various drivers that influence the rising healthcare cost. A proposed cause and effect diagram is presented to offer potential solutions, for significant improvement in U.S. healthcare. At present, the US healthcare system is of vital interest to the nation's economy and government policy (spending). The U.S. healthcare system is characterized as the world's most expensive yet least effective compared with other nations. Growing healthcare costs have made millions of citizens vulnerable. Major drivers of the healthcare costs are institutionalized medical practices and reimbursement policies, technology-induced costs and consumer behavior. Reviewing many articles, congressional reports, internet websites and related material, a simplified process map of the US healthcare system is presented. The financial process map is also created to further understand the overall process that connects the stakeholders in the healthcare system. Factors impacting healthcare are presented by a cause and effect diagram to further simplify the complexities of healthcare. This tool can also be used as a guide to improve efficiency by removing the "waste" from the

Effect of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising on Asthma Medication Sales and Healthcare Use.

Science.gov (United States)

Daubresse, Matthew; Hutfless, Susan; Kim, Yoonsang; Kornfield, Rachel; Qato, Dima M; Huang, Jidong; Miller, Kay; Emery, Sherry L; Alexander, G Caleb

2015-07-01

The United States is one of only two countries that permit direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs, and many questions remain regarding its effects. To quantify the association between asthma-related DTCA, pharmacy sales, and healthcare use. This was an ecological study from 2005 through 2009 using linked data from Nielsen (DTCA television ratings), the IMS Health National Prescription Audit (pharmacy sales), and the MarketScan Commercial Claims data (healthcare use) for 75 designated market areas in the United States. We used multilevel Poisson regression to model the relationship between DTCA and rates of prescriptions and use within and across designated market areas. Main outcome measures include (1) volume of total, new, and refilled prescriptions for advertised products based on pharmacy sales; (2) prescription claims for asthma medications; and asthma-related (3) emergency department use, (4) hospitalizations, and (5) outpatient encounters among the commercially insured. Four Food and Drug Administration-approved asthma medicines were advertised during the period examined: (1) fluticasone/salmeterol (Advair), (2) mometasone furoate (Asmanex), (3) montelukast (Singulair), and (4) budesonide/formoterol (Symbicort). After adjustment, each additional televised advertisement was associated with 2% (incident rate ratio, 1.02; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.03) higher pharmacy sales rate from 2005 through 2009, although this effect varied across the three consistently advertised therapies examined. Among the commercially insured, DTCA was positively and significantly associated with emergency room visits related to asthma (incident rate ratio, 1.02; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.04), but there was no relationship with hospitalizations or outpatient encounters. Among this population, DTCA was associated with higher prescription sales and asthma-related emergency department use.

A Case of Engineering Quality for Mobile Healthcare Applications Using Augmented Personal Software Process Improvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahbaz Ahmed Khan Ghayyur

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Mobile healthcare systems are currently considered as key research areas in the domain of software engineering. The adoption of modern technologies, for mobile healthcare systems, is a quick option for industry professionals. Software architecture is a key feature that contributes towards a software product, solution, or services. Software architecture helps in better communication, documentation of design decisions, risks identification, basis for reusability, scalability, scheduling, and reduced maintenance cost and lastly it helps to avoid software failures. Hence, in order to solve the abovementioned issues in mobile healthcare, the software architecture is integrated with personal software process. Personal software process has been applied successfully but it is unable to address the issues related to architectural design and evaluation capabilities. Hence, a new technique architecture augmented personal process is presented in order to enhance the quality of the mobile healthcare systems through the use of architectural design with integration of personal software process. The proposed process was validated by case studies. It was found that the proposed process helped in reducing the overall costs and effort. Moreover, an improved architectural design helped in development of high quality mobile healthcare system.

Survey process quality: a question of healthcare manager approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Nilsson, Petra; Blomqvist, Kerstin

2017-08-14

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how healthcare first-line managers think about and act regarding workplace survey processes. Design/methodology/approach This interview study was performed at a hospital in south Sweden. First-line healthcare managers ( n=24) volunteered. The analysis was inspired by phenomenography, which aims to describe the ways in which different people experience a phenomenon. The phenomenon was a workplace health promotion (WHP) survey processes. Findings Four main WHP survey process approaches were identified among the managers: as a possibility, as a competition, as a work task among others and as an imposition. For each, three common subcategories emerged; how managers: stated challenges and support from hospital management; described their own work group and collaboration with other managers; and expressed themselves and their situation in their roles as first-line managers. Practical implications Insights into how hospital management can understand their first-line managers' motivation for survey processes and practical suggestions and how managers can work proactively at organizational, group and individual level are presented. Originality/value Usually these studies focus on those who should respond to a survey; not those who should run the survey process. Focusing on managers and not co-workers can lead to more committed and empowered managers and thereby success in survey processes.

[The use of benchmarking to manage the healthcare supply chain: effects on purchasing cost and quality].

Science.gov (United States)

Naranjo-Gil, David; Ruiz-Muñoz, David

2015-01-01

Healthcare supply expenses consume a large part of the financial resources allocated to public health. The aim of this study was to analyze the use of a benchmarking process in the management of hospital purchases, as well as its effect on product cost reduction and quality improvement. Data were collected through a survey conducted in 29 primary healthcare districts from 2010 to 2011, and through a healthcare database on the prices, quality, delivery time and supplier characteristics of 5373 products. The use of benchmarking processes reduced or eliminated products with a low quality and high price. These processes increased the quality of products by 10.57% and reduced their purchase price by 28.97%. The use of benchmarking by healthcare centers can reduce expenditure and allow more efficient management of the healthcare supply chain. It also facilitated the acquisition of products at lower prices and higher quality. Copyright © 2014 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Do-it-yourself healthcare: the current landscape, prospects and consequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Carrera, Pricivel M; Dalton, Andrew R H

2014-01-01

The wider availability and increasing use of mHealth tools - covering health applications, smartphone plug-ins and gadgets is significant for healthcare. This trend epitomises broader trajectories in access to and delivery of healthcare, with greater consumer involvement and decentralisation. This shift may be conceptualised as 'do-it-yourself Healthcare' - allowing consumers to monitor and manage their health, and guide their healthcare consumption. Technology that enables data collection by patients informs them about vital health metrics, giving them more control over experiences of health or illness. The information can be used alone as empowered consumers or together with healthcare professionals in an environment of patient-centred care. Current evidence suggests a large scope for do-it-yourself Healthcare, given the availability of technologies, whilst mHealth tools enhance diagnostics, improve treatment, increase access to services and lower costs. There are, however, limitations to do-it-yourself Healthcare. Notably, its evidence base is less well developed than the availability of technologies to facilitate it. A more complex model and understanding is needed to explain motivations for and consequences of engaging in do-it-yourself Healthcare. That said, its introduction alongside existing medicine may improve quality and reduce costs - potentially improving health system sustainability whilst future generations - tomorrow's middle-aged and the elderly, will become more conducive to its spread. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems: An Ethical Leadership Dilemma to Satisfy Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Piper, Llewellyn E; Tallman, Erin

2016-01-01

This article examines the parameters and the dynamics of Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) that create an ethical leadership dilemma to satisfy patients in the hospital setting while still ensuring appropriate care for quality clinical outcomes. Under the Affordable Care Act, hospitals and health care systems are in a high-stakes struggle of winners and losers based on HCAHPS scores. This high-stakes struggle creates unintended consequences of an ethical dilemma of doing what is right for the patient versus doing whatever it takes to please the patient in order to achieve high scores of satisfaction that are tied to better reimbursements. This article also reports the results of a national survey of 500 chief executive officers by the authors about the attitudes and frustrations of chief executive officers confronting the wild unrest caused by HCAHPS.

An interoperable security framework for connected healthcare

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Asim, M.; Petkovic, M.; Qu, M.; Wang, Changjie

2011-01-01

Connected and interoperable healthcare system promises to reduce the cost of healthcare delivery, increase its efficiency and enable consumers to better engage with clinicians and manage their care. However at the same time it introduces new risks towards security and privacy of personal health

77 FR 17460 - Multistakeholder Process To Develop Consumer Data Privacy Codes of Conduct

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-26

..., 2012, NTIA requested public comments on (1) which consumer data privacy issues should be the focus of.... 120214135-2203-02] RIN 0660-XA27 Multistakeholder Process To Develop Consumer Data Privacy Codes of Conduct... request for public comments on the multistakeholder process to develop consumer data privacy codes of...

12 CFR Appendix A to Subpart H of... - Consumer Grievance Process

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

..., advertising, or offering insurance products or annuities to the consumer at an office of the bank or on behalf... 12 Banks and Banking 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Consumer Grievance Process A Appendix A to... SYSTEM MEMBERSHIP OF STATE BANKING INSTITUTIONS IN THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (REGULATION H) Consumer...

Selling medical travel to US patient-consumers: the cultural appeal of website marketing messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Sobo, Elisa J; Herlihy, Elizabeth; Bicker, Mary

2011-04-01

More US-based patients than ever are travelling abroad for medical or dental services. Beyond financial incentives, what cultural factors have supported this trend? Because of their interest in selling medical travel, medical travel agencies (MTAs) have vested interests in this question. To find out how they are answering it, an ethnographic content analysis of MTA websites was undertaken. Beyond themes promoting a 'worry-free experience' of 'legitimate services', themes linking healthcare consumerism to culturally specific identity ideals and self-creation/representation processes predominated. Themes relating to the demonstration of social position, savvy expression of good consumer judgment, and achievement of libertarian ideals figured highly. However, various inconsistencies (including an appeal to tourism in some but not other situations) suggested that medical travel involves, for the US-based consumer, a complex act of juggling context-specific self-identity desires and expectations in relation to healthcare. The potential impact of prevailing discourses on 'self-construction-in-practice' was explored. Findings enhance understanding of the care seeking process as experienced within the context of globalized, mass-mediated healthcare consumerism. They also point to the need for finer-grained distinctions than the global gloss 'medical travel' offers.

Effect of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising on Asthma Medication Sales and Healthcare Use

Science.gov (United States)

Daubresse, Matthew; Hutfless, Susan; Kim, Yoonsang; Kornfield, Rachel; Qato, Dima M.; Huang, Jidong; Miller, Kay; Emery, Sherry L.

2015-01-01

Rationale: The United States is one of only two countries that permit direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs, and many questions remain regarding its effects. Objectives: To quantify the association between asthma-related DTCA, pharmacy sales, and healthcare use. Methods: This was an ecological study from 2005 through 2009 using linked data from Nielsen (DTCA television ratings), the IMS Health National Prescription Audit (pharmacy sales), and the MarketScan Commercial Claims data (healthcare use) for 75 designated market areas in the United States. We used multilevel Poisson regression to model the relationship between DTCA and rates of prescriptions and use within and across designated market areas. Main outcome measures include (1) volume of total, new, and refilled prescriptions for advertised products based on pharmacy sales; (2) prescription claims for asthma medications; and asthma-related (3) emergency department use, (4) hospitalizations, and (5) outpatient encounters among the commercially insured. Measurements and Main Results: Four Food and Drug Administration–approved asthma medicines were advertised during the period examined: (1) fluticasone/salmeterol (Advair), (2) mometasone furoate (Asmanex), (3) montelukast (Singulair), and (4) budesonide/formoterol (Symbicort). After adjustment, each additional televised advertisement was associated with 2% (incident rate ratio, 1.02; 95% confidence interval, 1.01–1.03) higher pharmacy sales rate from 2005 through 2009, although this effect varied across the three consistently advertised therapies examined. Among the commercially insured, DTCA was positively and significantly associated with emergency room visits related to asthma (incident rate ratio, 1.02; 95% confidence interval, 1.01–1.04), but there was no relationship with hospitalizations or outpatient encounters. Conclusions: Among this population, DTCA was associated with higher prescription sales and asthma-related emergency

On the need for revising healthcare failure mode and effect analysis for assessing potential for patient harm in healthcare processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abrahamsen, Håkon Bjorheim; Abrahamsen, Eirik Bjorheim; Høyland, Sindre

2016-01-01

Healthcare Failure Mode and Effect Analysis is a proactive, systematic method adapted from safety-critical industries increasingly used to assess the potential for patient harm in high-risk healthcare processes. In this paper we review and discuss this method. We point to some weaknesses and finally argue for two adjustments. One adjustment is regarding the way in which risk is evaluated, and the other is to adopt a broader evaluation of barrier performance. Examples are given from prehospital critical care and from the operating room environment within hospitals to illustrate these ideas. - Highlights: • This article discusses the appropriateness of using HFMEA in healthcare processes. • We conclude that HFMEA has an important role to play in such contexts. • We argue for two adjustments in the traditional HFMEA. • One is regarding the way risk is evaluated. • The other is to adopt a broader evaluation of barrier performance.

Strategic alliances in healthcare: opportunities for the Veterans Affairs healthcare system.

Science.gov (United States)

Halverson, P K; Kaluzny, A D; Young, G J

1997-01-01

Strategic alliances are proving to be effective strategies for responding and adapting to changing environments, and as such they offer the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system valuable opportunities for accomplishing the goals of its major reorganization effort. This article begins with an examination of basic strategic-alliance structures that are employed across many different types of industries. Next, consideration is given to the ways in which these basic alliance structures may be adapted to the unique organizations and individuals that serve as providers, purchasers, and consumers of health services. Finally, this article explores how models of strategic alliance in healthcare can be tailored to the specific needs and constraints of the VA healthcare system through an examination of existing and potential alliance opportunities.

A Risk Management Process for Consumers: The Next Step in Information Security

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Cleeff, A.

2010-01-01

Simply by using information technology, consumers expose themselves to considerable security risks. Because no technical or legal solutions are readily available, and awareness programs have limited impact, the only remedy is to develop a risk management process for consumers. Consumers need to

Modeling veterans healthcare administration disclosure processes :

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beyeler, Walter E; DeMenno, Mercy B.; Finley, Patrick D.

2013-09-01

As with other large healthcare organizations, medical adverse events at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities can expose patients to unforeseen negative risks. VHA leadership recognizes that properly handled disclosure of adverse events can minimize potential harm to patients and negative consequences for the effective functioning of the organization. The work documented here seeks to help improve the disclosure process by situating it within the broader theoretical framework of issues management, and to identify opportunities for process improvement through modeling disclosure and reactions to disclosure. The computational model will allow a variety of disclosure actions to be tested across a range of incident scenarios. Our conceptual model will be refined in collaboration with domain experts, especially by continuing to draw on insights from VA Study of the Communication of Adverse Large-Scale Events (SCALE) project researchers.

Consumer-Centric Care: Latest Buzzword or New Reality?

Science.gov (United States)

Boston-Fleischhauer, Carol

2017-11-01

With the industry in flux as federal healthcare reform legislation debates continue, leaders are preparing for what the post-Affordable Care Act world might look like. Predictions include patients assuming more responsibility for healthcare costs and therefore behaving like consumers, including choosing providers based on perceived value. What actions should chief nurse executives take to ensure the nursing enterprise responds to rising consumerism in healthcare?

Design for Six Sigma in healthcare: developing an employee influenza vaccination process

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kaplan, S.; Bisgaard, S.; Truesdell, D.; Zetterholm, S.

2009-01-01

Nonclinical healthcare processes are sometimes created on an ad hoc basis and hence over time may grow unnecessarily complex and difficult to assess, teach, improve, or transfer. Intentionally designing processes are more likely to yield an efficient and effective process. Originally developed in

Undue industry influences that distort healthcare research, strategy, expenditure and practice: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Stamatakis, Emmanuel; Weiler, Richard; Ioannidis, John P A

2013-05-01

Expenditure on industry products (mostly drugs and devices) has spiraled over the last 15 years and accounts for substantial part of healthcare expenditure. The enormous financial interests involved in the development and marketing of drugs and devices may have given excessive power to these industries to influence medical research, policy, and practice. Review of the literature and analysis of the multiple pathways through which the industry has directly or indirectly infiltrated the broader healthcare systems. We present the analysis of the industry influences at the following levels: (i) evidence base production, (ii) evidence synthesis, (iii) understanding of safety and harms issues, (iv) cost-effectiveness evaluation, (v) clinical practice guidelines formation, (vi) healthcare professional education, (vii) healthcare practice, (viii) healthcare consumer's decisions. We located abundance of consistent evidence demonstrating that the industry has created means to intervene in all steps of the processes that determine healthcare research, strategy, expenditure, practice and education. As a result of these interferences, the benefits of drugs and other products are often exaggerated and their potential harms are downplayed, and clinical guidelines, medical practice, and healthcare expenditure decisions are biased. To serve its interests, the industry masterfully influences evidence base production, evidence synthesis, understanding of harms issues, cost-effectiveness evaluations, clinical practice guidelines and healthcare professional education and also exerts direct influences on professional decisions and health consumers. There is an urgent need for regulation and other action towards redefining the mission of medicine towards a more objective and patient-, population- and society-benefit direction that is free from conflict of interests. © 2013 Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

iMAGE cloud: medical image processing as a service for regional healthcare in a hybrid cloud environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Li; Chen, Weiping; Nie, Min; Zhang, Fengjuan; Wang, Yu; He, Ailing; Wang, Xiaonan; Yan, Gen

2016-11-01

To handle the emergence of the regional healthcare ecosystem, physicians and surgeons in various departments and healthcare institutions must process medical images securely, conveniently, and efficiently, and must integrate them with electronic medical records (EMRs). In this manuscript, we propose a software as a service (SaaS) cloud called the iMAGE cloud. A three-layer hybrid cloud was created to provide medical image processing services in the smart city of Wuxi, China, in April 2015. In the first step, medical images and EMR data were received and integrated via the hybrid regional healthcare network. Then, traditional and advanced image processing functions were proposed and computed in a unified manner in the high-performance cloud units. Finally, the image processing results were delivered to regional users using the virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) technology. Security infrastructure was also taken into consideration. Integrated information query and many advanced medical image processing functions-such as coronary extraction, pulmonary reconstruction, vascular extraction, intelligent detection of pulmonary nodules, image fusion, and 3D printing-were available to local physicians and surgeons in various departments and healthcare institutions. Implementation results indicate that the iMAGE cloud can provide convenient, efficient, compatible, and secure medical image processing services in regional healthcare networks. The iMAGE cloud has been proven to be valuable in applications in the regional healthcare system, and it could have a promising future in the healthcare system worldwide.

Understanding the role consumer involvement plays in the effectiveness of hospital advertising.

Science.gov (United States)

McCullough, Tammy; Dodge, H Robert

2002-01-01

Both intensified competition and greater consumer participation in the choice process for healthcare has increased the importance of advertising for health care providers and seriously challenged many of the preconceptions regarding advertising. This study investigates the effectiveness of advertising under conditions of high and low involvement using the Elaboration Likelihood Model to develop hypotheses that are tested in a 2 x 2 x 2 experimental design. The study findings provide insights into the influence of message content and message source on consumers categorized as high or low involvement. It was found that consumers classified as high-involvement are more influenced by a core service-relevant message than those consumers classified as low-involvement. Moreover, a non-physician spokesperson was found to have as much or more influence as a physician spokesperson regardless of the consumers' involvement level.

Determinants of Consumer eHealth Information Seeking Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Sandefer, Ryan H; Westra, Bonnie L; Khairat, Saif S; Pieczkiewicz, David S; Speedie, Stuart M

2015-01-01

Patients are increasingly using the Internet and other technologies to engage in their own healthcare, but little research has focused on the determinants of consumer eHealth behaviors related to Internet use. This study uses data from 115,089 respondents to four years of the National Health Interview Series to identify the associations between one consumer eHealth behavior (information seeking) and demographics, health measures, and Personal Health Information Management (PHIM) (messaging, scheduling, refills, and chat). Individuals who use PHIM are 7.5 times more likely to search the internet for health related information. Just as health has social determinants, the results of this study indicate there are potential social determinants of consumer eHealth behaviors including personal demographics, health status, and healthcare access.

Process evaluation of discharge planning implementation in healthcare using normalization process theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Nordmark, Sofi; Zingmark, Karin; Lindberg, Inger

2016-04-27

Discharge planning is a care process that aims to secure the transfer of care for the patient at transition from home to the hospital and back home. Information exchange and collaboration between care providers are essential, but deficits are common. A wide range of initiatives to improve the discharge planning process have been developed and implemented for the past three decades. However, there are still high rates of reported medical errors and adverse events related to failures in the discharge planning. Using theoretical frameworks such as Normalization Process Theory (NPT) can support evaluations of complex interventions and processes in healthcare. The aim of this study was to explore the embedding and integration of the DPP from the perspective of registered nurses, district nurses and homecare organizers. The study design was explorative, using the NPT as a framework to explore the embedding and integration of the DPP. Data consisted of written documentation from; workshops with staff, registered adverse events and system failures, web based survey and individual interviews with staff. Using the NPT as a framework to explore the embedding and integration of discharge planning after 10 years in use showed that the staff had reached a consensus of opinion of what the process was (coherence) and how they evaluated the process (reflexive monitoring). However, they had not reached a consensus of opinion of who performed the process (cognitive participation) and how it was performed (collective action). This could be interpreted as the process had not become normalized in daily practice. The result shows necessity to observe the implementation of old practices to better understand the needs of new ones before developing and implementing new practices or supportive tools within healthcare to reach the aim of development and to accomplish sustainable implementation. The NPT offers a generalizable framework for analysis, which can explain and shape the

SOCIAL FACTORS INFLUENCE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF DENTAL HEALTHCARE SERVICES CONSUMERS’ BEHAVIOR

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Iuliana Petronela Gârdan

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In case of dental care consumption, a very special influence will have the social factors. This influence, from the level of consumers’ behavior can be analyzed on two distinct levels – that of normatives impose by the social organization particular for the community that the individual live and that of the influences of the social groups that individual are interacting with. Dental healthcare services consumption is conditioned at the level of consumption motivations by complex needs which are not confined only to the physiological needs of removing pain caused by a certain dental condition, but are going towards the need of self-image improvement, increasing the appreciation offered by the others group members, the congruence with other consumers decisions within the group (family members, friends, colleagues etc. It is important to note in this context the fact that the influence exerted by consumers exogenous factors (external influences in which we can integrate those from the social groups also will be combined with the one exerted by endogenous factors (personality, learning process, perceptions, attitudes, motivations etc, representing a continuum that shape consumers and allows in the same time the society shaping by them. The present article proposes a research conducted on dental healthcare services consumers. Results revealed the importance that a series of variables like the importance given to image in the workplace, family, friends and colleagues perception towards dental aesthetic, social class has in the context of consumer behavior. It is also noted that the influence of variables is mediated by the importance given to self-image, dental healthcare services consumption being determined by complex needs, consumption motivations being physiological – specific to some medical conditions and psychological – aesthetic or induced by the pressure corresponding to the need to comply with social norms.

Social marketing in healthcare

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radha Aras

2011-08-01

Full Text Available BackgroundSocial marketing is an important tool in the delivery ofhealthcare services. For any healthcare programme orproject to be successful, community/consumer participationis required. The four principles of social marketing can guidepolicymakers and healthcare providers to successfully planand implement health programmes.AimTo review the existing literature in order to project thebenefits of social marketing in healthcare.MethodA search of periodical literature by the author involvingsocial marketing and marketing concepts in health wascarried out. Items were identified initially through healthorientedindexing services such as Medline, Health STARand Cinahl, using the identifiers “social marketing“ and“marketing in health”. An extensive search was also carriedout on educational database ERIC.ResultsA literature review of various studies on social marketingindicated that the selection of the right product (accordingto the community need at the right place, with the rightstrategy for promotion and at the right price yields goodresults. However, along with technical sustainability(product, price, promotion and place, financialsustainability, institutional sustainability and marketsustainability are conducive factors for the success of socialmarketing.ConclusionThe purpose of this literature review was to ascertain thelikely effectiveness of social marketing principles andapproaches and behaviour change communication towardshealth promotion.It is important for all healthcare workers to understand andrespond to the public’s desires and needs and routinely useconsumer research to determine how best to help thepublic to solve problems and realise aspirations. Socialmarketing can optimise public health by facilitatingrelationship-building with consumers and making their liveshealthier.

Enhancing health-care workers' understanding and thinking about people living with co-occurring mental health and substance use issues through consumer-led training.

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Roussy, Véronique; Thomacos, Nikos; Rudd, Annette; Crockett, Belinda

2015-10-01

Stigma and judgemental assumptions by health workers have been identified as key barriers to accessing health care for people living with co-occurring mental health and substance use issues (dual diagnosis). To evaluate the effectiveness of consumer-led training by people with dual diagnosis in improving the knowledge, understanding and role adequacy of community health staff to work with this consumer group. A controlled before-and-after study design with four waves of quantitative data collection was used. Qualitative data were collected to explore participants' views about training. Participants were staff from two community health services from Victoria, Australia. Recruitment occurred across various work areas: reception, oral health, allied health, counselling and health promotion. At baseline, all participants attended a 4-h clinician-led training session. The intervention consisted of a 3-h consumer-led training session, developed and delivered by seven individuals living with dual diagnosis. Outcome measures included understanding of dual diagnosis, participants' feelings of role adequacy and role legitimacy, personal views, and training outcomes and relevance. Consumer-led training was associated with a significant increase in understanding. The combination of clinician-led and consumer-led training was associated with a positive change in role adequacy. Consumer-led training is a promising approach to enhance primary health-care workers' understanding of the issues faced by dual-diagnosis consumers, with such positive effects persisting over time. Used alongside other organizational capacity building strategies, consumer-led training has the potential to help address stigma and judgemental attitudes by health workers and improve access to services for this consumer group. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Patient satisfaction and loyalty among military healthcare beneficiaries enrolled in a managed care program.

Science.gov (United States)

Jennings, B M; Loan, L A

1999-11-01

A study was performed to evaluate military beneficiaries' motivation for choosing to change from a civilian managed care system to the military managed care system. Concerns about healthcare cost, quality, and access underpin major reform in military healthcare. The military health system (MHS) is implementing managed care through an initiative known as TRICARE. Patient choice and satisfaction are highly relevant to all healthcare delivery systems; they are being explored aggressively in the MHS as TRICARE evolves. This descriptive study was conducted using a telephone survey consisting of 63 items derived from four pre-existing instruments as well as five facility-specific questions and demographics. The population of interest targeted military beneficiaries on a TRICARE waiting list who, at the time of enrollment, indicated a desire to receive care at the military facility. Consumers were inclined to return to the military system because of loyalty. Also, this study provided evidence that staff courtesy is important to those who seek healthcare. Good quality and accessibility were verified as essential elements in sustaining a consumer's positive view of and attraction to a particular healthcare system. Cost was proven to be a less substantial factor of consumer decision making. Surveys such as this give healthcare providers more information about aspects of care, such as patient loyalty and interpersonal dynamics, that attract people to their healthcare delivery systems. For healthcare systems to thrive, consumer influence and the power of patient dissatisfaction must be understood.

Using multilevel modeling to assess case-mix adjusters in consumer experience surveys in health care.

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Damman, Olga C; Stubbe, Janine H; Hendriks, Michelle; Arah, Onyebuchi A; Spreeuwenberg, Peter; Delnoij, Diana M J; Groenewegen, Peter P

2009-04-01

Ratings on the quality of healthcare from the consumer's perspective need to be adjusted for consumer characteristics to ensure fair and accurate comparisons between healthcare providers or health plans. Although multilevel analysis is already considered an appropriate method for analyzing healthcare performance data, it has rarely been used to assess case-mix adjustment of such data. The purpose of this article is to investigate whether multilevel regression analysis is a useful tool to detect case-mix adjusters in consumer assessment of healthcare. We used data on 11,539 consumers from 27 Dutch health plans, which were collected using the Dutch Consumer Quality Index health plan instrument. We conducted multilevel regression analyses of consumers' responses nested within health plans to assess the effects of consumer characteristics on consumer experience. We compared our findings to the results of another methodology: the impact factor approach, which combines the predictive effect of each case-mix variable with its heterogeneity across health plans. Both multilevel regression and impact factor analyses showed that age and education were the most important case-mix adjusters for consumer experience and ratings of health plans. With the exception of age, case-mix adjustment had little impact on the ranking of health plans. On both theoretical and practical grounds, multilevel modeling is useful for adequate case-mix adjustment and analysis of performance ratings.

Using Multilevel Modeling to Assess Case-Mix Adjusters in Consumer Experience Surveys in Health Care

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Damman, Olga C.; Stubbe, Janine H.; Hendriks, Michelle; Arah, Onyebuchi A.; Spreeuwenberg, Peter; Delnoij, Diana M. J.; Groenewegen, Peter P.

2009-01-01

Background: Ratings on the quality of healthcare from the consumer's perspective need to be adjusted for consumer characteristics to ensure fair and accurate comparisons between healthcare providers or health plans. Although multilevel analysis is already considered an appropriate method for

Improving the delivery of care and reducing healthcare costs with the digitization of information.

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Noffsinger, R; Chin, S

2000-01-01

In the coming years, the digitization of information and the Internet will be extremely powerful in reducing healthcare costs while assisting providers in the delivery of care. One example of healthcare inefficiency that can be managed through information digitization is the process of prescription writing. Due to the handwritten and verbal communication surrounding prescription writing, as well as the multiple tiers of authorizations, the prescription drug process causes extensive financial waste as well as medical errors, lost time, and even fatal accidents. Electronic prescription management systems are being designed to address these inefficiencies. By utilizing new electronic prescription systems, physicians not only prescribe more accurately, but also improve formulary compliance thereby reducing pharmacy utilization. These systems expand patient care by presenting proactive alternatives at the point of prescription while reducing costs and providing additional benefits for consumers and healthcare providers.

76 FR 58006 - Consumer Health IT Pledge Program

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-19

... Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is leading a national campaign to educate and engage the... have the ability to educate consumers about the importance of getting access to and using their health information (e.g., employers, consumer and disease-based organizations, healthcare associations, product...

Consumer's Perception on Design and Layout of Consumer Medical Information Leaflets on Obesity and Lipid Lowering Drugs.

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Mathew, Elizabeth M; Rajiah, Kingston; Sharma, Krishana Kumar

2013-12-01

Printed education materials are often used to augment healthcare professional's verbal information to consumers so it serves as an important component of symptom management. They also enhance the teaching process and can be used by consumers as a home reference. This study was aimed to interpret consumers' perception on Consumer Medical Information Leaflets (CMILs) on obesity and lipid lowering drugs, on design and layout using the standard method such as Baker Able Leaflet Design (BALD). Convenience sampling was done. The study was conducted over a period of 3 years in community pharmacy settings in Tamil Nadu, India. The Consumer Medical Information Leaflets (CMILs) were randomly collected from different community pharmacies. Total of 19 CMILs which are commonly used by the consumers were collected and CMILs were assessed using BALD assessment tool Results: According to BALD assessment (46.28%) leaflets were rated as 'above standard' and (53.72) leaflets were rated as 'standard or poor' in layout and design since their scores were less than 25. This shows that this issue may be important from the patient's perspective, which may discourage patient from actually reading the CMILs. In India, generally CMILs are continued to be prepared in English and with higher proportion of consumers with English illiteracy. CMILs, which are prepared without taking consideration of reading level of consumers and proper layout and design, may not achieve the intended purpose. This is an important aspect that any company has to reckon while preparing leaflets and at least in some major local languages in which CMILs have to be prepared.

Outsourcing in Healthcare Through Process Modularization - A Lean Perspective

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Cristina Machado Guimarães

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Looking for efficiency, quality and profitability gains, healthcare organizations are adopting outsourcing solutions in the attempt of “doing more with less”. Seeking for cost reduction, risk mitigation, adapting to quick changes without compromising internal resources, these organizations also take big risks in control and flexibility variables. In order to understand how healthcare organizations find the best value equation combining internal and external resources in a modular service conception, a case study on a start‐up Long‐term Care unit with innovative format, great levels of customization and following an outsourcing strategy, was carried out. The main conclusion, among others, is that in ambitious start‐ups, having speed of entrance as the conditioning factor, a process orientation and management approach may offer a clear view of the gains related with trade‐off decisions regarding time and cost (agility and cost and quality (Leanness ie, decisions under the “leagile” paradigm. This study contributes for a wider understanding of the “leagile” concept associated to an outsourcing operational strategy. Additionally, it also provides new insights to the concept of modularity in services settings in a complex service as healthcare.

Beyond price: individuals' accounts of deciding to pay for private healthcare treatment in the UK.

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Exley, Catherine; Rousseau, Nikki; Donaldson, Cam; Steele, Jimmy G

2012-03-07

Delivering appropriate and affordable healthcare is a concern across the globe. As countries grapple with the issue of delivering healthcare with finite resources and populations continue to age, more health-related care services or treatments may become an optional 'extra' to be purchased privately. It is timely to consider how, and to what extent, the individual can act as both a 'patient' and a 'consumer'. In the UK the majority of healthcare treatments are free at the point of delivery. However, increasingly some healthcare treatments are being made available via the private healthcare market. Drawing from insights from healthcare policy and social sciences, this paper uses the exemplar of private dental implant treatment provision in the UK to examine what factors people considered when deciding whether or not to pay for a costly healthcare treatment for a non-fatal condition. Qualitative interviews with people (n = 27) who considered paying for dental implants treatments in the UK. Data collection and analysis processes followed the principles of the constant comparative methods, and thematic analysis was facilitated through the use of NVivo qualitative data software. Decisions to pay for private healthcare treatments are not simply determined by price. Decisions are mediated by: the perceived 'status' of the healthcare treatment as either functional or aesthetic; how the individual determines and values their 'need' for the treatment; and, the impact the expenditure may have on themselves and others. Choosing a private healthcare provider is sometimes determined simply by personal rapport or extant clinical relationship, or based on the recommendation of others. As private healthcare markets expand to provide more 'non-essential' services, patients need to develop new skills and to be supported in their new role as consumers.

ATTITUDES OF THE CONSUMERS REGARDING THE PROCESSING AND EMPLOYMENT OF THEIR PERSONAL DATA

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Rusescu Marius

2010-07-01

Full Text Available The concept of privacy, seen in connection with the consumer's private space, and defined in terms of the specific personal data has gained an increasing importance, as a result of the organizations’ extended attempts, within their marketing efforts, to capture, process and use the consumers’ personal data. Paper explores the attitudes of the consumers regarding their personal data in terms of their disclosure, previous agreement consumers should grant to the companies or public institutions (authorities processing them, employment, registration and processing by the companies, and buying products and/or services as a result of a direct approach.

Consumer preferences for telemedicine devices and services in South Korea.

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Ahn, Joongha; Shin, Jungwoo; Lee, Jongsu; Shin, Kwangsoo; Park, Hayoung

2014-02-01

The scope of healthcare has been expanding from caring for sick people to keeping people from becoming sick, and telemedicine will play a significant role in this new healthcare paradigm. This study investigated consumer preferences and willingness to pay for attributes of telemedicine services in South Korea. A market simulation was conducted to examine the market shares of alternative services and their relationships to the perceived usefulness of service types and preferred device types. Using a conjoint survey, we collected data on consumer preferences for six telemedicine service attributes. Data analysis used the Bayesian mixed logit model. The market simulation estimated the probabilities of a specific service alternative being chosen using estimated model coefficients. Wearable devices were the most preferred, followed by smart-home and smartphone devices. Consumers perceived managing blood glucose to be the most useful telemedicine service, followed by monitoring oxygen saturation and blood pressure. The market simulation indicated that consumer preferences for device types were associated with the types of chronic diseases for which management through telemedicine services is perceived to be useful. As the focus of healthcare moves from treating patients to keeping individuals healthy, a key factor for the successful deployment of telemedicine services is understanding consumer perceptions and attitudes. The results of this study revealed the dynamics of consumer preferences with regard to service attributes.

How important is vehicle safety for older consumers in the vehicle purchase process?

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Koppel, Sjaan; Clark, Belinda; Hoareau, Effie; Charlton, Judith L; Newstead, Stuart V

2013-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the importance of vehicle safety to older consumers in the vehicle purchase process. Older (n = 102), middle-aged (n = 791), and younger (n = 109) participants throughout the eastern Australian states of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland who had recently purchased a new or used vehicle completed an online questionnaire about their vehicle purchase process. When asked to list the 3 most important considerations in the vehicle purchase process (in an open-ended format), older consumers were mostly likely to list price as their most important consideration (43%). Similarly, when presented with a list of vehicle factors (such as price, design, Australasian New Car Assessment Program [ANCAP] rating), older consumers were most likely to identify price as the most important vehicle factor (36%). When presented with a list of vehicle features (such as automatic transmission, braking, air bags), older consumers in the current study were most likely to identify an antilock braking system (41%) as the most important vehicle feature, and 50 percent of older consumers identified a safety-related vehicle feature as the highest priority vehicle feature (50%). When asked to list up to 3 factors that make a vehicle safe, older consumers in the current study were most likely to list braking systems (35%), air bags (22%), and the driver's behavior or skill (11%). When asked about the influence of safety in the new vehicle purchase process, one third of older consumers reported that all new vehicles are safe (33%) and almost half of the older consumers rated their vehicle as safer than average (49%). A logistic regression model was developed to predict the profile of older consumers more likely to assign a higher priority to safety features in the vehicle purchasing process. The model predicted that the importance of safety-related features was influenced by several variables, including older consumers' beliefs that they could protect themselves

78 FR 38072 - Certain Consumer Electronics With Display and Processing Capabilities; Institution of...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-25

... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Inv. No. 337-TA-884] Certain Consumer Electronics With Display and... electronics with display and processing capabilities by reason of infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,650,327... after importation of certain consumer electronics with display and processing capabilities by reason of...

Incorporating healthcare informatics into the strategic planning process in nursing education.

Science.gov (United States)

Sackett, Kay; Jones, Janice; Erdley, W Scott

2005-01-01

The purpose of this article is to describe the incorporation of healthcare informatics into the strategic planning process in nursing education. An exemplar from the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York School of Nursing, is interwoven throughout the article. The challenges and successes inherent in a paradigm shift embracing the multifaceted adoption of technology in higher education are illustrated. The paradigm shift that necessitated this change, the need for informatics standards and competencies identified by regulatory agencies and the relationship of the triad mission of the Academy which includes research, teaching and service are then elucidated. Information pertinent to the strategic planning process is described including the use of a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis to facilitate the integration of a healthcare informatics model into a nursing curriculum.

Applying analytic hierarchy process to assess healthcare-oriented cloud computing service systems.

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Liao, Wen-Hwa; Qiu, Wan-Li

2016-01-01

Numerous differences exist between the healthcare industry and other industries. Difficulties in the business operation of the healthcare industry have continually increased because of the volatility and importance of health care, changes to and requirements of health insurance policies, and the statuses of healthcare providers, which are typically considered not-for-profit organizations. Moreover, because of the financial risks associated with constant changes in healthcare payment methods and constantly evolving information technology, healthcare organizations must continually adjust their business operation objectives; therefore, cloud computing presents both a challenge and an opportunity. As a response to aging populations and the prevalence of the Internet in fast-paced contemporary societies, cloud computing can be used to facilitate the task of balancing the quality and costs of health care. To evaluate cloud computing service systems for use in health care, providing decision makers with a comprehensive assessment method for prioritizing decision-making factors is highly beneficial. Hence, this study applied the analytic hierarchy process, compared items related to cloud computing and health care, executed a questionnaire survey, and then classified the critical factors influencing healthcare cloud computing service systems on the basis of statistical analyses of the questionnaire results. The results indicate that the primary factor affecting the design or implementation of optimal cloud computing healthcare service systems is cost effectiveness, with the secondary factors being practical considerations such as software design and system architecture.

Processes of change used by healthcare workers to participate in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The aim of this study was to identify processes of change that healthcare workers (HCWs) use to progress from one stage of physical activity (PA) to another. This was a retrospective quantitative descriptive design involving 163 HCWs who were previously exposed to different education and motivation to exercise for a ...

Lean healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Weinstock, Donna

2008-01-01

As healthcare organizations look for new and improved ways to reduce costs and still offer quality healthcare, many are turning to the Toyota Production System of doing business. Rather than focusing on cutting personnel and assets, "lean healthcare" looks to improve patient satisfaction through improved actions and processes.

The evolving role of supply chain management technology in healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Langabeer, Jim

2005-01-01

The healthcare supply chain is a vast, disintegrated network of products and players, loosely held together by manual and people-intensive processes. Managing the flow of information, supplies, equipment, and services from manufacturers to distributors to providers of care is especially difficult in clinical supply chains, compared with more technology-intense industries like consumer goods or industrial manufacturing. As supplies move downstream towards hospitals and clinics, the quality and robustness of accompanying management and information systems used to manage these products deteriorates significantly. Technology that provides advanced planning, synchronization, and collaboration upstream at the large supply manufacturers and distributors rarely is used at even the world's larger and more sophisticated hospitals. This article outlines the current state of healthcare supply chain management technologies, addresses potential reasons for the lack of adoption of technologies and provides a roadmap for the evolution of technology for the future. This piece is based on both quantitative and qualitative research assessments of the healthcare supply chain conducted during the last two years.

Consumers' experiences and values in conventional and alternative medicine paradigms: a problem detection study (PDS

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Emmerton Lynne

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This study explored consumer perceptions of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM and relationships with CAM and conventional medicine practitioners. A problem detection study (PDS was used. The qualitative component to develop the questionnaire used a CAM consumer focus group to explore conventional and CAM paradigms in healthcare. 32 key issues, seven main themes, informed the questionnaire (the quantitative PDS component - 36 statements explored using five-point Likert scales. Results Of 300 questionnaires distributed (Brisbane, Australia, 83 consumers responded. Results indicated that consumers felt empowered by using CAM and they reported positive relationships with CAM practitioners. The perception was that CAM were used most effectively as long-term therapy (63% agreement, but that conventional medicines would be the best choice for emergency treatment (81% agreement. A majority (65% reported that doctors appeared uncomfortable about consumers' visits to CAM practitioners. Most consumers (72% believed that relationships with and between health practitioners could be enhanced by improved communication. It was agreed that information sharing between consumers and healthcare practitioners is important, and reported that "enough" information is shared between CAM practitioners and consumers. Consumers felt comfortable discussing their medicines with pharmacists, general practitioners and CAM practitioners, but felt most comfortable with their CAM practitioners. Conclusions This PDS has emphasized the perceived importance of open communication between consumers, CAM and conventional providers, and has exposed areas where CAM consumers perceive that issues exist across the CAM and conventional medicine paradigms. There is a lot of information which is perceived as not being shared at present and there are issues of discomfort and distrust which require resolution to develop concordant relationships in healthcare

Consumer Decision Process in Restaurant Selection: An Application of the Stylized EKB Model

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Eugenia Wickens

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose – The aim of this paper is to propose a framework based on empirical work for understanding the consumer decision processes involved in the selection of a restaurant for leisure meals. Design/Methodology/Approach – An interpretive approach is taken in order to understand the intricacies of the process and the various stages in the process. Six focus group interviews with consumers of various ages and occupations in the South East of the United Kingdom were conducted. Findings and implications – The stylized EKB model of the consumer decision process (Tuan-Pham & Higgins, 2005 was used as a framework for developing different stages of the process. Two distinct parts of the process were identified. Occasion was found to be critical to the stage of problem recognition. In terms of evaluation of alternatives and, in particular, sensitivity to evaluative content, the research indicates that the regulatory focus theory of Tuan-Pham and Higgins (2005 applies to the decision of selecting a restaurant. Limitations – It is acknowledged that this exploratory study is based on a small sample in a single geographical area. Originality – The paper is the first application of the stylized EKB model, which takes into account the motivational dimensions of consumer decision making, missing in other models. It concludes that it may have broader applications to other research contexts.

Marketing promotion in the consumer goods’ retail distribution process

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S.Bălăşescu

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The fundamental characteristic of contemporary marketing is the total opening towards three major directions: consumer needs, organization needs and society’s needs. The continuous expansion of marketing has been accompanied by a process of differentiation and specialization. Differentiation has led to the so called “specific marketing”. In this paper, we aim to explain that in the retail companies, the concept of sales marketing can be distinguished as an independent marketing specialization. The main objectives for this paper are: the definition and delimitation of consumer goods’ sales marketing in the retail business and the sectoral approach of the marketing concept and its specific techniques for the retail activities.

mHealth transforming healthcare

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Malvey, Donna

2014-01-01

Examines regulatory trends and their impact on mHealth innovations and applications Offers solutions for those in the health care industry that are attempting to engage consumers in reducing healthcare costs and in improving their health care encounters and personal health Explains what is necessary for long-term viability of mHealth as a health care delivery medium.

Developing cross-cultural healthcare workers: content, process and mentoring

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Mark A Strand

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Career service in cross-cultural healthcare mission work is the ambition of many people around the world. However, premature termination of this expected long-term service mitigates against achieving the goals of the individual and the organization. The lingering challenge of high rates of missionary attrition impacts the long-term effectiveness of the work and the health and well-being of the workers. One of the keys to reducing premature attrition is cross-cultural training for these individuals, provided it offers the right content, through the best medium, at the time of greatest perceived need by the missionary. This paper applies the Dreyfus Model of skills acquisition to the process of mentoring career healthcare missionaries in a progressive manner, utilizing a mentoring method. These missionaries can flourish in their work and more effectively achieve their individual and organizational goals through strategic mentorship that clearly defines a pathway for growing their cross-cultural skills.

A Theoretical Approach to Information Needs Across Different Healthcare Stakeholders

Science.gov (United States)

Raitoharju, Reetta; Aarnio, Eeva

Increased access to medical information can lead to information overload among both the employees in the healthcare sector as well as among healthcare consumers. Moreover, medical information can be hard to understand for consumers who have no prerequisites for interpreting and understanding it. Information systems (e.g. electronic patient records) are normally designed to meet the demands of one professional group, for instance those of physicians. Therefore, the same information in the same form is presented to all the users of the systems regardless of the actual need or prerequisites. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the differences in information needs across different stakeholders in healthcare. A literature review was conducted to collect examples of these different information needs. Based on the findings the role of more user specific information systems is discussed.

The Empathic Process and Misconceptions that Lead to Burnout in Healthcare Professionals.

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Villacieros, Marta; Olmos, Ricardo; Bermejo, José Carlos

2017-12-04

Empathy has been identified as a relevant variable in order to predict burnout in healthcare professionals. In addition, assertiveness and self-esteem have been considered relevant variables to develop empathic capacity. In the other hand, misconceptions surrounding empathy constitute a risk factor for burnout. Two adult samples (N = 252 and N = 275) were used to explore and confirm the underlying structure of two questionnaires. The Exercise of Process of Empathy (EPE) scale (18 items) confirmatory factor analysis including 5 dimensions (cognitive and emotional comprehension, attention, clarity and assertiveness), showed reasonable goodness- of-fit indices χ2(130) = 269.63, p empathy scale (16 items) confirmatory factor analysis, including 3 dimensions (feeling, confluence and character misconceptions) also obtained reasonable goodness-of-fit indices χ 2 (101) = 250.59, p empathy process) a protection factor (b* = -.183). The model partially explains how misconceptions empathy process and self-esteem (b* = -.334) relate to burnout syndrome in healthcare professionals; what is more, it heralds a potential means to prevent it.

Consumer Awareness and Willingness to Pay for High-Pressure Processing of Ready-to-Eat Food

Science.gov (United States)

Hicks, Doris T.; Pivarnik, Lori F.; McDermott, Ryan; Richard, Nicole; Hoover, Dallas G.; Kniel, Kalmia E.

2009-01-01

Commercial, nonthermal processing of food, such as high hydrostatic-pressure processing (HPP), has increased. The safety and quality of foods produced by HPP has not been well communicated to the public. An online, nationwide consumer survey was implemented to assess awareness of alternative food processing technologies, consumer food safety…

Coproduction of healthcare service.

Science.gov (United States)

Batalden, Maren; Batalden, Paul; Margolis, Peter; Seid, Michael; Armstrong, Gail; Opipari-Arrigan, Lisa; Hartung, Hans

2016-07-01

Efforts to ensure effective participation of patients in healthcare are called by many names-patient centredness, patient engagement, patient experience. Improvement initiatives in this domain often resemble the efforts of manufacturers to engage consumers in designing and marketing products. Services, however, are fundamentally different than products; unlike goods, services are always 'coproduced'. Failure to recognise this unique character of a service and its implications may limit our success in partnering with patients to improve health care. We trace a partial history of the coproduction concept, present a model of healthcare service coproduction and explore its application as a design principle in three healthcare service delivery innovations. We use the principle to examine the roles, relationships and aims of this interdependent work. We explore the principle's implications and challenges for health professional development, for service delivery system design and for understanding and measuring benefit in healthcare services. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Healthscape role towards customer satisfaction in private healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahoo, Debajani; Ghosh, Tathagata

2016-07-11

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify the motives that enforce consumers to find out the major determinants that frame healthscape in private healthcare service that leads to their satisfaction in a developing country like India. Design/methodology/approach - The generic motive dimensions are identified using an exploratory factor analysis. Next the reliability and validity of the factors are established followed by regression analysis using SPSS 20.0 s/w. Findings - This paper identifies six healthscape motives in the private healthcare sector named as service personnel conduct and cleanliness, service delivery and facilities, ambience, location and look, appealing decoration, and upgraded safety service, out of which only service delivery, ambience, location, and decorations contribute the most to build customer satisfaction as per their significance value. Research limitations/implications - The various dimensions of healthcare motives should be viewed as the levers of improving hospitals' service quality in the minds of its present and future customers. This finding can offer valuable insight to the forthcoming as well as existing developer who are planning to have their healthcare service presence in India. Practical implications - This study suggests some important strategic guidelines for service positioning and market segmentation of healthcare services as per customer requirements. In the recent past, availing services from hospitals were purely utilitarian in nature. Customers were more inclined to get proper and timely services and cared more about the service quality of the healthcare service provider. Originality/value - This paper is among the few works done on understanding private healthcare service delivery process in India and customer satisfaction level from those Hospitals. This study addresses the gap by identifying a set of dimensions that are relevant to customers for a unique healthcare experience.

Utility-preserving privacy protection of textual healthcare documents.

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Sánchez, David; Batet, Montserrat; Viejo, Alexandre

2014-12-01

The adoption of ITs by medical organisations makes possible the compilation of large amounts of healthcare data, which are quite often needed to be released to third parties for research or business purposes. Many of this data are of sensitive nature, because they may include patient-related documents such as electronic healthcare records. In order to protect the privacy of individuals, several legislations on healthcare data management, which state the kind of information that should be protected, have been defined. Traditionally, to meet with current legislations, a manual redaction process is applied to patient-related documents in order to remove or black-out sensitive terms. This process is costly and time-consuming and has the undesired side effect of severely reducing the utility of the released content. Automatic methods available in the literature usually propose ad-hoc solutions that are limited to protect specific types of structured information (e.g. e-mail addresses, social security numbers, etc.); as a result, they are hardly applicable to the sensitive entities stated in current regulations that do not present those structural regularities (e.g. diseases, symptoms, treatments, etc.). To tackle these limitations, in this paper we propose an automatic sanitisation method for textual medical documents (e.g. electronic healthcare records) that is able to protect, regardless of their structure, sensitive entities (e.g. diseases) and also those semantically related terms (e.g. symptoms) that may disclose the former ones. Contrary to redaction schemes based on term removal, our approach improves the utility of the protected output by replacing sensitive terms with appropriate generalisations retrieved from several medical and general-purpose knowledge bases. Experiments conducted on highly sensitive documents and in coherency with current regulations on healthcare data privacy show promising results in terms of the practical privacy and utility of the

Emergency healthcare process automation using mobile computing and cloud services.

Science.gov (United States)

Poulymenopoulou, M; Malamateniou, F; Vassilacopoulos, G

2012-10-01

Emergency care is basically concerned with the provision of pre-hospital and in-hospital medical and/or paramedical services and it typically involves a wide variety of interdependent and distributed activities that can be interconnected to form emergency care processes within and between Emergency Medical Service (EMS) agencies and hospitals. Hence, in developing an information system for emergency care processes, it is essential to support individual process activities and to satisfy collaboration and coordination needs by providing readily access to patient and operational information regardless of location and time. Filling this information gap by enabling the provision of the right information, to the right people, at the right time fosters new challenges, including the specification of a common information format, the interoperability among heterogeneous institutional information systems or the development of new, ubiquitous trans-institutional systems. This paper is concerned with the development of an integrated computer support to emergency care processes by evolving and cross-linking institutional healthcare systems. To this end, an integrated EMS cloud-based architecture has been developed that allows authorized users to access emergency case information in standardized document form, as proposed by the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) profile, uses the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) standard Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) Hospital Availability Exchange (HAVE) for exchanging operational data with hospitals and incorporates an intelligent module that supports triaging and selecting the most appropriate ambulances and hospitals for each case.

Measuring process performance within healthcare logistics - a decision tool for selecting track and trace technologies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Feibert, Diana Cordes; Jacobsen, Peter

2015-01-01

quality of work. Data validity is essential for enabling performance measurement, and selecting the right technologies is important to achieve this. A case study of the hospital cleaning process was conducted at a public Danish hospital to develop a framework for assessing technologies in healthcare......Monitoring tasks and ascertaining quality of work is difficult in a logistical healthcare process due to cleaning personnel being dispersed throughout the hospital. Performance measurement can support the organization in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of processes and in ensuring...... logistics. A set of decision indicators was identified in the case study to assess technologies based on expected process performance. Two aspects of performance measurement were investigated for the hospital cleaning process: what to measure and how to measure it....

Process-aware information system development for the healthcare domain : consistency, reliability and effectiveness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mans, R.S.; Aalst, van der W.M.P.; Russell, N.C.; Bakker, P.J.M.; Moleman, A.J.; Rinderle-Ma, S.; Sadiq, S.; Leymann, F.

2010-01-01

Optimal support for complex healthcare processes cannot be provided by a single out-of-the-box Process-Aware Information System and necessitates the construction of customized applications based on these systems. In order to allow for the seamless integration of the new technology into the existing

Integrating values and consumer involvement in guidelines with the patient at the center: article 8 in Integrating and coordinating efforts in COPD guideline development. An official ATS/ERS workshop report.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelson, Marcia; Akl, Elie A; Bastian, Hilda; Cluzeau, Françoise; Curtis, J Randall; Guyatt, Gordon; Montori, Victor M; Oliver, Sandy; Schünemann, Holger J

2012-12-01

Professional societies, like many other organizations around the world, have recognized the need to use rigorous processes to ensure that healthcare recommendations are informed by the best available research evidence. They are also realizing the need to involve consumers of healthcare (patients, caregivers, and the public) and integrate their values and preferences in clinical guideline development. This is the eighth of a series of 14 articles that were prepared to advise guideline developers in respiratory and other diseases. It focuses on where to find information about consumer values and preferences, at what points in the guideline development process to integrate their values and preferences, and why. In this review, we addressed the following questions: (1) What do we mean by "consumers"? (2) Why integrate the values and preferences of consumers of healthcare (patients, caregivers, and the public) into clinical practice guidelines? (3) What are the sources of information on consumer values? (4) When and how should consumer values and preferences be integrated into chronic obstructive pulmonary disease guideline recommendations? We defined consumers as patients, caregivers, and members of the public, excluding groups that may also be identified as consumers of guidelines including health professionals, providers, and commissioners of services. We searched PubMed and other databases of methodological studies for existing systematic reviews and relevant methodological research. We did not conduct systematic reviews ourselves. Our conclusions are based on available evidence, supplemented by a rapid appraisal of a selection of qualitative studies, experience of what guideline developers are doing, and workshop discussions. A clear distinction needs to be made between the use of information on consumer values and preferences by guideline developers, and the direct involvement of consumers in guideline development processes. Sources of information on consumer

ARABIC TRANSLATION AND ADAPTATION OF THE HOSPITAL CONSUMER ASSESSMENT OF HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS AND SYSTEMS (HCAHPS) PATIENT SATISFACTION SURVEY INSTRUMENT.

Science.gov (United States)

Dockins, James; Abuzahrieh, Ramzi; Stack, Martin

2015-01-01

To translate and adapt an effective, validated, benchmarked, and widely used patient satisfaction measurement tool for use with an Arabic-speaking population. Translation of survey's items, survey administration process development, evaluation of reliability, and international benchmarking Three hundred-bed tertiary care hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 645 patients discharged during 2011 from the hospital's inpatient care units. INTERVENTIONS; The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) instrument was translated into Arabic, a randomized weekly sample of patients was selected, and the survey was administered via telephone during 2011 to patients or their relatives. Scores were compiled for each of the HCAHPS questions and then for each of the six HCAHPS clinical composites, two non-clinical items, and two global items. Clinical composite scores, as well as the two non-clinical and two global items were analyzed for the 645 respondents. Clinical composites were analyzed using Spearman's correlation coefficient and Cronbach's alpha to demonstrate acceptable internal consistency for these items and scales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency for the clinical composites. (Spearman's correlation coefficient = 0.327 - 0.750, P quarterly to US national averages with results that closely paralleled the US benchmarks. . The Arabic translation and adaptation of the HCAHPS is a valid, reliable, and feasible tool for evaluation and benchmarking of inpatient satisfaction in Arabic speaking populations.

Home Healthcare Medical Devices: Infusion Therapy - Getting the Most Out of Your Pump

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... Medical Procedures Home Health and Consumer Devices Brochure - Home Healthcare Medical Devices: Infusion Therapy - Getting the Most ... if needed. What is the role of your home healthcare provider and supplier in your infusion therapy? ...

78 FR 30934 - Certain Consumer Electronics With Display and Processing Capabilities; Notice of Receipt of...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-23

... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Docket No 2956] Certain Consumer Electronics With Display and... the U.S. International Trade Commission has received a complaint entitled Certain Consumer Electronics... consumer electronics with display and processing capabilities. The complaint names as respondents Panasonic...

A systematic process for persuasive mobile healthcare applications

Science.gov (United States)

Qasim, Mustafa Moosa; Ahmad, Mazida; Omar, Mazni; Zulkifli, Abdul Nasir; Bakar, Juliana Aida Abu

2017-10-01

In recent years there has been an increased focus on persuasive design of mobile in the healthcare domain. However, most of the studies did not follow systematic processes while analysis and designing the persuasive technology applications, and they also failed to provide some of the relevant information needed to design the persuasive applications. Adding to this is a need for more guidance in order to set how the persuasive guidelines can be implemented, which also means that there is a need for a way to transform the persuasive components into software requirements and functionalities. Therefore, this paper proposes a general systematic process to be used independently of the problem domain in order to analyze the customers' significant requirements. Such domain is the obesity problem among Malaysian children, and the most significant treatment of this case is parents' involvement. To this end, this paper will apply a systematic process in monitoring the children's obesity status among parents.

Consumer evaluations of processed meat products reformulated to be healthier - A conjoint analysis study.

Science.gov (United States)

Shan, Liran C; De Brún, Aoife; Henchion, Maeve; Li, Chenguang; Murrin, Celine; Wall, Patrick G; Monahan, Frank J

2017-09-01

Recent innovations in processed meats focus on healthier reformulations through reducing negative constituents and/or adding health beneficial ingredients. This study explored the influence of base meat product (ham, sausages, beef burger), salt and/or fat content (reduced or not), healthy ingredients (omega 3, vitamin E, none), and price (average or higher than average) on consumers' purchase intention and quality judgement of processed meats. A survey (n=481) using conjoint methodology and cluster analysis was conducted. Price and base meat product were most important for consumers' purchase intention, followed by healthy ingredient and salt and/or fat content. In reformulation, consumers had a preference for ham and sausages over beef burgers, and for reduced salt and/or fat over non reduction. In relation to healthy ingredients, omega 3 was preferred over none, and vitamin E was least preferred. Healthier reformulations improved the perceived healthiness of processed meats. Cluster analyses identified three consumer segments with different product preferences. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Piloting a generic cancer consumer quality index in six European countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wind, Anke; Roeling, Mark Patrick; Heerink, Jana; Sixma, Herman; Presti, Pietro; Lombardo, Claudio; van Harten, Wim

2016-01-01

Background: Accounting for patients' perspective has become increasingly important. Based on the Consumer Quality Index method (founded on Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) a questionnaire was recently developed for Dutch cancer patients. As a next step, this study aimed to

Piloting a generic cancer consumer quality index in six European countries.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wind, A.; Roeling, M.P.; Heerink, J.; Sixma, H.; Presti, P.; Lombardo, C.; Harten, W. van

2016-01-01

Background: Accounting for patients’ perspective has become increasingly important. Based on the Consumer Quality Index method (founded on Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) a questionnaire was recently developed for Dutch cancer patients. As a next step, this study aimed to

Consumer e-health solutions: the cure for Baumol's disease?

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Adalsteinn D

2014-01-01

Baumol's disease is the fact that costs in persistently labour-intensive sectors such as healthcare do not drop, despite increased use of technology. The idea of consumer e-health solutions is seductive, because it provides one option for treating Baumol's disease. However, barriers to the implementation of these solutions exist, and the successful treatment of Baumol's disease with consumer e-health solutions rests on more than their removal. In this introduction, the editor-in-chief adds to the conversation four shifts that are critical to reaping the benefits of consumer e-health solutions: moving the focus from privacy to protection; from mere access to the use of information in decision-making; from the patient-provider dyad to one that includes a full formal and informal care team; and from structural solutions in healthcare to ones designed around the goals we have for our health system.

Consumer Value perceptions of food products from emerging processing technologies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Perrea, Toula; Grunert, Klaus G; Krystallis Krontalis, Athanasios

2015-01-01

Through a qualitative research approach, the present paper aims to explore the range and type of ‘values’ and ‘costs’ in formulating overall Consumer Value (CV) perceptions, in association with two emerging processing technologies that at the outset are neither distinctly positive nor negative...... in the eyes of consumers, in two culturally variant contexts, namely a Western society where technology is often met with skepticism (i.e., the UK); and a non-Western society where technology plays a reassuring role regarding concerns about food safety and quality (i.e., China). Results reveal that the most......-technology counterparts, who ‘allow’ more room for cultural discrepancies to impact on their CV perceptions. Overall, findings support the view that CV perceptions in the context of food produced by means of emerging processing technologies can be successfully analyzed using a multidimensional conceptualization, where CV...

THE ROMANIAN CONSUMER PROFILES IN PROCESSING ONLINE BOOKINGS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lacurezeanu Ramona

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Tourism is considered [WTTC] one of the top three industries as importance in the global economy of the 21st century. With the development of information technology and electronic commerce, the electronic (online booking seems to be a popular way to facilitate access to certain goods and tourism services via the Internet. The literature clearly indicates that online booking vacations, transportation and other services related to tourism package developed and diversified nearly at the same degree with advances made in Information Technology and Communication (ITC. However, “there are wide variations in online usage levels between different countries … Australian’s online usage is 44 % and Spain’s online usage is 14% from all transactions” [online-booking from WCT]. Regarding the consumer profile using 'online booking ', the literature does not provide a generally accepted set of evaluation attributes. In the world is talking today about "Generation Y", in other words about those who have reached maturity in the early millennium. Basically it's about consumers born between 1980 and 1995, hence with ages between 18 and 33 years. In this context, in our exploratory research we conducted a statistical study on students, tomorrow's economic specialists with knowledge in ITC from minimal to advanced levels. The hypothesis of the study are: a. Humans with advanced computer skills using the Internet for booking holidays; b. Humans with low ITC skills choose the classical method of booking holidays by contacting a tour company. The results of our survey showed that the choice of online tools for booking holidays becomes an increasingly used method in Romania but consumers still lack confidence in the online environment. This phenomenon often motivates the consumers to contact a tour company regardless of their ITC skills or travel experience. We also proved that there is no strong connection between people with good ITC

Consumer behaviour towards vegetables: a study on domestic processing of broccoli and carrots by Dutch households.

Science.gov (United States)

Bongoni, R; Verkerk, R; Dekker, M; Steenbekkers, L P A

2015-06-01

Preferences for sensory properties (e.g. taste and texture) are assumed to control cooking behaviour with respect to vegetables. Conditions such as the cooking method, amount of water used and the time-temperature profile determine the nutritional quality (e.g. vitamins and phytochemicals) of cooked vegetables. Information on domestic processing and any underlying motives can be used to inform consumers about cooking vegetables that are equally liked and are nutrient-rich. Two online self-reporting questionnaires were used to identify domestic processing conditions of broccoli and carrots by Dutch households. Questions on various aspects of domestic processing and consumer motives were included. Descriptive data analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were performed for both vegetables, separately, to group consumers with similar motives and behaviour towards vegetables. Approximately 70% of consumers boiled vegetables, 8-9% steamed vegetables, 10-15% stir fried raw vegetables and 8-10% stir fried boiled vegetables. Mainly texture was used as a way to decide the 'doneness' of the vegetables. For both vegetables, three clusters of consumers were identified: texture-orientated, health-orientated, or taste-orientated. The texture-orientated consumers are identified as the most prevalent (56-59%) group in the present study. Statistically significant associations are found between domestic processing conditions and clusters, whereas no such association are found between demographic details and clusters. A wide variation in domestic processing of broccoli and carrots is found in the present study. Mainly sensory properties (i.e. texture and taste) determined the domestic processing conditions. The findings of the present study can be used to optimise cooking to yield vegetables that meet consumer's specific sensory preference and are higher in nutrients, and as well as to communicate with target consumer groups. © 2014 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

Simulation of operational processes in hospital emergency units as lean healthcare tool

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Andreia Macedo Gomes

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Recently, the Lean philosophy is gaining importance due to a competitive environment, which increases the need to reduce costs. Lean practices and tools have been applied to manufacturing, services, supply chain, startups and, the next frontier is healthcare. Most lean techniques can be easily adapted to health organizations. Therefore, this paper intends to summarize Lean practices and tools that are already being applied in health organizations. Among the numerous techniques and lean tools used, this research highlights the Simulation. Therefore, in order to understand the use of Simulation as a Lean Healthcare tool, this research aims to analyze, through the simulation technique, the operational dynamics of the service process of a fictitious hospital emergency unit. Initially a systematic review of the literature on the practices and tools of Lean Healthcare was carried out, in order to identify the main techniques practiced. The research highlighted Simulation as the sixth most cited tool in the literature. Subsequently, a simulation of a service model of an emergency unit was performed through the Arena software. As a main result, it can be highlighted that the attendants of the built model presented a degree of idleness, thus, they are able to atend a greater demand. As a last conclusion, it was verified that the emergency room is the process with longer service time and greater overload.

Caffeine promotes global spatial processing in habitual and non-habitual caffeine consumers

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Grace E. Giles

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Information processing is generally biased toward global cues, often at the expense of local information. Equivocal extant data suggests that arousal states may accentuate either a local or global processing bias, at least partially dependent on the nature of the manipulation, task and stimuli. To further differentiate the conditions responsible for such equivocal results we varied caffeine doses to alter physiological arousal states and measured their effect on tasks requiring the retrieval of local versus global spatial knowledge. In a double-blind, repeated-measures design, non-habitual (Exp. 1; N=36, M=42.5±29 mg/day caffeine and habitual (Exp. 2; N=34, M=579.5±311.5 mg/day caffeine caffeine consumers completed four test sessions corresponding to each of four caffeine doses (0 mg, 100 mg, 200 mg, 400 mg. During each test session, participants consumed a capsule containing one of the three doses of caffeine or placebo, waited sixty minutes, and then completed two spatial tasks, one involving memorizing maps and one spatial descriptions. A spatial statement verification task tested local versus global spatial knowledge by differentially probing memory for proximal versus distal landmark relationships. On the map learning task, results indicated that caffeine enhanced memory for distal (i.e. global compared to proximal (i.e. local comparisons at 100 (marginal, 200, and 400 mg caffeine in non-habitual consumers, and marginally beginning at 200 mg caffeine in habitual consumers. On the spatial descriptions task, caffeine enhanced memory for distal compared to proximal comparisons beginning at 100 mg in non-habitual but not habitual consumers. We thus provide evidence that caffeine-induced physiological arousal amplifies global spatial processing biases, and these effects are at least partially driven by habitual caffeine consumption.

Agent-Based Modeling of Consumer Decision making Process Based on Power Distance and Personality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roozmand, O.; Ghasem-Aghaee, N.; Hofstede, G.J.; Nematbakhsh, M.A.; Baraani, A.; Verwaart, T.

2011-01-01

Simulating consumer decision making processes involves different disciplines such as: sociology, social psychology, marketing, and computer science. In this paper, we propose an agent-based conceptual and computational model of consumer decision-making based on culture, personality and human needs.

The Healthcare Improvement Scotland evidence note rapid review process: providing timely, reliable evidence to inform imperative decisions on healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

McIntosh, Heather M; Calvert, Julie; Macpherson, Karen J; Thompson, Lorna

2016-06-01

Rapid review has become widely adopted by health technology assessment agencies in response to demand for evidence-based information to support imperative decisions. Concern about the credibility of rapid reviews and the reliability of their findings has prompted a call for wider publication of their methods. In publishing this overview of the accredited rapid review process developed by Healthcare Improvement Scotland, we aim to raise awareness of our methods and advance the discourse on best practice. Healthcare Improvement Scotland produces rapid reviews called evidence notes using a process that has achieved external accreditation through the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Key components include a structured approach to topic selection, initial scoping, considered stakeholder involvement, streamlined systematic review, internal quality assurance, external peer review and updating. The process was introduced in 2010 and continues to be refined over time in response to user feedback and operational experience. Decision-makers value the responsiveness of the process and perceive it as being a credible source of unbiased evidence-based information supporting advice for NHSScotland. Many agencies undertaking rapid reviews are striving to balance efficiency with methodological rigour. We agree that there is a need for methodological guidance and that it should be informed by better understanding of current approaches and the consequences of different approaches to streamlining systematic review methods. Greater transparency in the reporting of rapid review methods is essential to enable that to happen.

Using a logical information model-driven design process in healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheong, Yu Chye; Bird, Linda; Tun, Nwe Ni; Brooks, Colleen

2011-01-01

A hybrid standards-based approach has been adopted in Singapore to develop a Logical Information Model (LIM) for healthcare information exchange. The Singapore LIM uses a combination of international standards, including ISO13606-1 (a reference model for electronic health record communication), ISO21090 (healthcare datatypes), SNOMED CT (healthcare terminology) and HL7 v2 (healthcare messaging). This logic-based design approach also incorporates mechanisms for achieving bi-directional semantic interoperability.

Psychometric evaluation of an inpatient consumer survey measuring satisfaction with psychiatric care.

Science.gov (United States)

Ortiz, Glorimar; Schacht, Lucille

2012-01-01

Measurement of consumers' satisfaction in psychiatric settings is important because it has been correlated with improved clinical outcomes and administrative measures of high-quality care. These consumer satisfaction measurements are actively used as performance measures required by the accreditation process and for quality improvement activities. Our objectives were (i) to re-evaluate, through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the structure of an instrument intended to measure consumers' satisfaction with care in psychiatric settings and (ii) to examine and publish the psychometric characteristics, validity and reliability, of the Inpatient Consumer Survey (ICS). To psychometrically test the structure of the ICS, 34 878 survey results, submitted by 90 psychiatric hospitals in 2008, were extracted from the Behavioral Healthcare Performance Measurement System (BHPMS). Basic descriptive item-response and correlation analyses were performed for total surveys. Two datasets were randomly created for analysis. A random sample of 8229 survey results was used for EFA. Another random sample of 8261 consumer survey results was used for CFA. This same sample was used to perform validity and reliability analyses. The item-response analysis showed that the mean range for a disagree/agree five-point scale was 3.10-3.94. Correlation analysis showed a strong relationship between items. Six domains (dignity, rights, environment, empowerment, participation, and outcome) with internal reliabilities between good to moderate (0.87-0.73) were shown to be related to overall care satisfaction. Overall reliability for the instrument was excellent (0.94). Results from CFA provided support for the domains structure of the ICS proposed through EFA. The overall findings from this study provide evidence that the ICS is a reliable measure of consumer satisfaction in psychiatric inpatient settings. The analysis has shown the ICS to provide valid and

From rhetoric to reality: consumer engagement in 16 multi-stakeholder alliances.

Science.gov (United States)

Greene, Jessica; Farley, Diane C; Christianson, Jon B; Scanlon, Dennis P; Shi, Yunfeng

2016-08-01

A key component of the Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) program was engaging consumers in their health and healthcare. We examined the extent to which the alliances embraced 4 areas of consumer engagement: self-management, consumer friendliness of reports of healthcare provider quality, involvement of consumers in alliance governance, and the integration of consumers into quality improvement teams. We used a largely qualitative approach. The evaluation team conducted 1100 in-depth interviews with alliance stakeholders. Two authors reviewed the consumer engagement data for each alliance to assess its level of embrace in the 4 consumer engagement areas. For consumer friendliness of public reporting websites, we also assessed alliance public reports for reading level, technical language, and evaluable displays. Population-level effects were also examined for self-management and public reporting. Consumer engagement was new to most alliances, and few had staff with consumer engagement expertise or existing consumer constituencies. For each area of consumer engagement, some alliances enthusiastically embraced the work, other alliances made a concerted but limited effort to develop programs, and a third group of alliances did the minimum work required. Integrating consumers into governance was the area most often embraced, followed by making public reports consumer friendly. Two alliances strongly embraced both self-management and integrating patients into quality improvement efforts. The AF4Q program did not have greater population level effects from self-management or public reporting than were those observed in a national comparison sample. The AF4Q program sparked a few alliances to develop robust consumer engagement programming, while most alliances tried consumer engagement efforts for the first time and developed an appreciation for integrating consumer perspectives into their work.

[Representatives of consumer associations and the "hôpital, patients, santé et territoires" law: an outline of the issues and twelve proposals].

Science.gov (United States)

Bréchat, Pierre-Henri; Gros, Jeannette; Haon, Michel; Jeunet, Odile; Magnin-Feysot, Christian

2010-01-01

Since 1996, consumers have been able to become involved in the development and implementation of national, regional and local healthcare policies, thereby demonstrating the possibility of establishing a model of democratic institution in healthcare at all levels of decision-making and policy implementation. Despite this 13-year political ambition, it is open to question whether the bill on the reform of the hospital will serve to extend the same dynamic for patients, healthcare institutions and local authorities. On 15 November 2008 and 18 April 2009, fifty-four consumer association representatives in the Franche-Comté region convened to conduct an audit of their commitments with a view to making proposals to adapt the bill aimed at reforming hospitals for the benefit of patients, healthcare and territories (HPST) before the bill is debated in Parliament (National Assembly and Senate). Despite significant investments since 1996 and some notable successes, for these representatives of consumer healthcare associations, the results are distinctly mixed. This is because they sometimes feel instrumentalized in healthcare facilities and believe that their opportunities for participation have declined since 2002. Their view is that this may diminish the power they wield at a time when the economy may be seen as becoming a substitute for public healthcare and participatory democracy. In a context of inequality in healthcare and at a time of economic crisis, this paradigm shift has tended to mobilize representatives of consumer associations. In their view, a strong counter-power is required to ensure fair and equal access to healthcare for all. They suggest twelve proposals concerning organization and professionalism at both territorial and national levels, articulated around the following principle : a representative of a consumers' association can become a regional reference in the management of the agency's regional healthcare system and may be given the means to

Applying the concept of consumer confusion to healthcare: development and validation of a patient confusion model.

Science.gov (United States)

Gebele, Christoph; Tscheulin, Dieter K; Lindenmeier, Jörg; Drevs, Florian; Seemann, Ann-Kathrin

2014-01-01

As patient autonomy and consumer sovereignty increase, information provision is considered essential to decrease information asymmetries between healthcare service providers and patients. However, greater availability of third party information sources can have negative side effects. Patients can be confused by the nature, as well as the amount, of quality information when making choices among competing health care providers. Therefore, the present study explores how information may cause patient confusion and affect the behavioral intention to choose a health care provider. Based on a quota sample of German citizens (n = 198), the present study validates a model of patient confusion in the context of hospital choice. The study results reveal that perceived information overload, perceived similarity, and perceived ambiguity of health information impact the affective and cognitive components of patient confusion. Confused patients have a stronger inclination to hastily narrow down their set of possible decision alternatives. Finally, an empirical analysis reveals that the affective and cognitive components of patient confusion mediate perceived information overload, perceived similarity, and perceived ambiguity of information. © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Stakeholder involvement in the development of national indicator sets: the example of the Dutch Consumer Quality Index.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Delnoij, D.M.J.; Rademakers, J.; Groenewegen, P.

2010-01-01

Issue/problem: In health-care systems based on regulated competition, such as The Netherlands, consumers and health insurers need comparable information about the performance of healthcare providers in terms of effectiveness, safety and patient experiences. Without further coordination, health-care

Consumer attitudes toward healthcare marketing practices: a comparison of hospitals vs. physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, J S; Zallocco, R

1997-01-01

This study investigates consumer attitudes toward the use of marketing practices by the health care industry. The survey results show significant differences in consumers' attitude toward the use and effects of various marketing practices by the two types of provider (hospital and physician). Theoretical and empirical implications are discussed.

Consumer preferences in respect of processed fruit and berry products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gribova N. А.

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Nowadays fruits, berries and processed products are an indispensable component of the human diet throughout the year. Frozen fruits and berries are widely distributed on the Russian market and are part of the food industry worldwide. Frozen products become popular among consumers for home use due to the minimal cooking time. Consumer evaluation is the most relevant and significant for identifying preferences and evaluating quality products in Russian markets. In this regard, a qualitative analysis of marketing research has been carried out and preferences have been identified according to which criteria consumers buy quick-frozen products. Some methods of sensory analysis have been used (consumer evaluation, the profile method, and pairwise comparison method. The dominant factor in choosing a brand of quick-frozen products is the combination of an acceptable price and quality, and to a lesser extent, the recommendation of acquaintances, the type of packaging and advertising of products. The research is aimed at identifying organoleptic properties that affect the consumer evaluation of the quality of frozen, thawed grapes in comparison with the reference product. Fruits and berries freeze for hours and even minutes, but are stored for a long time. The problem arises in rehydration – the return of the product to its original state, close to fresh natural raw material. The main goal of the research is aimed at identifying some rational method of defrosting, corresponding to organoleptic and consumer properties. With the help of organoleptic evaluation the best ways of defrosting have been identified – the microwave oven and the freezer. These methods allow obtaining thawed foods with the finest quality and identical to natural raw materials. The storage time after defrosting has been revealed: in the microwave oven – 60 min; at the room temperature – 80 min; in the coldstore – 100 min. The obtained information can be useful for consumers

Consumer product branding strategy and the marketing of physicians' services.

Science.gov (United States)

Friedrich, H; Witt, J

1995-01-01

Hospitals have traditionally maintained physician referral programs as a means of attracting physicians to their network of affiliated providers. The advent of managed care and impending healthcare reform has altered the relationship of hospitals and physicians. An exploratory study of marketing approaches used by twelve healthcare organizations representing twenty-five hospitals in a large city was conducted. Strategies encountered in the study ranged from practice acquisition to practice promotion. This study suggests that healthcare providers might adopt consumer product branding strategies to secure market-share, build brand equity, and improve profitability.

The metaphor of nurse as guest with ethical implications for nursing and healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Milton, Constance L

2005-10-01

Current healthcare advertising and customer relations terminology acknowledge that healthcare providers, including nurses, are to act as hosts for persons who enter into healthcare agencies and institutions. Indeed, much has been written aligning nursing and other healthcare services with consumer-oriented roles of the hospitality service industry commonly associated with hotels and restaurants. From a human becoming perspective, this article discusses possible ethical, administrative, and practice implications of nurses acting as guests entering into the lives of those we serve.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

OpenAIRE

Ilie BUDICA; Silvia PUIU; Bogdan Andrei BUDICA

2010-01-01

The study of consumers helps firms and organizations improve their marketing strategies by understanding issues such as: the psychology of how consumers think, feel, reason, and select between different alternatives; the psychology of how the consumer is influenced by his or her environment; the behavior of consumers while shopping or making other marketing decisions; limitations in consumer knowledge or information processing abilities influence decisions and marke...

Demand for healthcare in India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brijesh C. Purohit

2013-03-01

Full Text Available In a developing country like India, allocation of scarce fiscal resources has to be based on a clear understanding of how investments in the heath sector are going to affect demand. Three aspects like overall healthcare demand, consumer decisions to use public and/or private care and role of price/quality influencing poor/rich consumer’s decisions are critical to assessing the equity implications of alternative policies. Our paper addresses these aspects through examining the pattern of healthcare demand in India. Data from the National Family Health Survey are used to model the healthcare choices that individuals make. We consider what these behavioral characteristics imply for public policy. This analysis aims to study disparities between rural and urban areas from all throughout India to five Indian states representing three levels of per capita incomes (all-India average, rich and poor. Results evidence that healthcare demand both in rural and urban areas is a commodity emerging as an essential need. Choices between public or private provider are guided by income and quality variables mainly with regard to public healthcare denoting thus a situation of very limited alternatives in terms of availing private providers. These results emphasize that existing public healthcare facilities do not serve the objective of providing care to the poor in a satisfactory manner in rural areas. Thus, any financing strategy to improve health system and reduce disparities across rich-poor states and rural-urban areas should also take into account not only overcoming inadequacy but also inefficiency in allocation and utilization of healthcare inputs.

Improve processes on healthcare: current issues and future trends.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jason C H; Dolan, Matt; Lin, Binshan

2004-01-01

Information Technology (IT) is a critical resource for improving today's business competitiveness. However, many healthcare providers do not proactively manage or improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their services with IT. Survival in a competitive business environment demands continuous improvements in quality and service, while rigorously maintaining core values. Electronic commerce continues its development, gaining ground as the preferred means of business transactions. Embracing e-healthcare and treating IT as a strategic tool to improve patient safety and the quality of care enables healthcare professionals to benefit from technology formerly used only for management purposes. Numerous improvement initiatives, introduced by both the federal government and the private sector, seek to better the status quo in IT. This paper examines the current IT climate using an enhanced "Built to Last" model, and comments on future IT strategies within the healthcare industry.

Whose health service is it anyway? Community values in healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Mooney, Gavin H; Blackwell, Scott H

2004-01-19

There is growing interest in involving the public in decisions about healthcare provision. Citizens' juries, whose members were randomly selected from the electoral roll (rather than derived from consumer interest groups), have been trialled in Western Australia. When asked to take a community focus, presented with balanced evidence and given time to discuss and deliberate, the juries were able to identify and debate issues of broad principle, such as equity. Such issues seem to be best handled by referring to community values. Any public consultation process should provide sufficient information, opportunity for reflection and deliberation, and recognition of the scarcity of resources.

Visualizing desirable patient healthcare experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Sandra S; Kim, Hyung T; Chen, Jie; An, Lingling

2010-01-01

High healthcare cost has drawn much attention and healthcare service providers (HSPs) are expected to deliver high-quality and consistent care. Therefore, an intimate understanding of the most desirable experience from a patient's and/or family's perspective as well as effective mapping and communication of such findings should facilitate HSPs' efforts in attaining sustainable competitive advantage in an increasingly discerning environment. This study describes (a) the critical quality attributes (CQAs) of the experience desired by patients and (b) the application of two visualization tools that are relatively new to the healthcare sector, namely the "spider-web diagram" and "promotion and detraction matrix." The visualization tools are tested with primary data collected from telephone surveys of 1,800 patients who had received care during calendar year 2005 at 6 of 61 hospitals within St. Louis, Missouri-based, Ascension Health. Five CQAs were found by factor analysis. The spider-web diagram illustrates that communication and empowerment and compassionate and respectful care are the most important CQAs, and accordingly, the promotion and detraction matrix shows those attributes that have the greatest effect for creating promoters, preventing detractors, and improving consumer's likelihood to recommend the healthcare provider.

Private Sector in Indian Healthcare Delivery: Consumer Perspective and Government Policies to promote private Sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Utkarsh Shah, Ragini Mohanty

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This research paper attempts to collate literature from various sources, in an attempt to answer three pertinent questions related to healthcare in India. Firstly, what is it meant by ‘private sector’ in healthcare delivery system of India, secondly how has the private sector evolved over the decades and what has been the role of the government in propelling the growth. Finally, the paper tries to highlight some of the factors that have promoted the growth of private sector in India with specific reference to quality of medical care. The paper explicitly indicates that the deficiencies in the public health delivery system of India, was the key to growth of private infrastructure in healthcare.The shift of hospital industry for ‘welfare orientation’ to ‘business orientation’ was marked by the advent of corporate hospitals, supported by various policy level initiatives made by the government. Today, there are over 20 international healthcare brands in India with several corporate hospitals.However, a large section of the ‘private healthcare delivery segment’ is scattered and quality of medical care continues to remain a matter of concern. This paper tracks the various government initiatives to promote private investment in healthcare and attempts to explore the reasons for preference of the private sector. Surprisingly, in contrast to contemporary belief, quality of medical care doesn’t seem to be the leading cause for preference of the private sector. Except for a few select corporate and trust hospitals, quality of medical care in private sector seems to be poor and at times compromised.

Consumer-directed health plans: what happened?

Science.gov (United States)

Goldsmith, Jeff

2007-08-01

CDHPs can stabilize growth in health costs, but the health plan-subscriber relationship should be more transparent. CFOs should ensure that increased cost exposure in CDHPs is paired with broad, deep disease management and employee assistance support. Hospitals should plan for the likelihood that, one way or another, consumers will be paying more of their healthcare bill.

Measuring process performance within healthcare logistics - a decision tool for selecting measuring technologies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Feibert, Diana Cordes; Jacobsen, Peter

2015-01-01

Performance measurement can support the organization in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of logistical healthcare processes. Selecting the most suitable technologies is important to ensure data validity. A case study of the hospital cleaning process at a public Danish hospital...... was conducted. Monitoring tasks and ascertaining quality of work is difficult in such a process. Based on principal-agent theory, a set of decision indicator has been developed, and a decision framework for assessing technologies to enable performance measurement has been proposed....

Innovation through developing consumers communities. Part II: Digitalizing the innovation processes

Science.gov (United States)

Avasilcai, S.; Galateanu (Avram, E.

2015-11-01

The current research recognises the concept of innovation as the main driver for organisational growth and profitability. The companies seek to develop new ways to engage consumers and customers into co - creation value through the product design, development and distribution processes. However the main concern is manifested for new and creative ways of customization products based on consumers’ requirements and needs. Thus the need for innovative virtual instruments arose as the demand from social communities for personalised products or services increased. Basically companies should develop own innovative platforms, where consumers can participate, with ideas, concepts or other relevant contributions, and interact with designers or engineers for product development. This paper aims to present the most important features of platform development within BMW Group as a concept and as innovative instrument. From this point of view it is important to enhance past experiences of the company in the field of co - creation projects. There will be highlighted the dual consumers’ character as co - creator and co - evaluator based on their involvement in the proposed and developed projects and platform structure. The significant impact on platform functioning it has the diversity of company's concerns for Research & Development and innovation activities. From this point of view there will be assessed the platform structure, the main proposed themes and the evaluation process. The main outcome is to highlight the significance of platform development as innovative tool for consumers’ communities’ enhancement. Based on the analysis of “BMW Co-Creation Lab”, there will be revealed the main consumers concerns in terms of safety, comfort and appearance of the products. Thus it is important to understand the evaluation process of gathered ideas and intellectual property policy. The importance of platform development and implementation will be highlighted by company

Improving healthcare consumer effectiveness: An Animated, Self-serve, Web-based Research Tool (ANSWER for people with early rheumatoid arthritis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cox Susan

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background People with rheumatoid arthritis (RA should use DMARDs (disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs within the first three months of symptoms in order to prevent irreversible joint damage. However, recent studies report the delay in DMARD use ranges from 6.5 months to 11.5 months in Canada. While most health service delivery interventions are designed to improve the family physician's ability to refer to a rheumatologist and prescribe treatments, relatively little has been done to improve the delivery of credible, relevant, and user-friendly information for individuals to make treatment decisions. To address this care gap, the Animated, Self-serve, Web-based Research Tool (ANSWER will be developed and evaluated to assist people in making decisions about the use of methotrexate, a type of DMARD. The objectives of this project are: 1 to develop ANSWER for people with early RA; and 2 to assess the extent to which ANSWER reduces people's decisional conflict about the use of methotrexate, improves their knowledge about RA, and improves their skills of being 'effective healthcare consumers'. Methods/design Consistent with the International Patient Decision Aid Standards, the development process of ANSWER will involve: 1. creating a storyline and scripts based on the best evidence on the use of methotrexate and other management options in RA, and the contextual factors that affect a patient's decision to use a treatment as found in ERAHSE; 2. using an interactive design methodology to create, test, analyze and refine the ANSWER prototype; 3. testing the content and user interface with health professionals and patients; and 4. conducting a pilot study with 51 patients, who are diagnosed with RA in the past 12 months, to assess the extent to which ANSWER improves the quality of their decisions, knowledge and skills in being effective consumers. Discussion We envision that the ANSWER will help accelerate the dissemination of knowledge and

Improving healthcare consumer effectiveness: an Animated, Self-serve, Web-based Research Tool (ANSWER) for people with early rheumatoid arthritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Linda C; Adam, Paul; Townsend, Anne F; Stacey, Dawn; Lacaille, Diane; Cox, Susan; McGowan, Jessie; Tugwell, Peter; Sinclair, Gerri; Ho, Kendall; Backman, Catherine L

2009-08-20

People with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) should use DMARDs (disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs) within the first three months of symptoms in order to prevent irreversible joint damage. However, recent studies report the delay in DMARD use ranges from 6.5 months to 11.5 months in Canada. While most health service delivery interventions are designed to improve the family physician's ability to refer to a rheumatologist and prescribe treatments, relatively little has been done to improve the delivery of credible, relevant, and user-friendly information for individuals to make treatment decisions. To address this care gap, the Animated, Self-serve, Web-based Research Tool (ANSWER) will be developed and evaluated to assist people in making decisions about the use of methotrexate, a type of DMARD. The objectives of this project are: 1) to develop ANSWER for people with early RA; and 2) to assess the extent to which ANSWER reduces people's decisional conflict about the use of methotrexate, improves their knowledge about RA, and improves their skills of being 'effective healthcare consumers'. Consistent with the International Patient Decision Aid Standards, the development process of ANSWER will involve: 1.) creating a storyline and scripts based on the best evidence on the use of methotrexate and other management options in RA, and the contextual factors that affect a patient's decision to use a treatment as found in ERAHSE; 2.) using an interactive design methodology to create, test, analyze and refine the ANSWER prototype; 3.) testing the content and user interface with health professionals and patients; and 4.) conducting a pilot study with 51 patients, who are diagnosed with RA in the past 12 months, to assess the extent to which ANSWER improves the quality of their decisions, knowledge and skills in being effective consumers. We envision that the ANSWER will help accelerate the dissemination of knowledge and skills necessary for people with early RA to make informed

Perception of oyster-based products by French consumers. The effect of processing and role of social representations.

Science.gov (United States)

Debucquet, Gervaise; Cornet, Josiane; Adam, Isabelle; Cardinal, Mireille

2012-12-01

The search for new markets in the seafood sector, associated with the question of the continuity of raw oyster consumption over generations can be an opportunity for processors to extend their ranges with oyster-based products. The twofold aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of processing and social representation on perception of oyster-based products by French consumers and to identify the best means of development in order to avoid possible failure in the market. Five products with different degrees of processing (cooked oysters in a half-shell, hot preparation for toast, potted oyster, oyster butter and oyster-based soup) were presented within focus groups and consumer tests, at home and in canteens with the staff of several companies in order to reach consumers with different ages and professional activities. The results showed that social representation had a strong impact and that behaviours were contrasted according to the initial profile of the consumer (traditional raw oyster consumers or non-consumers) and their age distribution (younger and older people). The degree of processing has to be adapted to each segment. It is suggested to develop early exposure to influence the food choices and preferences of the youngest consumers on a long-term basis. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simulation analysis of resource flexibility on healthcare processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Simwita, Yusta W; Helgheim, Berit I

2016-01-01

This paper uses discrete event simulation to explore the best resource flexibility scenario and examine the effect of implementing resource flexibility on different stages of patient treatment process. Specifically we investigate the effect of resource flexibility on patient waiting time and throughput in an orthopedic care process. We further seek to explore on how implementation of resource flexibility on patient treatment processes affects patient access to healthcare services. We focus on two resources, namely, orthopedic surgeon and operating room. The observational approach was used to collect process data. The developed model was validated by comparing the simulation output with actual patient data collected from the studied orthopedic care process. We developed different scenarios to identify the best resource flexibility scenario and explore the effect of resource flexibility on patient waiting time, throughput, and future changes in demand. The developed scenarios focused on creating flexibility on service capacity of this care process by altering the amount of additional human resource capacity at different stages of patient care process and extending the use of operating room capacity. The study found that resource flexibility can improve responsiveness to patient demand in the treatment process. Testing different scenarios showed that the introduction of resource flexibility reduces patient waiting time and improves throughput. The simulation results show that patient access to health services can be improved by implementing resource flexibility at different stages of the patient treatment process. This study contributes to the current health care literature by explaining how implementing resource flexibility at different stages of patient care processes can improve ability to respond to increasing patients demands. This study was limited to a single patient process; studies focusing on additional processes are recommended.

Using multilevel modelling to assess case-mix adjusters in consumers experience surveys in health care

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Damman, O.C.; Stubbe, J.H.; Hendriks, M.; Arah, O.A.; Spreeuwenberg, P.; Delnoij, D.M.J.; Groenewegen, P.P.

2009-01-01

Background: Ratings on the quality of healthcare from the consumer’s perspective need to be adjusted for consumer characteristics to ensure fair and accurate comparisons between healthcare providers or health plans. Although multilevel analysis is already considered an appropriate method for

Using multilevel modeling to assess case-mix adjusters in consumer experience surveys in health care.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Damman, O.C.; Stubbe, J.H.; Hendriks, M.; Arah, O.A.; Spreeuwenberg, P.; Delnoij, D.M.J.; Groenewegen, P.P.

2009-01-01

Background: Ratings on the quality of healthcare from the consumer’s perspective need to be adjusted for consumer characteristics to ensure fair and accurate comparisons between healthcare providers or health plans. Although multilevel analysis is already considered an appropriate method for

Six Sigma in healthcare delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Liberatore, Matthew J

2013-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a comprehensive review and assessment of the extant Six Sigma healthcare literature, focusing on: application, process changes initiated and outcomes, including improvements in process metrics, cost and revenue. Data were obtained from an extensive literature search. Healthcare Six Sigma applications were categorized by functional area and department, key process metric, cost savings and revenue generation (if any) and other key implementation characteristics. Several inpatient care areas have seen most applications, including admission, discharge, medication administration, operating room (OR), cardiac and intensive care. About 42.1 percent of the applications have error rate as their driving metric, with the remainder focusing on process time (38 percent) and productivity (18.9 percent). While 67 percent had initial improvement in the key process metric, only 10 percent reported sustained improvement. Only 28 percent reported cost savings and 8 percent offered revenue enhancement. These results do not favorably assess Six Sigma's overall effectiveness and the value it offers healthcare. Results are based on reported applications. Future research can include directly surveying healthcare organizations to provide additional data for assessment. Future application should emphasize obtaining improvements that lead to significant and sustainable value. Healthcare staff can use the results to target promising areas. This article comprehensively assesses Six Sigma healthcare applications and impact.

Uncovering patterns of technology use in consumer health informatics

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, Man; Conrad, Jillian; Hon, Shirley D.; Cheng, Christine; Franklin, Jeremy D.; Tang, Philip

2014-01-01

Internet usage and accessibility has grown at a staggering rate, influencing technology use for healthcare purposes. The amount of health information technology (Health IT) available through the Internet is immeasurable and growing daily. Health IT is now seen as a fundamental aspect of patient care as it stimulates patient engagement and encourages personal health management. It is increasingly important to understand consumer health IT patterns including who is using specific technologies, how technologies are accessed, factors associated with use, and perceived benefits. To fully uncover consumer patterns it is imperative to recognize common barriers and which groups they disproportionately affect. Finally, exploring future demand and predictions will expose significant opportunities for health IT. The most frequently used health information technologies by consumers are gathering information online, mobile health (mHealth) technologies, and personal health records (PHRs). Gathering health information online is the favored pathway for healthcare consumers as it is used by more consumers and more frequently than any other technology. In regard to mHealth technologies, minority Americans, compared with White Americans utilize social media, mobile Internet, and mobile applications more frequently. Consumers believe PHRs are the most beneficial health IT. PHR usage is increasing rapidly due to PHR integration with provider health systems and health insurance plans. Key issues that have to be explicitly addressed in health IT are privacy and security concerns, health literacy, unawareness, and usability. Privacy and security concerns are rated the number one reason for the slow rate of health IT adoption. PMID:24904713

Attitudes towards Social Networking and Sharing Behaviors among Consumers of Direct-to-Consumer Personal Genomics.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sandra Soo-Jin; Vernez, Simone L; Ormond, K E; Granovetter, Mark

2013-10-14

Little is known about how consumers of direct-to-consumer personal genetic services share personal genetic risk information. In an age of ubiquitous online networking and rapid development of social networking tools, understanding how consumers share personal genetic risk assessments is critical in the development of appropriate and effective policies. This exploratory study investigates how consumers share personal genetic information and attitudes towards social networking behaviors. Adult participants aged 23 to 72 years old who purchased direct-to-consumer genetic testing from a personal genomics company were administered a web-based survey regarding their sharing activities and social networking behaviors related to their personal genetic test results. 80 participants completed the survey; of those, 45% shared results on Facebook and 50.9% reported meeting or reconnecting with more than 10 other individuals through the sharing of their personal genetic information. For help interpreting test results, 70.4% turned to Internet websites and online sources, compared to 22.7% who consulted their healthcare providers. Amongst participants, 51.8% reported that they believe the privacy of their personal genetic information would be breached in the future. Consumers actively utilize online social networking tools to help them share and interpret their personal genetic information. These findings suggest a need for careful consideration of policy recommendations in light of the current ambiguity of regulation and oversight of consumer initiated sharing activities.

[Innovation in healthcare processes and patient safety using clinical simulation].

Science.gov (United States)

Rojo, E; Maestre, J M; Díaz-Mendi, A R; Ansorena, L; Del Moral, I

2016-01-01

Many excellent ideas are never implemented or generalised by healthcare organisations. There are two related paradigms: thinking that individuals primarily change through accumulating knowledge, and believing that the dissemination of that knowledge within the organisation is the key element to facilitate change. As an alternative, a description and evaluation of a simulation-based inter-professional team training program conducted in a Regional Health Service to promote and facilitate change is presented. The Department of Continuing Education completed the needs assessment using the proposals presented by clinical units and management. Skills and behaviors that could be learned using simulation were selected, and all personnel from the units participating were included. Experiential learning principles based on clinical simulation and debriefing, were used for the instructional design. The Kirkpatrick model was used to evaluate the program. Objectives included: a) decision-making and teamwork skills training in high prevalence diseases with a high rate of preventable complications; b) care processes reorganisation to improve efficiency, while maintaining patient safety; and, c) implementation of new complex techniques with a long learning curve, and high preventable complications rate. Thirty clinical units organised 39 training programs in the 3 public hospitals, and primary care of the Regional Health Service during 2013-2014. Over 1,559 healthcare professionals participated, including nursing assistants, nurses and physicians. Simulation in healthcare to train inter-professional teams can promote and facilitate change in patient care, and organisational re-engineering. Copyright © 2016 SECA. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Changing effects of direct-to-consumer broadcast drug advertising information sources on prescription drug requests.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Annisa Lai

2009-06-01

This study tracks the changes of the effects of 4 information sources for direct-to-consumer drug advertising on patients' requests for prescription drugs from physicians since the inception of the "Guidance for Industry about Consumer-directed Broadcast Advertisements." The Guidance advises pharmaceuticals to use four information sources for consumers to seek further information to supplement broadcast drug advertisements: small-print information, the Internet, a toll-free number, and health-care providers (nurses, doctors, and pharmacists). Logistic models were created by using survey data collected by the Food and Drug Administration in 1999 and 2002. Results show that throughout the years, health-care providers remain the most used and strongest means associated with patients' direct requests for nonspecific and specific prescription drugs from doctors. The small-print information source gains power and changes from an indirect means associated with patients' discussing drugs with health-care providers to a direct means associated with patients' asking about nonspecific and specific drugs from their doctors. The Internet is not directly related to drug requests, but the effect of its association with patients seeking information from health-care providers grew 11-fold over the course of the study. The toll-free number lost its power altogether for both direct request for a prescription drug and further discussion with health-care providers. Patient demographics will be considered for specific policy implications.

M-health: the union of technology and healthcare regulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Silberman, Mark J; Clark, Lisa

2012-01-01

As healthcare continues to become technology-based, so too does the potential for increased governmental regulation of mobile health (m-health). "M-health" is a broad term that applies to hardware or software that is mobile and delivers healthcare wirelessly. M-health includes consumer- and provider-oriented medical applications (apps), such as weight monitoring apps, and medical devices, such as glucose meters, that send health information back to the provider. It is important for anyone entering the field of mobile healthcare, whether developing apps, providing remote medical care, or simply investing in the future of healthcare technology, to understand the impact governmental oversight can have on this industry. Understanding the different roles to be played by the federal and state governments can be the difference between success and frustration.

Consumer behavior research

OpenAIRE

Hašková, Lucie

2010-01-01

The major part of this work is a consumer behavior research in process of buying christmas presents. The goal of this work is to describe a consumer behavior of Prague's customers in process of buying christmas presents, also describe a a consumer behavior of different age and social groups, as well as the difference between men and women.

Big Data and Analytics in Healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, S S-L; Gao, G; Koch, S

2015-01-01

This editorial is part of the Focus Theme of Methods of Information in Medicine on "Big Data and Analytics in Healthcare". The amount of data being generated in the healthcare industry is growing at a rapid rate. This has generated immense interest in leveraging the availability of healthcare data (and "big data") to improve health outcomes and reduce costs. However, the nature of healthcare data, and especially big data, presents unique challenges in processing and analyzing big data in healthcare. This Focus Theme aims to disseminate some novel approaches to address these challenges. More specifically, approaches ranging from efficient methods of processing large clinical data to predictive models that could generate better predictions from healthcare data are presented.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilie BUDICA

2010-03-01

Full Text Available The study of consumers helps firms and organizations improve their marketing strategies by understanding issues such as: the psychology of how consumers think, feel, reason, and select between different alternatives; the psychology of how the consumer is influenced by his or her environment; the behavior of consumers while shopping or making other marketing decisions; limitations in consumer knowledge or information processing abilities influence decisions and marketing outcome; how consumer motivation and decision strategies differ between products that differ in their level of importance or interest that they entail for the consumer; and how marketers can adapt and improve their marketing campaigns and marketing strategies to more effectively reach the consumer.

Healthcare Strategic Planning as Part of National and Regional Development in the Israeli Galilee: A Case Study of the Planning Process.

Science.gov (United States)

Peled, Ronit; Schenirer, Jerry

2009-10-01

This article describes a systematic process of geographic and strategic planning for healthcare services as a part of a regional development plan in the Israeli Galilee. The planning process consisted of three stages: (a) assessment of needs, demand and existing resources; (b) prioritisation of initiatives; and (c) scheduling of theoretical priorities. For many years the region has suffered from inequities and inequalities regarding the availability and accessibility of a regional healthcare system, resulting in high mortality and morbidity rates and low quality of life. The aim of the healthcare strategic plan was to suggest initiatives and actions to be taken in order to improve healthcare provision and the health and wellbeing of local residents.

Identifying Health Consumers' eHealth Literacy to Decrease Disparities in Accessing eHealth Information.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Hyejin; Cormier, Eileen; Gordon, Glenna; Baeg, Jung Hoon

2016-02-01

The increasing amount of health information available on the Internet highlights the importance of eHealth literacy skills for health consumers. Low eHealth literacy results in disparities in health consumers' ability to access and use eHealth information. The purpose of this study was to assess the perceived eHealth literacy of a general health consumer population so that healthcare professionals can effectively address skills gaps in health consumers' ability to access and use high-quality online health information. Participants were recruited from three public library branches in a Northeast Florida community. The eHealth Literacy Scale was used. The majority of participants (n = 108) reported they knew how and where to find health information and how to use it to make health decisions; knowledge of what health resources were available and confidence in the ability to distinguish high- from low-quality information were considerably less. The findings suggest the need for eHealth education and support to health consumers from healthcare professionals, in particular, how to access and evaluate the quality of health information.

Consumer acceptability of differently processed bacons using raw materials from entire males

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lunde, Kathrine; Skuterud, Ellen; Lindahl, Gunilla Karin

2013-01-01

The aim of the present work was to investigate consumers' acceptability of bacons produced from entire males. Three different processing technologies (brine injection, dry salting with and without fermentation) were used. The raw materials had skatole levels from 0.04 to 0.43 mg/kg. The consumers...... showed little variation in liking scores for bacon produced with the different technologies. Assessors trained for recognizing skatole flavour, nevertheless identified the odour and flavour of skatole for more samples and technologies than the consumers did. However, trained sensory panellists could...... not identify taint in all dry salted bacons fermented with Staphylococcus xylosus even at a skatole level of 0.43 mg/kg fat. Sufficient liquid smoke in brine injected bacons masked the skatole flavour of bacons having 0.43 mg skatole/kg fat. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved....

Factors Influencing Healthcare Service Quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Mohammad Mosadeghrad

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Background The main purpose of this study was to identify factors that influence healthcare quality in the Iranian context. Methods Exploratory in-depth individual and focus group interviews were conducted with 222 healthcare stakeholders including healthcare providers, managers, policy-makers, and payers to identify factors affecting the quality of healthcare services provided in Iranian healthcare organisations. Results Quality in healthcare is a production of cooperation between the patient and the healthcare provider in a supportive environment. Personal factors of the provider and the patient, and factors pertaining to the healthcare organisation, healthcare system, and the broader environment affect healthcare service quality. Healthcare quality can be improved by supportive visionary leadership, proper planning, education and training, availability of resources, effective management of resources, employees and processes, and collaboration and cooperation among providers. Conclusion This article contributes to healthcare theory and practice by developing a conceptual framework that provides policy-makers and managers a practical understanding of factors that affect healthcare service quality.

Introduction to the First International Workshop on Process-Oriented Information Systems in Healthcare (ProHealth 2007)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reichert, Manfred; Peleg, Mor; Lenz, Richard

2007-01-01

The proHealth’07 workshop is held in Brisbane in conjunction with the fifth international conference on business process management. ProHealth’07 elaborates both the potential and the limitations of IT support for healthcare processes. It further provides a forum wherein challenges, paradigms, and

Specification, Verification and Optimisation of Business Processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Herbert, Luke Thomas

is extended with stochastic branching, message passing and reward annotations which allow for the modelling of resources consumed during the execution of a business process. Further, it is shown how this structure can be used to formalise the established business process modelling language Business Process...... fault tree analysis and the automated optimisation of business processes by means of an evolutionary algorithm. This work is motivated by problems that stem from the healthcare sector, and examples encountered in this field are used to illustrate these developments....

Attitudes towards Social Networking and Sharing Behaviors among Consumers of Direct-to-Consumer Personal Genomics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Granovetter

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Little is known about how consumers of direct-to-consumer personal genetic services share personal genetic risk information. In an age of ubiquitous online networking and rapid development of social networking tools, understanding how consumers share personal genetic risk assessments is critical in the development of appropriate and effective policies. This exploratory study investigates how consumers share personal genetic information and attitudes towards social networking behaviors. Methods: Adult participants aged 23 to 72 years old who purchased direct-to-consumer genetic testing from a personal genomics company were administered a web-based survey regarding their sharing activities and social networking behaviors related to their personal genetic test results. Results: 80 participants completed the survey; of those, 45% shared results on Facebook and 50.9% reported meeting or reconnecting with more than 10 other individuals through the sharing of their personal genetic information. For help interpreting test results, 70.4% turned to Internet websites and online sources, compared to 22.7% who consulted their healthcare providers. Amongst participants, 51.8% reported that they believe the privacy of their personal genetic information would be breached in the future. Conclusion: Consumers actively utilize online social networking tools to help them share and interpret their personal genetic information. These findings suggest a need for careful consideration of policy recommendations in light of the current ambiguity of regulation and oversight of consumer initiated sharing activities.

Understanding consumers' multichannel choices across the different stages of the buying process

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gensler, Sonja; Verhoef, Peter C.; Boehm, Martin

2012-01-01

This article provides a more integrative approach toward channel choice than previous research by considering all stages of the buying process (search, purchase, and after-sales), and by taking channel attributes, experience, and spillover effects into account when examining consumers' channel

Environmentally Friendly Consumer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reijonen, Satu

2011-01-01

on the green consumer: cultural determinism, psycho-socio-demographic determinism and calculative determinism. An explanation of the green consumer in these terms, however, loses sight of the emergence and processuality of consumer behaviour. Process oriented constructionism, by contrast, is useful to recover...... these important aspects. This paper suggests a research agenda focused on socio-material processes and situated actions that lead to the emergence and stabilization of a particular type of consumer behaviour.......Several attempts have been made by academics in the past to explain the so-called ‘environmentally conscious’ consumer. These explanations share an important feature, namely determinism. This paper identifies three different sources of determinism that are distinguished in recent literature...

Efficiency and hospital effectiveness in improving Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems ratings.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Amin, Mona; Makarem, Suzanne C; Rosko, Michael

2016-01-01

Efficiency has emerged as a central goal to the operations of health care organizations. There are two competing perspectives on the relationship between efficiency and organizational performance. Some argue that organizational slack is a waste and that efficiency contributes to organizational performance, whereas others maintain that slack acts as a buffer, allowing organizations to adapt to environmental demands and contributing to organizational performance. As value-based purchasing becomes more prevalent, health care organizations are incented to become more efficient and, at the same time, improve their patients' experiences and outcomes. Unused slack resources might facilitate the timely implementation of these improvements. Building on previous research on organizational slack and inertia, we test whether efficiency and other organizational factors predict organizational effectiveness in improving Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) ratings. We rely on data from the American Hospital Association and HCAHPS. We estimate hospital cost-efficiency by Stochastic Frontier Analysis and use regression analysis to determine whether efficiency, competition, hospital size, and other organizational factors are significant predictors of hospital effectiveness. Our findings indicate that efficiency and hospital size have a significant negative association with organizational ability to improve HCAHPS ratings. Although achieving organizational efficiency is necessary for health care organizations, given the changes that are currently occurring in the U.S. health care system, it is important for health care managers to maintain a certain level of slack to respond to environmental demands and have the resources needed to improve their performance.

Marketing strategies - consumers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campbell, C.

1985-01-01

As Australia's largest consumer organisation, the Australian Consumers' Association (ACA) has a vital role in providing information, so consumers can make an informed choice, as well as participating in formulation of standards to increase the quality of products, including foods. The consumer movement is marketing the process of irradiation and will continue to give consumers information that allows them to make an informed choice

Decision-making process of Kala Azar care: results from a qualitative study carried out in disease endemic areas of Nepal.

Science.gov (United States)

Adhikari, Shiva Raj; Supakankunti, Siripen; Khan, M Mahmud

2013-07-12

Analysis of consumer decision making in the health sector is a complex process of comparing feasible alternatives and evaluating the levels of satisfaction associated with the relevant options. This paper makes an attempt to understand how and why consumers make specific decisions, what motivates them to adopt a specific health intervention, and what features they find attractive in each of the options. The study used a descriptive-explanatory design to analyze the factors determining the choices of healthcare providers. Information was collected through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. The results suggest that the decision making related to seeking healthcare for Kala Azar (KA) treatment is a complex, interactive process. Patients and family members follow a well-defined road map for decision making. The process of decision making starts from the recognition of healthcare needs and is then modified by a number of other factors, such as indigenous knowledge, healthcare alternatives, and available resources. Household and individual characteristics also play important roles in facilitating the process of decision making. The results from the group discussions and in-depth interviews are consistent with the idea that KA patients and family members follow the rational approach of weighing the costs against the benefits of using specific types of medical care. The process of decision making related to seeking healthcare follows a complex set of steps and many of the potential factors affect the decision making in a non-linear fashion. Our analysis suggests that it is possible to derive a generalized road map of the decision-making process starting from the recognition of healthcare needs, and then modifying it to show the influences of indigenous knowledge, healthcare alternatives, and available resources.

Health-care decision-making processes in Latin America: problems and prospects for the use of economic evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Iglesias, Cynthia P; Drummond, Michael F; Rovira, Joan

2005-01-01

The use of economic evaluation studies (EE) in the decision-making process within the health-care system of nine Latin American (LA) and three European countries was investigated. The aim was to identify the opportunities, obstacles, and changes needed to facilitate the introduction of EE as a formal tool in health-care decision-making processes in LA. A comparative study was conducted based on existing literature and information provided through a questionnaire applied to decision makers in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Portugal Spain, United Kingdom, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Systematic electronic searches of HEED, NHS EED, and LILACS were conducted to identify published economic evaluation studies in LA from 1982 onward. There is relatively little evidence of the conduct and use of EE within the health care systems in LA. Electronic searches retrieved 554 records; however, only 93 were EE. In the nine LA participating countries, broad allocation of health-care resources is primarily based on political criteria, historical records, geographical areas, and specific groups of patients and diseases. Public-health provision and inclusion of services in health-insurance package are responsibilities of the Ministry of Health. Decisions regarding the purchase of medicines are primarily made through public tenders, and mainly based on differences in clinical efficacy and the price of health technologies of interest. To expedite the process of incorporating EE as a formal tool to inform decision-making processes within the health-care systems in LA countries, two main conditions need to be fulfilled. First, adequate resources and skills need to be available to conduct EE of good quality. Second, decision-making procedures need to be modified to accommodate "evidence-based" approaches such as EE.

Designing the future of healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Fidsa, Gianfranco Zaccai

2009-01-01

This paper describes the application of a holistic design process to a variety of problems plaguing current healthcare systems. A design process for addressing complex, multifaceted problems is contrasted with the piecemeal application of technological solutions to specific medical or administrative problems. The goal of this design process is the ideal customer experience, specifically the ideal experience for patients, healthcare providers, and caregivers within a healthcare system. Holistic design is shown to be less expensive and wasteful in the long run because it avoids solving one problem within a complex system at the cost of creating other problems within that system. The article applies this approach to the maintenance of good health throughout life; to the creation of an ideal experience when a person does need medical care; to the maintenance of personal independence as one ages; and to the enjoyment of a comfortable and dignified death. Virginia Mason Medical Center is discussed as an example of a healthcare institution attempting to create ideal patient and caregiver experiences, in this case by applying the principles of the Toyota Production System ("lean manufacturing") to healthcare. The article concludes that healthcare is inherently dedicated to an ideal, that science and technology have brought it closer to that ideal, and that design can bring it closer still.

Governing the ethical consumer: identity, choice and the primary care medical encounter.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Ruth; Mead, Nicola; Cheraghi-Sohi, Sudeh; Bower, Peter; Whalley, Diane; Roland, Martin

2007-04-01

Government policy promoting consumerism in healthcare can be seen as offering up certain preferred identities to which its citizens are encouraged to aspire. Whilst many commentators reject the notion that health services users should be conceived of as consumers, this paper outlines the relevance of the concept to our understanding of the ways in which individuals manage their health and service use. The paper examines the identity work undertaken by individuals in relation to decisions about healthcare preferences and assesses the extent to which this is compatible with the identities promoted in Government policy. We suggest that in circumstances where individuals feel both a sense of personal entitlement and a desire to be supportive of the needs of other members of the community, 'doing' ethical consumer can be fraught with discomfort and anxiety. These anxieties are exacerbated in a context where citizenship is increasingly being defined in terms of consumer identities, and making good (health) choices might be seen as distinguishing the civilised from the marginalised.

Patients find success haggling as health-care costs climb.

Science.gov (United States)

Costello, Daniel

2002-01-01

In small but growing numbers, Americans are taking an innovative approach to controlling health-care costs: They're haggling with their doctors. Fed up with mounting health bills, consumers ae getting as much as 30% off everything from eye exams to fertility procedures just by agreeing to pay upfront. Others are holding their doctors over a barrel by waiting a few months to pay the bill. Already, a new cottage industry of middlemen who negotiate healthcare bills for patients report their haggling business is up as much as 25% in the last two years.

Pedagogical processes in healthcare: an exploratory study of pedagogic work with patients and next of kin.

Science.gov (United States)

Hult, Håkan; Lindblad Fridh, Marianne; Lindh Falk, Annika; Thörne, Karin

2009-12-01

Care and education have much in common, and work in the healthcare sector is closely associated with learning and teaching. It is felt that many in the healthcare and medical services are not aware of their pedagogic skills and how they can be developed. FRAME OF REFERENCE: Belonging to a community of practice means that you share perspectives, methods and language. The aim is to describe the pedagogical discourse by identifying pedagogical processes and studying the staff's awareness of such processes or situations in which a pedagogical approach would be useful in their work with patients and next of kin. A qualitative study based on individual and group interviews. The analysis is directed by grounded theory. The pedagogical processes varied in length and quality. Most were unplanned and were usually embedded in treatment. The pedagogical process is linear (planning, goal setting, teaching and evaluating) in an educational setting but we found that the beginning and end can be unclear and the goals can be vague or non-existent. The pedagogical process is best described using the concepts Read, Guide and Provide learning support. The pedagogical discourse in healthcare is almost silent. Data indicate that at the collective level there is very little support for professional development of pedagogical ability. Tacit knowledge may therefore remain silent even though it may be possible to formulate and describe it. There is a strong need to focus on the pedagogical parts of the work and to encourage and support the development of professional pedagogical knowledge.

Consumer Behavior and the Plug-In Electric Vehicle Purchase Decision Process: A Research Synthesis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Taylor, Margaret [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Analysis and Environmental Impact Dept.; Fujita, K. Sydney [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Analysis and Environmental Impact Dept.

2018-01-31

This report synthesizes consumer behavior research as it pertains to the plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) purchase decision process. The purpose is to clarify what is known about the vital role consumers play in the U.S. PEV market as it matures to become less policy-reliant and more representative of the U.S., both spatially and demographically. A more representative PEV market will: help OEMs recoup more of their R&D investments in PEVs; help American consumers access the economic and performance benefits of PEVs; and help the U.S. become more energy independent while improving air quality-related public health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Managing expectations: cognitive authority and experienced control in complex healthcare processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunt, Katherine J; May, Carl R

2017-07-05

Balancing the normative expectations of others (accountabilities) against the personal and distributed resources available to meet them (capacity) is a ubiquitous feature of social relations in many settings. This is an important problem in the management of long-term conditions, because of widespread problems of non-adherence to treatment regimens. Using long-term conditions as an example, we set out middle range theory of this balancing work. A middle-range theory was constructed four stages. First, a qualitative elicitation study of men with heart failure was used to develop general propositions about patient and care giver experience, and about the ways that the organisation and delivery of care affected this. Second, these propositions were developed and confirmed through a systematic review of qualitative research literature. Third, theoretical propositions and constructs were built, refined and presented as a logic model associated with two main theoretical propositions. Finally, a construct validation exercise was undertaken, in which construct definitions informed reanalysis of a set of systematic reviews of studies of patient and caregiver experiences of heart failure that had been included in an earlier meta-review. Cognitive Authority Theory identifies, characterises and explains negotiation processes in in which people manage their relations with the expectations of normative systems - like those encountered in the management of long-term conditions. Here, their cognitive authority is the product of an assessment of competence, trustworthiness and credibility made about a person by other participants in a healthcare process; and their experienced control is a function of the degree to which they successfully manage the external process-specific limiting factors that make it difficult to otherwise perform in their role. Cognitive Authority Theory assists in explaining how participants in complex social processes manage important relational aspects of

Process Improvement for Interinstitutional Research Contracting.

Science.gov (United States)

Varner, Michael; Logan, Jennifer; Bjorklund, Todd; Whitfield, Jesse; Reed, Peggy; Lesher, Laurie; Sikalis, Amy; Brown, Brent; Drollinger, Sandy; Larrabee, Kristine; Thompson, Kristie; Clark, Erin; Workman, Michael; Boi, Luca

2015-08-01

Sponsored research increasingly requires multiinstitutional collaboration. However, research contracting procedures have become more complicated and time consuming. The perinatal research units of two colocated healthcare systems sought to improve their research contracting processes. The Lean Process, a management practice that iteratively involves team members in root cause analyses and process improvement, was applied to the research contracting process, initially using Process Mapping and then developing Problem Solving Reports. Root cause analyses revealed that the longest delays were the individual contract legal negotiations. In addition, the "business entity" was the research support personnel of both healthcare systems whose "customers" were investigators attempting to conduct interinstitutional research. Development of mutually acceptable research contract templates and language, chain of custody templates, and process development and refinement formats decreased the Notice of Grant Award to Purchase Order time from a mean of 103.5 days in the year prior to Lean Process implementation to 45.8 days in the year after implementation (p = 0.004). The Lean Process can be applied to interinstitutional research contracting with significant improvement in contract implementation. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Health care knowledge and consumer learning: the case of direct-to-consumer drug advertising.

Science.gov (United States)

Delbaere, Marjorie; Smith, Malcolm C

2006-01-01

This research develops a framework for understanding how consumers process health-related information and interact with their caregivers. The context is direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising by pharmaceutical companies in North America. This theoretical research presents a research framework and focuses on the presentation of information in advertisements, consumer-learning processes, consumer utilization of health care knowledge, and bias in perceived risk. The paper proposes that consumers who lack expertise with prescription drugs learn from DTC ads differently than those with expertise. Further, it is proposed that consumers also process the information in DTC ads differently depending on the perceived effectiveness of the drug being advertised, and ultimately utilize the knowledge taken from the ads in many different ways, some of which may appear irrational to health care providers. By understanding how consumers interpret and learn from DTC ads, health care organizations and providers may be able to improve health care delivery and consumer outcomes.

Consumer attitude and purchase intention towards processed meat products with natural compounds and a reduced level of nitrite.

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, Yung; de Kok, Theo M; Verbeke, Wim

2016-11-01

This study investigates consumer attitude and purchase intention towards processed meat products with added natural compounds and a reduced level of nitrite. The rationale for such innovation relates to nitrite's negative health image as a chemical additive among consumers, versus the perception of compounds from fruits and vegetables as being natural and healthy. Cross-sectional data were collected through online questionnaires on knowledge about, interest in, attitude and intentions towards such new type of processed meat products in Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy and Germany (n=2057). Consumers generally had limited knowledge about nitrite being added to meat products. Yet, they expressed favourable attitudes and purchase intentions towards the new processed meat products. Purchase intention associated positively with: attitude; preference for natural over chemical additives; perceived harmfulness of chemical additives; risk importance; domain specific innovativeness; awareness of nitrite added; education; general health interest; and processed meat consumption frequency. Consumers from Italy and Germany had a lower level of purchase intention compared to Belgium. Four consumer segments were identified based on attitude and purchase intention: 'enthusiasts' (39.3% of the sample), 'accepters' (11.9%), 'half-hearted' (42.3%) and 'uninterested' (6.6%). This study provides valuable insight for further product development and effective tailoring of marketing communication strategies of innovative processed meat products. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developing an instrument to measure consumers' multimedia usage in the purchase process

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Voorveld, H.A.M.; Bronner, F.E.; Neijens, P.C.; Smit, E.G.

2013-01-01

This article presents a new tool that measures consumers' multimedia behavior in the purchase process. Two variants of the tool were developed that differ in their starting point; one originates with media usage and the other with product purchase. The first variant starts with questions about

A meta-modeling technique for analyzing, designing and adapting healthcare processes : A process-deliverable perspective

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blijleven, Vincent; Jaspers, Monique; Wetzels, Marijntje; Koelemeijer, Kitty; Mehrsai, Afshin; Wong, Stephen T. C.; Sloane, Elliot

2016-01-01

Healthcare organizations have shown growing interest in implementing lean management. Through systematically identifying and eliminating waste, fewer resources are needed while similar or higher quality healthcare can be delivered. However, doing so demands a holistic view of the interrelationships

The importance of patient engagement and the use of Social Media marketing in healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Koumpouros, Yiannis; Toulias, Thomas L; Koumpouros, Nicholas

2015-01-01

The present research aims to identify the application of social media for marketing or communication purposes in healthcare. We studied the opinion of healthcare professionals, organizations and health consumers, trying to identify the current status, trends and beliefs. The research reveals that healthcare organizations have to move forward and engage with their customers. The health consumers are more mature than the health providers. The descriptive characteristics of the sample's responses collected during the survey are presented. The current research tries to identify the application of social media for marketing or communication purposes in healthcare in Greece. The scope of the paper is to investigate the status in Greece and compare it with other countries. We studied the opinion of healthcare professionals, organizations and health consumers, trying to identify the current status, trends and beliefs. We formed adequate questionnaires which were distributed to the different target groups, while for statistical analysis we performed tests (in order to investigate the dependence between certain respondents' categories) as well as one-way ANOVA analysis for inference purposes. In this context, the results can depict the (average) behavior, as well as the homogeneity of the corresponding general population. The research conducted took into account the individualities of the Greek environment and revealed that both physicians and healthcare organizations have to move forward in order to engage with their customers. There is also a clear need to measure the effectiveness of any such media marketing effort. Most adopters are not yet-taking maximum advantage of the technology. Social networks are prevalent and several paradigms support their adoption for marketing purposes in the sensitive healthcare domain. Even though the expectations are ambitious, there is a lot of work to do in Greece in order to achieve the desired outcome. An important finding is that

Improvement and renewal of healthcare processes : results of an empirical research project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bij, van der J.D.; Dijkstra, L.; Vries, de G.; Walburg, J.A.

1999-01-01

Professionals in healthcare organizations, who generally produce high-quality work, commonly operate in isolation or locally. However, due to developments in society and legislation, healthcare organizations are forced to integrate healthcare activities, and achieve integral quality management,

Community and consumer participation in Australian health services--an overview of organisational commitment and participation processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, A; Silburn, K

2000-01-01

This article briefly describes recent initiatives to improve consumer participation in health services that have led to the establishment of the National Resource Centre for Consumer Participation in Health. The results of a component of the needs assessment undertaken by the newly established Centre are presented. They provide a 'snapshot' of the types of feedback and participation processes mainly being utilised by Australian health services at the different levels of seeking information, information sharing and consultation, partnership, delegated power and consumer control. They also allow identification of the organisational commitment made by Australian health services to support a more coordinated approach to community and consumer feedback and participation at different levels of health services such as particular emphasis on determining the presence of community and consumer participation in key organisational statements, specific consumer policies and plans, identifiable leadership, inclusion into job descriptions, allocation of resources, and staff development and consumer training. Discussion centres around four key observations and some of the key perceived external barriers.

Exploring technology impacts of Healthcare 2.0 initiatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Randeree, Ebrahim

2009-04-01

As Internet access proliferates and technology becomes more accessible, the number of people online has been increasing. Web 2.0 and the social computing phenomena (such as Facebook, Friendster, Flickr, YouTube, Blogger, and MySpace) are creating a new reality on the Web: Users are changing from consumers of Web-available information and resources to generators of information and content. Moving beyond telehealth and Web sites, the push toward Personal Health Records has emerged as a new option for patients to take control of their medical data and to become active participants in the push toward widespread digitized healthcare. There is minimal research on the impact of Web 2.0 in healthcare. This paper reviews the changing patient-physician relationship in the Healthcare 2.0 environment, explores the technological challenges, and highlights areas for research.

Adverse drug reactions reported by consumers for nervous system medications in Europe 2007 to 2011

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aagaard, Lise; Hansen, Ebba Holme

2013-01-01

Reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) has traditionally been the sole province of healthcare professionals. In the European Union, more countries have allowed consumers to report ADRs directly to the regulatory agencies. The aim of this study was to characterize ADRs reported by European...... consumer for nervous system medications....

Listening to the consumer voice: developing multilingual cancer information resources for people affected by liver cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Robotin, Monica C; Porwal, Mamta; Hopwood, Max; Nguyen, Debbie; Sze, Minglo; Treloar, Carla; George, Jacob

2017-02-01

In Australia, liver cancer incidence is rising, particularly among people born in hepatitis B-endemic countries. We sought to build an understanding of the information needs of people affected by liver cancer, to inform the design of in-language consumer information resources. We searched the World Wide Web for available in-language consumer information and conducted a literature search on consumers' information needs and their preferred means of accessing it. Qualitative data collection involved bilingual researchers conducting focus group discussions (26 participants) and in-depth interviews (22 participants) with people affected by liver cancer in English, Vietnamese, Cantonese and Mandarin. Sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed, translated and thematically analysed. The key themes and salient findings informed the development of in-language multimedia information resources. Many consumer resources did not cater for people with low literacy levels. The participants wanted more information on cancer diagnostic and treatment options, nutrition and Chinese Medicine and experienced communication challenges speaking to health professionals. While Vietnamese speakers relied entirely on information provided by their doctors, other participants actively searched for additional treatment information and commonly used the Internet to source it. We developed multilingual, multimedia consumer information resources addressing identified consumer information needs through an iterative process, in collaboration with our multilingual consumer panel. These resources are available in four languages, as separate modules accessible online and in DVD format. This process enabled the development of user-friendly patient resources, which complement health-care provider information and supports informed patient decision making. © 2016 The Authors. Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A critical analysis of the literature on the Internet and consumer health information.

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, J A; Lowe, P; Griffiths, F E; Thorogood, M

2005-01-01

A critical review of the published literature investigating the Internet and consumer health information was undertaken in order to inform further research and policy. A qualitative, narrative method was used, consisting of a three-stage process of identification and collation, thematic coding, and critical analysis. This analysis identified five main themes in the research in this area: (1) the quality of online health information for consumers; (2) consumer use of the Internet for health information; (3) the effect of e-health on the practitioner-patient relationship; (4) virtual communities and online social support and (5) the electronic delivery of information-based interventions. Analysis of these themes revealed more about the concerns of health professionals than about the effect of the Internet on users. Much of the existing work has concentrated on quantifying characteristics of the Internet: for example, measuring the quality of online information, or describing the numbers of users in different health-care settings. There is a lack of qualitative research that explores how citizens are actually using the Internet for health care.

Private Sector in Indian Healthcare Delivery: Consumer Perspective and Government Policies to promote private Sector

OpenAIRE

Utkarsh Shah, Ragini Mohanty

2011-01-01

This research paper attempts to collate literature from various sources, in an attempt to answer three pertinent questions related to healthcare in India. Firstly, what is it meant by ‘private sector’ in healthcare delivery system of India, secondly how has the private sector evolved over the decades and what has been the role of the government in propelling the growth. Finally, the paper tries to highlight some of the factors that have promoted the growth of private sector in India with spec...

Board Governance: Transformational Approaches Under Healthcare Reform.

Science.gov (United States)

Zastocki, Deborah K

2015-01-01

Previous successes of healthcare organizations and effective governance practices in the pre-reform environment are not predictive of future success. Healthcare has been through numerous phases of growth and development using tried-and-true strategies. The challenge is that our toolbox does not contain what is needed to build the future healthcare delivery systems required in the post-reform world. Healthcare has had a parochial focus at the local level, with some broadening of horizons at the state and national levels. But healthcare delivery is now a global issue that requires a totally different perspective, and many countries are confronting similar issues. US healthcare reform initiatives have far-reaching implications. Compounding the reform dynamics are the simultaneously occurring, gamechanging accelerants such as enabling information technologies and mobile health, new providers of healthcare, increased consumer demands, and limited healthcare dollars, to name a few. Operating in this turbulent environment requires transformational board, executive, and physician leadership because traditional ways of planning for incremental change and attempting to time those adjustments can prove disastrous. Creating the legacy healthcare system for tomorrow requires governing boards and executive leadership to act today as they would in the desired future system. Boards need to create a culture that fosters.innovation with a tolerance for risk and some failure. To provide effective governance, boards must essentially develop new skills, expertise, and ways of thinking. The rapid rate of change requires board members to possess certain capabilities, including the ability to deal with ambiguity and uncertainty while demonstrating flexibility and adaptability, all with a driving commitment to metrics and results. This requires development plans for both individual members and the overall board. In short, the board needs to function differently, particularly regarding the

Jumping into the healthcare retail market: our experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Pollert, Pat; Dobberstein, Darla; Wiisanen, Ronald

2008-01-01

Who among us has not heard of the retail-based clinic concept? Retail-based clinics have been springing up across the country in Target, Walmart, grocery stores, drugstores, and shopping malls. Due to multiple marketplace issues, others who have not traditionally been providers of healthcare saw an opportunity to meet the consumer's demand. Do retail and healthcare mix, and can this model be successful? MeritCare Health System in Fargo, ND made the decision to embrace and experiment with this new emerging consumerism model. This article reviews our experience in developing the first retail-based clinic in our service area and the state of North Dakota.

Consumer Fetish

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arnould, Eric; Cayla, Julien

2015-01-01

in the organizational fetishization of consumers, that is, how in the process of understanding and managing markets, a quasimagical fascination with amalgams of consumer voices, images, and artefacts comes about. We offer several contributions. First, we demonstrate the pertinence of (primarily anthropological...

Analysis on the consumer disposition to afford the cost of food processed by ionizing radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cattaruzzi, Eliana Borba

2012-01-01

The concept of food quality, in the consumer point of view, reflects the satisfaction of characteristics such as flavor, aroma, appearance, packaging and availability. Economic and social factors, such as cost and eating habits, generally, also influence the choice of a product. Irradiation is an effective technique in food preservation because it reduces the losses caused by natural physiological processes, either reducing or eliminating microorganisms, parasites and pests without causing any damage to the foods and, thus, making them safer to consumers. Nevertheless, there may be an increase in the cost of foods. Research indicates that practicality is already a deep-rooted feature of consumers. The price may be a limiting factor to the popularization of the irradiated product, although some consumers consider that, due to the avoidance of waste, the increased cost may be feasible. The objective of this study was to analyze the cost of using food irradiation technology and verify (a) whether consumers, when informed of the benefits in food safety, are willing to pay for this treatment and (b) how much they are willing to pay. The methodology consisted of a study on the economic feasibility of food irradiation technology by means of a systematic survey of the literature, in order to verify the cost of this process implementation and the increase in costs for the producer. Also, a survey was conducted in an Institution of Superior Education about the consumer's willingness to pay for this higher price. The study results indicate a rise in costs to the producer, ranging from $ 0.01 to U.S. $ 0.25 per pound; it was also found that 75% of the consumers surveyed are willing to pay more for irradiated food. From these results it was concluded that the higher the consumption power is, the greater the willingness to afford the additional cost irradiated foods have. (author)

Factors affecting willingness to share electronic health data among California consumers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Katherine K; Sankar, Pamela; Wilson, Machelle D; Haynes, Sarah C

2017-04-04

Robust technology infrastructure is needed to enable learning health care systems to improve quality, access, and cost. Such infrastructure relies on the trust and confidence of individuals to share their health data for healthcare and research. Few studies have addressed consumers' views on electronic data sharing and fewer still have explored the dual purposes of healthcare and research together. The objective of the study is to explore factors that affect consumers' willingness to share electronic health information for healthcare and research. This study involved a random-digit dial telephone survey of 800 adult Californians conducted in English and Spanish. Logistic regression was performed using backward selection to test for significant (p-value ≤ 0.05) associations of each explanatory variable with the outcome variable. The odds of consent for electronic data sharing for healthcare decreased as Likert scale ratings for EHR impact on privacy worsened, odds ratio (OR) = 0.74, 95% CI [0.60, 0.90]; security, OR = 0.80, 95% CI [0.66, 0.98]; and quality, OR = 0.59, 95% CI [0.46-0.75]. The odds of consent for sharing for research was greater for those who think EHR will improve research quality, OR = 11.26, 95% CI [4.13, 30.73]; those who value research benefit over privacy OR = 2.72, 95% CI [1.55, 4.78]; and those who value control over research benefit OR = 0.49, 95% CI [0.26, 0.94]. Consumers' choices about electronically sharing health information are affected by their attitudes toward EHRs as well as beliefs about research benefit and individual control. Design of person-centered interventions utilizing electronically collected health information, and policies regarding data sharing should address these values of importance to people. Understanding of these perspectives is critical for leveraging health data to support learning health care systems.

Consumers in New Millennium: Attitudes towards Adoption of New Technologies in Purchasing Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kopaničová Janka

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The use of new technologies has brought many changes into consumer behaviour, especially into purchasing process. The aim of the article is to uncover the attitudes of different generations towards usage of new technologies in purchasing process and determine if the diffusion of innovative purchasing process is significantly different among different generations. The article presents the results of authors´ research of usage of new technologies in purchasing process, as well as attitudes towards it, among different age groups - Generation X, Y, Z and seniors. Results of hybrid research carried out by semi-structured interviews with 551 respondents show, that there are significant generational differences in all three components of attitude towards online purchase, which can be - due to its characteristics- considered the most complex use of new technologies in purchasing process. Results prove that the diffusion of innovation in the purchasing process is significantly influenced by the age group. With age the number of Innovators significantly drops and the percentage of Laggards rises. The ratio of those adopting “early” and “late” significantly changes according to age group as well. Majority of younger respondents are accepting the new technologies into purchasing process early (Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority. Middle-aged consumers accept the innovations proportionally - copying the Roger´s curve. Among seniors, the majority is “late” (Late Majority and Laggards.

Healthcare service quality: what really matters to the female patient?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Shafei, Ingy; Walburg, J.A.; Taher, Ahmed F.

2015-01-01

Purpose – This paper aims to develop a model that encompasses the constructs and sub-constructs consumers use in evaluating healthcare service quality (HSQ) in Egypt. Design/methodology/approach – Factor analysis was performed on 40 variables to identify the constructs. Ordinal logistic regression

System-Level Shared Governance Structures and Processes in Healthcare Systems With Magnet®-Designated Hospitals: A Descriptive Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Underwood, Carlisa M; Hayne, Arlene N

The purpose was to identify and describe structures and processes of best practices for system-level shared governance in healthcare systems. Currently, more than 64.6% of US community hospitals are part of a system. System chief nurse executives (SCNEs) are challenged to establish leadership structures and processes that effectively and efficiently disseminate best practices for patients and staff across complex organizations, geographically dispersed locations, and populations. Eleven US healthcare SCNEs from the American Nurses Credentialing Center's repository of Magnet®-designated facilities participated in a 35-multiquestion interview based on Kanter's Theory of Organizational Empowerment. Most SCNEs reported the presence of more than 50% of the empowerment structures and processes in system-level shared governance. Despite the difficulties and complexities of growing health systems, SCNEs have replicated empowerment characteristics of hospital shared governance structures and processes at the system level.

The economics of choice: lessons from the U.S. health-care market.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanoch, Yaniv; Rice, Thomas

2011-03-01

The English health-care system is moving towards increasing consumers' choice. Following economic thinking, it is assumed that such a policy will improve quality, enhance patient satisfaction and reduce health disparities. Indeed, the English health-care system has already built the necessary infrastructure to increase patients' choice. Before expanding the range of choices further, however, it is important that policy makers be aware of the limitations and hurdles that such a policy contains. Here, we highlight these limitations by drawing on the influential work of Kenneth Arrow, who has argued that we cannot treat the health-care market as if it was just another market, and the ideas of Herbert Simon, who questioned whether people had sufficient cognitive abilities to make effective choices in an information-rich environment. In the light of these two strands of thought, we review evidence suggesting that many older adults have low (health) literacy levels, raising concerns over their ability to obtain, process and understand medical-related information, with its increasing complexity, associated risks and emotional involvement. We also discuss recent findings from the United States highlighting the difficulties older users of health-care face with a wide range of prescription drug insurance plans from which to choose. Thus, learning from the experience of health-care systems where choice is abundant could help any health system interested in extending patients' choice to better target the domains where more choice could be beneficial and possibly avoid those where it could be detrimental. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

[Complaints by private health insurance policy-holders to the Consumer Protection Bureau in Argentina, 2000-2008].

Science.gov (United States)

Luzuriaga, María José; Spinelli, Hugo

2014-05-01

This paper analyzes problems experienced by policy-holders of voluntary private health insurance plans in Argentina when insurance companies fail to comply with the Consumer Protection Code. The sample consisted of consumer complaints filed with the Consumer Protection Bureau and rulings by the Bureau from 2000 to 2008. One striking issue was recurrent non-compliance with services included in the Mandatory Medical Program and the companies' attempts to blame policy-holders. According to the study, the lack of an information system hinders scientific studies to adequately address the problem. Thus, a comparison with studies on health insurance in other Latin American countries highlighted the importance of such research, the relationship to health systems, constraints on use and denial of citizens' rights to healthcare, and the increasing judicialization of healthcare provision.

Scientific Evaluation and Review of Claims in Health Care (SEaRCH): A Streamlined, Systematic, Phased Approach for Determining "What Works" in Healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Jonas, Wayne B; Crawford, Cindy; Hilton, Lara; Elfenbaum, Pamela

2017-01-01

Answering the question of "what works" in healthcare can be complex and requires the careful design and sequential application of systematic methodologies. Over the last decade, the Samueli Institute has, along with multiple partners, developed a streamlined, systematic, phased approach to this process called the Scientific Evaluation and Review of Claims in Health Care (SEaRCH™). The SEaRCH process provides an approach for rigorously, efficiently, and transparently making evidence-based decisions about healthcare claims in research and practice with minimal bias. SEaRCH uses three methods combined in a coordinated fashion to help determine what works in healthcare. The first, the Claims Assessment Profile (CAP), seeks to clarify the healthcare claim and question, and its ability to be evaluated in the context of its delivery. The second method, the Rapid Evidence Assessment of the Literature (REAL © ), is a streamlined, systematic review process conducted to determine the quantity, quality, and strength of evidence and risk/benefit for the treatment. The third method involves the structured use of expert panels (EPs). There are several types of EPs, depending on the purpose and need. Together, these three methods-CAP, REAL, and EP-can be integrated into a strategic approach to help answer the question "what works in healthcare?" and what it means in a comprehensive way. SEaRCH is a systematic, rigorous approach for evaluating healthcare claims of therapies, practices, programs, or products in an efficient and stepwise fashion. It provides an iterative, protocol-driven process that is customized to the intervention, consumer, and context. Multiple communities, including those involved in health service and policy, can benefit from this organized framework, assuring that evidence-based principles determine which healthcare practices with the greatest promise are used for improving the public's health and wellness.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL EFFICIENCY. CUSTOMIZE ON HEALTHCARE SECTOR

OpenAIRE

CLAUDIU CICEA

2011-01-01

Efficiency in health service sector is very important because the health sector is a major consumer of resources (especially financial). In this paper the author aims to analyze the efficiency in a social sector (healthcare system) based on cost-benefit analysis.

Effective Strategies to Spread Redesigning Care Processes Among Healthcare Teams.

Science.gov (United States)

Lavoie-Tremblay, Mélanie; O'Connor, Patricia; Lavigne, Geneviève L; Briand, Anaïck; Biron, Alain; Baillargeon, Sophie; MacGibbon, Brenda; Ringer, Justin; Cyr, Guylaine

2015-07-01

The purpose of this study was to describe how spread strategies facilitate the successful implementation of the Transforming Care at the Bedside (TCAB) program and their impact on healthcare workers and patients in a major Canadian healthcare organization. This study used a qualitative and descriptive design with focus groups and individual interviews held in May 2014. Participants included managers and healthcare providers from eight TCAB units in a university health center in Quebec, Canada. The sample was composed of 43 individuals. The data were analyzed using NVivo according to the method proposed by Miles and Huberman. The first two themes that emerged from the analysis are related to context (organizational transition requiring many changes) and spread strategies for the TCAB program (senior management support, release time and facilitation, rotation of team members, learning from previous TCAB teams, and engaging patients). The last theme that emerged from the analysis is the impact on healthcare professionals (providing front-line staff and managers with the training they need to make changes, team leadership, and increasing receptivity to hearing patients' and families' needs and requests). This study describes the perspectives of managers and team members to provide a better understanding of how spread strategies can facilitate the successful implementation of the TCAB program in a Canadian healthcare organization. Spread strategies facilitate the implementation of changes to improve the quality and safety of care provided to patients. © 2015 Sigma Theta Tau International.

A Framework for Healthcare Planning and Control

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hans, Elias W.; van Houdenhoven, Mark; Hulshof, P.J.H.; Hall, Randolph

2012-01-01

Rising expenditures spur healthcare organizations to organize their processes more efficiently and effectively. Unfortunately, healthcare planning and control lags behind manufacturing planning and control. We analyze existing planning and control concepts or frameworks for healthcare operations

Exploring consumer values of comparative performance information for hospital choice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ketelaar, N.A.B.M.; Faber, M.J.; Westert, G.P.; Elwyn, G.; Braspenning, J.C.C.

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: In many countries, market orientation in healthcare has resulted in the publication of comparative performance information (CPI). Most of the research in this field is oriented towards the content and the presentation format of CPI while little is known about how consumers value CPI and

Innovating Healthcare Processes for Speed and Effectiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maryline Margueritte

2013-12-01

Full Text Available For several years, health networks have developed devices enabling coordinated care of patients in France, regarding both medical plans as well as medico-psycho-social and human care. Some have developed computerized health records for sharing useful information for the coordination and continuity of care. Since the 2009 hospital reform, cooperative operating modes between health system professionals and users are being installed. The implementation of a health information system permits, on one hand, to ensure the transversality of the business process with the patient and, on the other hand, to measure the results of the medical and economic evolution of a complex system of information. The possibilities offered by new technologies of information and communication enable the development of applications supporting increased "on line" participation for citizens. The "ambulatory approach" exports healthcare outside hospital walls. This is an innovative medicine allowing the patient to stay at his home. In France, this re-engineering is based on four areas: a medical record, a collective ownership by the medical and paramedical professions, empowerment of patients and networking in the health sector.Keywords: Health; Networks; Information System; Innovation; Medicine; Patients; Science.

Service quality: understanding and implementing the concept in the clinical laboratory. Match service quality to consumer expectations.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, S J

1989-01-01

The increasingly competitive health-care marketplace has mandated that health-care managers pay careful attention to the issue of quality from the perspective of the consumer. The importance of this issue is underscored by the fact that numerous health-care institutions and associations have recently begun to recognize the urgent need to obtain a greater understanding of service quality in a health-care situation. This article suggests means to understand, identify, improve, and implement effective approaches to this vital aspect of the marketing mix.

The Role of Interpersonal Relations in Healthcare Team Communication and Patient Safety: A Proposed Model of Interpersonal Process in Teamwork.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Charlotte Tsz-Sum; Doran, Diane Marie

2017-06-01

Patient safety is compromised by medical errors and adverse events related to miscommunications among healthcare providers. Communication among healthcare providers is affected by human factors, such as interpersonal relations. Yet, discussions of interpersonal relations and communication are lacking in healthcare team literature. This paper proposes a theoretical framework that explains how interpersonal relations among healthcare team members affect communication and team performance, such as patient safety. We synthesized studies from health and social science disciplines to construct a theoretical framework that explicates the links among these constructs. From our synthesis, we identified two relevant theories: framework on interpersonal processes based on social relation model and the theory of relational coordination. The former involves three steps: perception, evaluation, and feedback; and the latter captures relational communicative behavior. We propose that manifestations of provider relations are embedded in the third step of the framework on interpersonal processes: feedback. Thus, varying team-member relationships lead to varying collaborative behavior, which affects patient-safety outcomes via a change in team communication. The proposed framework offers new perspectives for understanding how workplace relations affect healthcare team performance. The framework can be used by nurses, administrators, and educators to improve patient safety, team communication, or to resolve conflicts.

Healthcare reform: the role of coordinated critical care.

Science.gov (United States)

Cerra, F B

1993-03-01

To evaluate and editorialize the evolving role of the discipline of critical care as a healthcare delivery system in the process of healthcare reform. The sources included material from the Federal Office of Management and Budget, Health Care Financing Review, President Bush's Office, Association of American Medical Colleges, and publications of the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Data were selected that the author felt was relevant to the healthcare reform process and its implications for the discipline of critical care. The data were extracted by the author to illustrate the forces behind healthcare reform, the implications for the practice of critical care, and role of critical care as a coordinated (managed) care system in the process of healthcare reform. Healthcare reform has been initiated because of a number of considerations that arise in evaluating the current healthcare delivery system: access, financing, cost, dissatisfactions with the mechanisms of delivery, and political issues. The reform process will occur with or without the involvement of critical care practitioners. Reforms may greatly alter the delivery of critical care services, education, training, and research in critical care. Critical care has evolved into a healthcare delivery system that provides services to patients who need and request them and provides these services in a coordinated (managed) care model. Critical care practitioners must become involved in the healthcare reform process, and critical care services that are effective must be preserved, as must the education, training, and research programs. Critical care as a healthcare delivery system utilizing a coordinated (managed) care model has the potential to provide services to all patients who need them and to deliver them in a manner that is cost effective and recognized as providing added value.

Consumer attitudes towards evidence based mental health services among American mental health consumers.

Science.gov (United States)

Teh, Lisa B; Hayashi, Kentaro; Latner, Janet; Mueller, Charles W

2016-10-01

The Consumer Attitudes towards Evidence Based Services (CAEBS) scale is a 29-item questionnaire designed to assess public views on the role of science in helping to guide mental health treatment. The aim of the current study was to assess the Factor structure the CAEBS in an online sample of adults seeking information about mental health services. The CAEBS was administered to a nationwide sample of participants from websites offering classified advertisements for mental health related study participation (n = 312). An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) suggested four factors based on 26 of the items: Beliefs Regarding Therapists' Practices, Attitudes about Mental Health Policy, Negative Personal-Level Attitudes toward EBPs, and Negative Societal-Level Attitudes towards EBPs. In order to increase consumer empowerment within the mental health-care system and develop policies supporting EBP usage, mental health professionals need to increase communication with the public to address these concerns and leverage positive attitudes. © 2016 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

Scientific Evaluation and Review of Claims in Health Care (SEaRCH): A Streamlined, Systematic, Phased Approach for Determining “What Works” in Healthcare

Science.gov (United States)

Crawford, Cindy; Hilton, Lara; Elfenbaum, Pamela

2017-01-01

Abstract Background: Answering the question of “what works” in healthcare can be complex and requires the careful design and sequential application of systematic methodologies. Over the last decade, the Samueli Institute has, along with multiple partners, developed a streamlined, systematic, phased approach to this process called the Scientific Evaluation and Review of Claims in Health Care (SEaRCH™). The SEaRCH process provides an approach for rigorously, efficiently, and transparently making evidence-based decisions about healthcare claims in research and practice with minimal bias. Methods: SEaRCH uses three methods combined in a coordinated fashion to help determine what works in healthcare. The first, the Claims Assessment Profile (CAP), seeks to clarify the healthcare claim and question, and its ability to be evaluated in the context of its delivery. The second method, the Rapid Evidence Assessment of the Literature (REAL©), is a streamlined, systematic review process conducted to determine the quantity, quality, and strength of evidence and risk/benefit for the treatment. The third method involves the structured use of expert panels (EPs). There are several types of EPs, depending on the purpose and need. Together, these three methods—CAP, REAL, and EP—can be integrated into a strategic approach to help answer the question “what works in healthcare?” and what it means in a comprehensive way. Discussion: SEaRCH is a systematic, rigorous approach for evaluating healthcare claims of therapies, practices, programs, or products in an efficient and stepwise fashion. It provides an iterative, protocol-driven process that is customized to the intervention, consumer, and context. Multiple communities, including those involved in health service and policy, can benefit from this organized framework, assuring that evidence-based principles determine which healthcare practices with the greatest promise are used for improving the public's health and

TRUSTED CLOUD COMPUTING FRAMEWORK FOR HEALTHCARE SECTOR

OpenAIRE

Mervat Adib Bamiah; Sarfraz Nawaz Brohi; Suriayati Chuprat; Jamalul-lail Ab Manan

2014-01-01

Cloud computing is rapidly evolving due to its efficient characteristics such as cost-effectiveness, availability and elasticity. Healthcare organizations and consumers lose control when they outsource their sensitive data and computing resources to a third party Cloud Service Provider (CSP), which may raise security and privacy concerns related to data loss and misuse appealing threats. Lack of consumers’ knowledge about their data storage location may lead to violating rules and r...

Data mining applications in healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Koh, Hian Chye; Tan, Gerald

2005-01-01

Data mining has been used intensively and extensively by many organizations. In healthcare, data mining is becoming increasingly popular, if not increasingly essential. Data mining applications can greatly benefit all parties involved in the healthcare industry. For example, data mining can help healthcare insurers detect fraud and abuse, healthcare organizations make customer relationship management decisions, physicians identify effective treatments and best practices, and patients receive better and more affordable healthcare services. The huge amounts of data generated by healthcare transactions are too complex and voluminous to be processed and analyzed by traditional methods. Data mining provides the methodology and technology to transform these mounds of data into useful information for decision making. This article explores data mining applications in healthcare. In particular, it discusses data mining and its applications within healthcare in major areas such as the evaluation of treatment effectiveness, management of healthcare, customer relationship management, and the detection of fraud and abuse. It also gives an illustrative example of a healthcare data mining application involving the identification of risk factors associated with the onset of diabetes. Finally, the article highlights the limitations of data mining and discusses some future directions.

One service, many voices: enhancing consumer participation in a primary health service for multicultural women.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Susan K; Thompson, Sandra C; Amorin-Woods, Deisy

2009-01-01

Consumer participation in primary health care is important in providing quality consumer-focused care, but challenging when working with disadvantaged groups of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Women's Health Services (WHS) works with women from over 60 different nationalities, including many newly arrived migrants and refugees. New arrivals access a wide range of WHS programmes including medical services, counselling, information, community talks and workshops, referral, and outreach, but few ethnic women attended the alcohol and other drug (AOD) services offered by the organisation. To establish an active consumer reference group to assist understanding and reducing the barriers to AOD services for a heterogeneous disadvantaged group that includes individuals from different cultural, language and educational backgrounds. Leaning heavily on experiences from the mental health field, WHS overcame many practical and philosophical considerations which included: agreeing upon the purpose of the group and how it would operate within the structure of the organisation; the level of English language required by participants for the group to function; issues of resourcing the group; and ensuring an appropriate, workable demographic mix in terms of age, language, and migration experiences. The process and the outcome of establishing a consumer reference group (CRG) in a primary healthcare setting has been valuable for consumers' and health service providers within the organisation.

An integrated Markov decision process and nested logit consumer response model of air ticket pricing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lu, J.; Feng, T.; Timmermans, H.P.J.; Yang, Z.

2017-01-01

The paper attempts to propose an optimal air ticket pricing model during the booking horizon by taking into account passengers' purchasing behavior of air tickets. A Markov decision process incorporating a nested logit consumer response model is established to modeling the dynamic pricing process.

Explaining the accreditation process from the institutional isomorphism perspective: a case study of Jordanian primary healthcare centers.

Science.gov (United States)

Alyahya, Mohammad; Hijazi, Heba; Harvey, Heather

2018-01-01

While the main focus of accreditation initiatives has been on hospitals, the implementation of these programs is a relatively new notion among other types of healthcare facilities. Correspondingly, this study aims to understand how accreditation is perceived among primary public healthcare centers using an isomorphic institutional theory. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 56 healthcare professionals and administrative staff from seven non-profit healthcare centers in Jordan using an explanatory case-study approach. The informants' narratives revealed that all three components of institutional theory: coercive, mimetic, and normative pressure, were drivers for institutional change in seeking accreditation. There was an overlapping and blending between the three various types of pressure. While participants perceived that healthcare centers faced formal and informal pressures to achieve accreditation, health centers were reluctant about the time, amount of effort, and their ability to achieve the accreditation. Ambiguity and fear of failure forced them to model successful ones. Moreover, the findings revealed that normative values of health professionals enhanced institutional isomorphism and influenced the accreditation process. Identifying these isomorphic changes may help key stakeholders to develop plans, policies, and procedures that could improve the quality of healthcare and enhance accreditation as an organizational strategic plan. Moreover, the study provided explanations of why and how organizations move to adopt new interventions and grow over time. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Cultural influences, decision making process and consumer behaviour of the Middle Class Chinese Outbound Tourist.

OpenAIRE

Bollen, Luc

2010-01-01

The research investigates the consumer behaviour of the emerging “Middle Class Mainland Chinese Outbound Tourist”. With the Chinese outbound tourism market being one of the fastest growing worldwide and poised for exponential growth in years to come, tourism industry professionals would benefit from a deeper understanding. The focus of the thesis considers which cultural influences are important in the decision making process of the Chinese middle class consumer, what are the pre-cons...

LEAN thinking in Finnish healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Jorma, Tapani; Tiirinki, Hanna; Bloigu, Risto; Turkki, Leena

2016-01-01

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to evaluate how LEAN thinking is used as a management and development tool in the Finnish public healthcare system and what kind of outcomes have been achieved or expected by using it. The main focus is in managing and developing patient and treatment processes. Design/methodology/approach - A mixed-method approach incorporating the Webropol survey was used. Findings - LEAN is quite a new concept in Finnish public healthcare. It is mainly used as a development tool to seek financial savings and to improve the efficiency of patient processes, but has not yet been deeply implemented. However, the experiences from LEAN initiatives have been positive, and the methodology is already quite well-known. It can be concluded that, because of positive experiences from LEAN, the environment in Finnish healthcare is ready for the deeper implementation of LEAN. Originality/value - This paper evaluates the usage of LEAN thinking for the first time in the public healthcare system of Finland as a development tool and a management system. It highlights the implementation and achieved results of LEAN thinking when used in the healthcare environment. It also highlights the expectations for LEAN thinking in Finnish public healthcare.

Crowdsourcing healthcare costs: Opportunities and challenges for patient centered price transparency.

Science.gov (United States)

Meisel, Zachary F; VonHoltz, Lauren A Houdek; Merchant, Raina M

2016-03-01

Efforts to improve health care price transparency have garnered significant attention from patients, policy makers, and health insurers. In response to increasing consumer demand, state governments, insurance plans, and health care providers are reporting health care prices. However, such data often do not provide consumers with the most salient information: their own actual out-of-pocket cost for medical care. Although untested, crowdsourcing, a mechanism for the public to help answer complex questions, represents a potential solution to the problem of opaque hospital costs. This article explores, the challenges and potential opportunities for crowdsourcing out-of-pocket costs for healthcare consumers. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Designing interprofessional modules for undergraduate healthcare learners

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C Maree

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Background. Interprofessional education aims to prepare learners to collaborate across specialties to provide high-quality healthcare. Internationally and nationally, the emerging need for integrated healthcare and education has been emphasised. The current education programme at the School of Health Care Sciences, University of Pretoria, South Africa primarily follows a uniprofessional approach.Objectives. To describe the development of interprofessional modules over 4 years between the departments of Human Nutrition, Nursing Science, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Radiography.Methods. The Knowledge-to-Action model guided the module development process. The planning phase comprised three steps: (i problem identification (e.g. national and international policy focus on interprofessional education; (ii review of existing knowledge (e.g. common learning outcomes; and (iii adaptation of knowledge to the local context (e.g. syllabi and logistics.Results. The development of interprofessional modules can be guided by the above-mentioned model to meet the needs of the faculty, departments, students and community and to contribute to interprofessional education, while overcoming the associated challenges.Conclusion. Challenges included clashes in timetable schedules, financial constraints, administrative support, logistical issues and resistance to change. The designing and implementing of new modules were intense and time consuming, and required commitment. The development of the modules was an excellent example of interprofessional teamwork that needs to be transferred to the implementation and role modelling of interprofessional education.

Phytotherapic compounds: the consumer-pharmacist relationship.

Science.gov (United States)

Bacchini, Marco; Cuzzolin, Laura; Camerlengo, Thomas; Velo, Giampaolo; Benoni, Giuseppina

2008-01-01

Pharmacists play an important role in providing information about natural products and in preventing risks related to these substances, particularly with respect to interactions with conventional drugs. For these reasons, a survey was specifically designed to investigate the quality of self-care counselling by pharmacists on phytotherapy. Twenty-three pharmacy stores took part in the project. Face-to-face interviews, using a pre-structured questionnaire, were undertaken by trained pharmacists to consumers buying a herbal product. The questionnaire included socio-demographic data and 17 items designed to elicit information regarding the reason of consumption, product knowledge, relationship/communication with healthcare providers, level of satisfaction, concurrent drug use and adverse reactions. The collection of interviews started in November 2006 until April 2007. From the analysis of 1420 questionnaires, it is evident that herbal use is increasing in Italy: 12% of our interviewees were buying a herbal product for the first time. The present survey highlights the favourable perception of efficacy of phytotherapic compounds by the pharmacy's consumers, who consider this healthcare modality to be an important and effective way to promote health/wellness and disease management as well as being safer overall than conventional drugs. Moreover, findings from this study demonstrate that pharmacists are more likely to answer correctly about the uses of herbal medicines than about drug interactions, adverse drug effects and cautions about these products.

MEASUREMENT OF CONSUMER ETHNOCENTRISM OF SLOVAK CONSUMERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janka Taborecka-Petrovicova

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The conceptualization of consumer ethnocentrism is inferred from the general concept of ethnocentrism which assumes that ethnocentrism starts with the culture into which an individual is born. Over time, the individual will accept the values and behaviour of this particular culture as a norm. However, when the individual becomes aware of other cultures with different values and behaviours, there develops the need of belonging and identification with own culture rather than that of others. When analysing the consumer ethnocentrism, it is also essential to examine whether consumer ethnocentrism operates uniformly across all consumers or there exist some specific factors moderating their ethnocentric tendencies. A lot of studies researching these issues can be found in various cultural contexts, however in Slovakia we found certain gap since there is just a few of them. The aim of the paper is to investigate the level of consumer ethnocentricity of Slovak consumers in general and with the respect to chosen variables – age and gender. The results can serve as an information base for decision-making process of marketing managers focusing especially on local production of domestic products.

Innovation in medicine and healthcare 2015

CERN Document Server

Torro, Carlos; Tanaka, Satoshi; Howlett, Robert; Jain, Lakhmi

2016-01-01

Innovation in medicine and healthcare is an interdisciplinary research area, which combines the advanced technologies and problem solving skills with medical and biological science. A central theme of this proceedings is Smart Medical and Healthcare Systems (modern intelligent systems for medicine and healthcare), which can provide efficient and accurate solution to problems faced by healthcare and medical practitioners today by using advanced information communication techniques, computational intelligence, mathematics, robotics and other advanced technologies. The techniques developed in this area will have a significant effect on future medicine and healthcare.    The volume includes 53 papers, which present the recent trend and innovations in medicine and healthcare including Medical Informatics; Biomedical Engineering; Management for Healthcare; Advanced ICT for Medical and Healthcare; Simulation and Visualization/VR for Medicine; Statistical Signal Processing and Artificial Intelligence; Smart Medic...

Pre-Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Process-oriented Information Systems in Healthcare (ProHealth'07)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reichert, M.U.; Peleg, M.; Lenz, R.

These pre-proceedings contain the presentations given at the 1st Int'l Workshop on Process-oriented Information Systems in Healthcare (ProHealth'07). Formal proceedings will be published in Springer's LNCS series. Process-oriented information systems have been demanded for more than 20 years and

Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: Consumers in Mental Health Organisations' Hierarchies.

Science.gov (United States)

Scholz, Brett; Bocking, Julia; Happell, Brenda

2017-05-01

Contemporary mental health policies call for consumers to be engaged in all levels of mental health service planning, implementation, and delivery. Critical approaches to traditional healthcare hierarchies can effectively challenge barriers to better engagement with consumers in mental health organisations. This qualitative exploratory study analyses how particular strategies for consumer leadership facilitate or hinder relationships between consumers and mental health services, and how these strategies influence hierarchical structures. Fourteen participants from a range of mental health organisations were interviewed. These interviews were analysed using thematic analytic and discursive psychological techniques. The findings highlight several benefits of having consumers within mental health organisational hierarchies, and elaborate on ways that employees within mental health services can support integration of consumers into existing hierarchies. Specific barriers to consumers in hierarchies are discussed, including a lack of clarity of structures and roles within hierarchies, and resistance to consumers reaching the highest levels of leadership within organisations. Alternative hierarchical models which privilege consumers' control over resources and power are also discussed. Mental health organisations are encouraged to integrate consumer leaders into their hierarchical structures to improve their organisational offerings, their reputation, and their service innovation.

Consumer perception of the use of high-pressure processing and pulsed electric field technologies in food production.

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, Henriette Boel; Sonne, Anne-Mette; Grunert, Klaus G; Banati, Diana; Pollák-Tóth, Annamária; Lakner, Zoltán; Olsen, Nina Veflen; Zontar, Tanja Pajk; Peterman, Marjana

2009-02-01

The success of new food processing technologies is highly dependent on consumers' acceptance. The purpose of this paper is to study consumers' perceptions of two new processing technologies and food products produced by means of these novel technologies. To accomplish this, a qualitative study on consumer attitudes towards high-pressure processing (HPP) and pulsed electric field (PEF) processing of food was carried out. In all 97 adults between 20 and 71 years of age participated in 12 focus groups conducted in Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia, Norway and Denmark using a common guideline. Participants were introduced to the HPP and PEF technologies and then to the effect of the two new technologies on two specific product categories: juice and baby food. The transcribed data was content analysed and the coded data was transformed into diagrams using UCINET 5 and NETDRAW. The results show that consumers perceived the main advantages of HPP and PEF products to be the products' naturalness, improved taste and their high nutritional value, whereas the main disadvantage was the lack of information about the PEF and HPP products. The results of the participants' evaluation of the PEF and HPP processes showed that environmental friendliness and the more natural products were seen as the main advantages, while they were concerned about body and health, the higher price of the products, the lack of information about the technologies and a general scepticism. The study also shows that North European participants were a bit more sceptical towards PEF and HPP products than the East European participants.

Creating a Regional Healthcare Network: People First.

Science.gov (United States)

Michel-Verkerke, Margreet B

2016-01-01

Care organizations in the Dutch region Apeldoorn want to collaborate more in order to improve the care provision to elderly and psychiatric patients living independently. In order to support the collaboration they intend to create a regional digital healthcare network. The research was focused on the relevance of a regional healthcare network for care providers. Eleven semi-structured interviews based on the USE IT-model, were conducted with care providers and staff members. Results show that care providers need to tune their activities for this target group and create an agreement on integrated care. The relevance of a digital communication and collaboration platform is high. The regional healthcare network should support the collaboration between care providers by: 1. Offering a communication platform to replace the time consuming communication by telephone; 2. Making patient information available for patient and care provider at patients' homes; 3. Giving insight in who is giving what care to whom; and 4. Giving access to knowledge about the target group: elderly and psychiatric patients living independently.

How Business Cycles Affect the Healthcare Sector: A Cross-country Investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Cleeren, Kathleen; Lamey, Lien; Meyer, Jan-Hinrich; De Ruyter, Ko

2016-07-01

The long-term relationship between the general economy and healthcare expenditures has been extensively researched, to explain differences in healthcare spending between countries, but the midterm (i.e., business cycle) perspective has been overlooked. This study explores business cycle sensitivity in both public and private parts of the healthcare sector across 32 countries. Responses to the business cycle vary notably, both across spending sources and across countries. Whereas in some countries, consumers and/or governments cut back, in others, private and/or public healthcare buyers tend to spend more. We also assess long-term consequences of business cycle sensitivity and show that public cost cutting during economic downturns deflates the mortality rates, whereas private cut backs increase the long-term growth in total healthcare expenditures. Finally, multiple factors help explain variability in cyclical sensitivity. Private cost cuts during economic downturns are smaller in countries with a predominantly publicly funded healthcare system and more preventive public activities. Public cut backs during contractions are smaller in countries that rely more on tax-based resources rather than social health insurances. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Thinking Differently: Catalyzing Innovation in Healthcare and Beyond.

Science.gov (United States)

Samet, Kenneth A; Smith, Mark S

2016-01-01

Convenience, value, access, and choice have become the new expectations of consumers seeking care. Incorporating these imperatives and navigating an expanded competitive landscape are necessary for the success of healthcare organizations-today and in the future-and require thinking differently than in the past.Innovation must be a central strategy for clinical and business operations to be successful. However, the currently popular concept of innovation is at risk of losing its power and meaning unless deliberate and focused action is taken to define it, adopt it, embrace it, and embed it in an organization's culture. This article details MedStar Health's blueprint for establishing the MedStar Institute for Innovation (MI2), which involved recognizing the sharpened need for innovation, creating a single specific entity to catalyze innovation across the healthcare organization and community, discovering the untapped innovation energy already residing in its employee base, and moving nimbly into the white space of possibility.Drawing on MedStar's experience with MI2, we offer suggestions in the following areas for implementing an innovation institute in a large healthcare system:We offer healthcare and business leaders a playbook for identifying and unleashing innovation in their organizations, at a time when innovation is at an increased risk of being misunderstood or misdirected but remains absolutely necessary for healthcare systems and organizations to flourish in the future.

Consumers as co-developers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jeppesen, Lars Bo; Molin, Måns J.

Abstract: This study describes a process in which a firm relies on an external consumer communityfor innovation. While it has been recognized that users may sometimes innovate, little is known aboutwhat commercial firms can do to motivate and capture such innovations and their related benefits...... firms purposively can do to generate consumer innovation efforts. An explorative casestudy shows that consumer innovation can be structured, motivated, and partly organized by acommercial firm that lays out the infrastructure for interactive learning by consumers in a publicKeywords: Product Development......, Consumer-to-Consumer Interaction, Learning, Consumer Innovation, Community, User-toolkits. JEL code(s): L21; L23; O31; O32...

Dual-process theory and consumer response to front-of-package nutrition label formats.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanjari, S Setareh; Jahn, Steffen; Boztug, Yasemin

2017-11-01

Nutrition labeling literature yields fragmented results about the effect of front-of-package (FOP) nutrition label formats on healthy food choice. Specifically, it is unclear which type of nutrition label format is effective across different shopping situations. To address this gap, the present review investigates the available nutrition labeling literature through the prism of dual-process theory, which posits that decisions are made either quickly and automatically (system 1) or slowly and deliberately (system 2). A systematically performed review of nutrition labeling literature returned 59 papers that provide findings that can be explained according to dual-process theory. The findings of these studies suggest that the effectiveness of nutrition label formats is influenced by the consumer's dominant processing system, which is a function of specific contexts and personal variables (eg, motivation, nutrition knowledge, time pressure, and depletion). Examination of reported findings through a situational processing perspective reveals that consumers might prefer different FOP nutrition label formats in different situations and can exhibit varying responses to the same label format across situations. This review offers several suggestions for policy makers and researchers to help improve current FOP nutrition label formats. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Life Sciences Institute. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Veterans Health Administration Office of Nursing Services exploration of positive patient care synergies fueled by consumer demand: care coordination, advanced clinic access, and patient self-management.

Science.gov (United States)

Wertenberger, Sydney; Yerardi, Ruth; Drake, Audrey C; Parlier, Renee

2006-01-01

The consumers who utilize the Veterans Health Administration healthcare system are older, and most are learning to live with chronic diseases. Their desires and needs have driven changes within the Veterans Health Administration. Through patient satisfaction initiatives and other feedback sources, consumers have made it clear that they do not want to wait for their care, they want a say in what care is provided to them, and they want to remain as independent as possible. Two interdisciplinary processes/models of healthcare are being implemented on the national level to address these issues: advanced clinic access and care coordination. These programs have a synergistic relationship and are integrated with patient self-management initiatives. Positive outcomes of these programs also meet the needs of our staff. As these new processes and programs are implemented nationwide, skills of both patients and nursing staff who provide their care need to be enhanced to meet the challenges of providing nursing care now and into the 21st century. Veterans Health Administration Office of Nursing Services Strategic Planning Work Group is defining and implementing processes/programs to ensure nurses have the knowledge, information, and skills to meet these patient care demands at all levels within the organization.

How 'healthy' are healthcare organizations? Exploring employee healthcare utilization rates among Dutch healthcare organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Bronkhorst, Babette

2017-08-01

Occupational health and safety research rarely makes use of data on employee healthcare utilization to gain insight into the physical and mental health of healthcare staff. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining the prevalence of two relevant types of healthcare utilization among staff working in healthcare organizations: physical therapy and mental healthcare utilization. The paper furthermore explores what role employee and organizational characteristics play in explaining differences in healthcare utilization between organizations. A Dutch healthcare insurance company provided healthcare utilization records for a sample of 417 organizations employing 136,804 healthcare workers in the Netherlands. The results showed that there are large differences between and within healthcare industries when it comes to employee healthcare utilization. Multivariate regression analyses revealed that employee characteristics such as age and gender distributions, and healthcare industry, explain some of the variance between healthcare organizations. Nevertheless, the results of the analyses showed that for all healthcare utilization indicators there is still a large amount of unexplained variance. Further research into the subject of organizational differences in employee healthcare utilization is needed, as finding possibilities to influence employee health and subsequent healthcare utilization is beneficial to employees, employers and society as a whole.

Getting value today and incentivising for the future: Pharmaceutical development and healthcare policies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kasper Munk Johannesen

2015-05-01

Full Text Available To manage the challenge of limited healthcare resources and unlimited demand for healthcare, decision makers utilise a variety of demand side policies, such as health technology appraisals and international reference pricing to regulate price and utilisation. By controlling price and utilisation demand side policies determine the earnings potential, and hence the incentives to invest in research and development (R&D of new technologies. However, the impact of demand side policies on R&D incentives is seldom formally assessed.Based on the key assumption that intellectual property rights, i.e. patents, and expected rent are key drivers of pharmaceutical R&D, this work outlines a framework illustrating the link between demand side policies and pharmaceutical R&D incentives. By analysing how policies impact expected rent and consumer surplus, the framework is used to understand how commonly used demand side policies (including timing and length of reimbursement process, international reference pricing, parallel trade, and sequential adoption into clinical practice may influence R&D incentives.The analysis demonstrates that delayed reimbursement decisions as well as sequential adoption into clinical practise may in fact reduce both expected rent and consumer surplus. It is also demonstrated how international reference pricing is likely to increase consumer surplus at the expense of lower rent and thus lower R&D incentives.Although this work illustrates the importance of considering how demand side policies may impact long-term R&D incentives, it is important to note that the purpose has not been to prescribe which demand side policies should be utilised or how. Rather, the main contribution is to illustrate the need for a structured approach to the analysis of the complex, and at times highly politicised question of how demand side policies ultimately influence population health, both in the short and in the long term. 

Consumer concerns and expectations about novel food processing technologies: effects on product liking.

Science.gov (United States)

Cardello, Armand V

2003-06-01

Eighty-eight consumers participated in a blind pre-test in which they rated their baseline preference for chocolate pudding, their liking of three tasted brands of chocolate pudding, and their level of concern for 20 different food processing and preservation technologies. All returned one month later and tasted the same puddings, but this time they were informed that they had been processed by one of several different novel or traditional food processing techniques. Different sub-groups were informed of the name of the process, the name plus a factual description of the process, or the name, the factual description, plus a benefit statement. Ratings of expected liking were obtained before and after viewing the samples, but before tasting them. Finally, subjects tasted and rated the products for actual liking and a sub-group rated their concern levels for the same 20 technologies rated in the pre-test. Pre-test results showed females to have significantly higher concern levels for all technologies. Individuals who had demonstrated a willingness to consume foods processed by one novel technology (irradiation) had lower concern ratings for all technologies. Ratings of concern were negatively correlated with expected liking for products believed to be processed by the technologies. Expected liking ratings were positively influenced by visual exposure to the product and by a safety and benefit statement. Linear regression of the change in product liking as a function of whether products were better or worse than expected supported an assimilation model of the effect of disconfirmed expectations on liking/disliking. Lastly, post-test concern levels for many of the technologies were reduced by participation in the study.

Does a Consumer-Targeted Deprescribing Intervention Compromise Patient-Healthcare Provider Trust?

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yi Zhi; Turner, Justin P; Martin, Philippe; Tannenbaum, Cara

2018-04-16

One in four community-dwelling older adults is prescribed an inappropriate medication. Educational interventions aimed at patients to reduce inappropriate medications may cause patients to question their prescriber’s judgment. The objective of this study was to determine whether a patient-focused deprescribing intervention compromised trust between older adults and their healthcare providers. An educational brochure was distributed to community-dwelling older adults by community pharmacists in order to trigger deprescribing conversations. At baseline and 6-months post-intervention, participants completed the Primary Care Assessment Survey, which measures patient trust in doctors and pharmacists. Changes in trust were ascertained post-intervention. Proportions with 95% confidence intervals (CI), and logistic regression were used to determine a shift in trust and associated predictors. 352 participants responded to the questionnaire at both time points. The majority of participants had no change or gained trust in their doctors for items related to the choice of medical care (78.5%, 95% CI = 74.2–82.8), communication transparency (75.4%, 95% CI = 70.7–79.8), and overall trust (81.9%, 95% CI = 77.9–86.0). Similar results were obtained for participants’ perceptions of their pharmacists, with trust remaining intact for items related to the choice of medical care (79.4%, 95% CI = 75.3–83.9), transparency in communicating (82.0%, 95% CI = 78.0–86.1), and overall trust (81.6%, 95% CI = 77.5–85.7). Neither age, sex nor the medication class targeted for deprescribing was associated with a loss of trust. Overall, the results indicate that patient-focused deprescribing interventions do not shift patients’ trust in their healthcare providers in a negative direction.

Does a Consumer-Targeted Deprescribing Intervention Compromise Patient-Healthcare Provider Trust?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi Zhi Zhang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available One in four community-dwelling older adults is prescribed an inappropriate medication. Educational interventions aimed at patients to reduce inappropriate medications may cause patients to question their prescriber’s judgment. The objective of this study was to determine whether a patient-focused deprescribing intervention compromised trust between older adults and their healthcare providers. An educational brochure was distributed to community-dwelling older adults by community pharmacists in order to trigger deprescribing conversations. At baseline and 6-months post-intervention, participants completed the Primary Care Assessment Survey, which measures patient trust in doctors and pharmacists. Changes in trust were ascertained post-intervention. Proportions with 95% confidence intervals (CI, and logistic regression were used to determine a shift in trust and associated predictors. 352 participants responded to the questionnaire at both time points. The majority of participants had no change or gained trust in their doctors for items related to the choice of medical care (78.5%, 95% CI = 74.2–82.8, communication transparency (75.4%, 95% CI = 70.7–79.8, and overall trust (81.9%, 95% CI = 77.9–86.0. Similar results were obtained for participants’ perceptions of their pharmacists, with trust remaining intact for items related to the choice of medical care (79.4%, 95% CI = 75.3–83.9, transparency in communicating (82.0%, 95% CI = 78.0–86.1, and overall trust (81.6%, 95% CI = 77.5–85.7. Neither age, sex nor the medication class targeted for deprescribing was associated with a loss of trust. Overall, the results indicate that patient-focused deprescribing interventions do not shift patients’ trust in their healthcare providers in a negative direction.

[Pharmaceutical Assistance in the Family Healthcare Program: points of affinity and discord in the organization process].

Science.gov (United States)

Silva Oliveira, Tatiana de Alencar; Maria, Tatiane de Oliveira Silva; Alves do Nascimento, Angela Maria; do Nascimento, Angela Alves

2011-09-01

The scope of this study was to discuss the organization of the pharmaceutical assistance service in the family healthcare program. Qualitative research from a critical/analytical perspective was conducted in family healthcare units in a municipality of the state of Bahia, Brazil. Data was collected on the basis of systematic observation, semi-structured interviews and documents analysis from a dialectic standpoint. The organization of Pharmaceutical Assistance consisted of selection, planning, acquisition, storage and dispensing activities. The process was studied in the implementation phase, which was occurring in a centralized and uncoordinated fashion, without the proposed team work. An excess of activity was observed among the healthcare workers and there was an absence of a continued education policy for the workers. For the transformation of this situation and to ensure the organization of pharmaceutical assistance with quality and in an integrated manner, a reworking of the manner of thinking and action of the players concerned (managers, health workers and users), who participate directly in the organization, is necessary. Furthermore, mechanical, bureaucratic and impersonal work practices need to be abandoned.

Integrated decision making in healthcare: an operations research and management science perspective

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hulshof, P.J.H.

2013-01-01

The pressure on healthcare systems rises as both demand for healthcare and expenditures are increasing steadily. As a result, healthcare professionals face the challenging task to design and organize the healthcare delivery process more effectively and efficiently. Designing and organizing processes

Effect of welding processes and consumables on fatigue crack growth behaviour of armour grade quenched and tempered steel joints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Magudeeswaran

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Quenched and Tempered (Q&T steels are widely used in the construction of military vehicles due to its high strength to weight ratio and high hardness. These steels are prone to hydrogen induced cracking (HIC in the heat affected zone (HAZ after welding. The use of austenitic stainless steel (ASS consumables to weld the above steel was the only available remedy because of higher solubility for hydrogen in austenitic phase. The use of stainless steel consumables for a non-stainless steel base metal is not economical. Hence, alternate consumables for welding Q&T steels and their vulnerability to HIC need to be explored. Recent studies proved that low hydrogen ferritic steel (LHF consumables can be used to weld Q&T steels, which can give very low hydrogen levels in the weld deposits. The use of ASS and LHF consumables will lead to distinct microstructures in their respective welds. This microstructural heterogeneity will have a drastic influence in the fatigue crack growth resistance of armour grade Q&T steel welds. Hence, in this investigation an attempt has been made to study the influence of welding consumables and welding processes on fatigue crack growth behaviour of armour grade Q&T Steel joints. Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW and Flux cored arc welding (FCAW were used for fabrication of joints using ASS and LHF consumables. The joints fabricated by SMAW process using LHF consumable exhibited superior fatigue crack growth resistance than all other joints.

Consumer fears and familiarity of processed food. The value of information provided by the FTNS.

Science.gov (United States)

Verneau, Fabio; Caracciolo, Francesco; Coppola, Adele; Lombardi, Pasquale

2014-02-01

Food choice and consumption behaviour are influenced by many interacting factors. In this paper we present an empirical effort to enhance understanding of the neophobia-neophilia forces affecting food choice. Starting from the analysis of consumer preferences for some of the most familiar highly processed foods, namely fat-reduced, functional (enriched drinks and yogurt) and ready-to-eat frozen food, our study investigates the role of traditional demographic variables vs attitudes to new food technologies in predicting the consumption behaviour of a sample of Italians buying such products. Consumer attitudes toward food technologies were collected by means of the Food Technology Neophobia Scale (FTNS). Moreover, this paper explicitly analyses the value of the information provided by the FTNS. Underlying the research is the hypothesis that the FTNS may contribute to provide a comprehensive picture of the driving forces behind consumers' behavioural responses towards processed foods which are the end-result of mature technologies. The four FTNS components, once measured and used independently, help clarify the influence on food choices of each neophobia-neophilia force (risk perception and novelty seeking, media influence, own health and environmental concerns) into a single, comprehensive framework. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Research Methods in Healthcare Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Stewardship-Mathematical Modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, Sean L; Kasaie, Parastu; Anderson, Deverick J; Rubin, Michael

2016-11-01

Mathematical modeling is a valuable methodology used to study healthcare epidemiology and antimicrobial stewardship, particularly when more traditional study approaches are infeasible, unethical, costly, or time consuming. We focus on 2 of the most common types of mathematical modeling, namely compartmental modeling and agent-based modeling, which provide important advantages-such as shorter developmental timelines and opportunities for extensive experimentation-over observational and experimental approaches. We summarize these advantages and disadvantages via specific examples and highlight recent advances in the methodology. A checklist is provided to serve as a guideline in the development of mathematical models in healthcare epidemiology and antimicrobial stewardship. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016;1-7.

Communication about consumption: A family process perspective on "green" consumer practices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grønhøj, Alice

2006-01-01

Family decision-making still constitutes a niche of consumer research. The preference towards using individualist approaches is even more prevalent in research on environmentally oriented consumer behaviour. However, many green consumer practices involve several family members, who may be able......-ridden, day-to-day influences between family members are a common phenomenon, even when it comes to inconspicuous, everyday consumer behaviour....

"It's often liberating": consumers discuss causal beliefs in the treatment process.

Science.gov (United States)

Larkings, Josephine S; Brown, Patricia M; Scholz, Brett

2017-12-19

Causal beliefs are thought to influence consumers' perceptions of their mental illness and self-stigma, and may impact treatment and recovery. Understanding consumers' perspective on causes being addressed in treatment is vital to help guide future research and improve services. This study aimed to explore consumers' views on causes of mental illness being addressed in treatment, along with their subjective experiences of how causes were focused on in their treatment. Using a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 consumers who self-identified as having a mental illness. A thematic analytic framework was used to identify and analyse themes that emerged within the data. Consumers believed that causes were important and should be addressed in treatment, and identified several associated benefits including increased insight/personal understanding of their illness, symptom management and relapse prevention and reduced self-blame. Negative consequences and considerations were also identified. Causes help consumers make sense of their illness, and consumers would like causes to be addressed in treatment. More research is needed on how mental health professionals can address causes effectively as consumers are currently dissatisfied with how causes were discussed in their treatment.

Consumer's Negative emotions, Financial Decisions, Financial Advice

OpenAIRE

Konstantaki, Violetta

2007-01-01

Abstract The purpose of this study is to explore the consumers decision making process. In particular, this study attempts to examine consumers negative emotions, which elicit during a decision processing. Especially, the case of a financial decision will be examined. Moreover, consumers negative emotion will be investigated in relation with consumers coping behaviour. To be more specific, the option of seeking advice as a successful consumers coping behaviour will be explor...

Stretchable, Twisted Conductive Microtubules for Wearable Computing, Robotics, Electronics, and Healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Do, Thanh Nho; Visell, Yon

2017-05-11

Stretchable and flexible multifunctional electronic components, including sensors and actuators, have received increasing attention in robotics, electronics, wearable, and healthcare applications. Despite advances, it has remained challenging to design analogs of many electronic components to be highly stretchable, to be efficient to fabricate, and to provide control over electronic performance. Here, we describe highly elastic sensors and interconnects formed from thin, twisted conductive microtubules. These devices consist of twisted assemblies of thin, highly stretchable (>400%) elastomer tubules filled with liquid conductor (eutectic gallium indium, EGaIn), and fabricated using a simple roller coating process. As we demonstrate, these devices can operate as multimodal sensors for strain, rotation, contact force, or contact location. We also show that, through twisting, it is possible to control their mechanical performance and electronic sensitivity. In extensive experiments, we have evaluated the capabilities of these devices, and have prototyped an array of applications in several domains of stretchable and wearable electronics. These devices provide a novel, low cost solution for high performance stretchable electronics with broad applications in industry, healthcare, and consumer electronics, to emerging product categories of high potential economic and societal significance.

Attention, motivation, and consumer judgement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Orquin, Jacob Lund

and what happens when they process it? The dissertation contains four papers which report nine different experiments. The first three papers are concerned with the question of what health information consumers process while the last paper explores the consequences of strategically exposing consumers...

Realisation of a joint consumer engagement strategy in the Nepean Blue Mountains region.

Science.gov (United States)

Blignault, Ilse; Aspinall, Diana; Reay, Lizz; Hyman, Kay

2017-02-15

Ensuring consumer engagement at different levels of the health system - direct care, organisational design and governance and policy - has become a strategic priority. This case study explored, through interviews with six purposively selected 'insiders' and document review, how one Medicare Local (now a Primary Health Network, PHN) and Local Health District worked together with consumers, to establish a common consumer engagement structure and mechanisms to support locally responsive, integrated and consumer-centred services. The two healthcare organisations worked as partners across the health system, sharing ownership and responsibility. Critical success factors included a consumer champion working with other highly motivated consumers concerned with improving the health system, a budget, and ongoing commitment from the Medicare Local or PHN and the Local Health District at executive and board level. Shared boundaries were an enormous advantage. Activities were jointly planned and executed, with consumer participation paramount. Training and mentoring enhanced consumer capacity and confidence. Bringing everyone on board and building on existing structures required time, effort and resources. The initiative produced immediate and lasting benefits, with consumer engagement now embedded in organisational governance and practice.

Clinical Practice: Direct-to-consumer genetic testing: To test or not to ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing, laboratory-based genetic services are offered directly to the public without an independent healthcare professional being involved. The committee of the Southern African Society for Human Genetics (SASHG) appeals to the public and clinicians to be cautious when considering ...

Depolymerization of post-consumer PET with multifunctional alcohol through melt processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lessa, Tathiane C.R.F.; Mendes, Luis C.; Dias, Marcos L.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to prepare oligomers from post-consumer PET with multifunctional alcohol, through melt processing, aiming to develop a new material, able to play a role as filler or property modifier. Maintaining constants the process conditions, content and kind of catalyst, the influence of the solvolysis agent on the PET depolymerization was investigated. The products were evaluated by wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and thermogravimetry (TG/DTG). The changes in the WAXD curves and the shift of the maximum degradation temperature suggested that the ester linkages were broken being the ethylene glycol moieties replaced with hydroxyl-terminal groups of the multifunctional alcohol, as result of a transesterification reaction. The chemical structure of the new ester was named 'star-branching polymer'. (author)

User recommendation in healthcare social media by assessing user similarity in heterogeneous network.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Ling; Yang, Christopher C

2017-09-01

The rapid growth of online health social websites has captured a vast amount of healthcare information and made the information easy to access for health consumers. E-patients often use these social websites for informational and emotional support. However, health consumers could be easily overwhelmed by the overloaded information. Healthcare information searching can be very difficult for consumers, not to mention most of them are not skilled information searcher. In this work, we investigate the approaches for measuring user similarity in online health social websites. By recommending similar users to consumers, we can help them to seek informational and emotional support in a more efficient way. We propose to represent the healthcare social media data as a heterogeneous healthcare information network and introduce the local and global structural approaches for measuring user similarity in a heterogeneous network. We compare the proposed structural approaches with the content-based approach. Experiments were conducted on a dataset collected from a popular online health social website, and the results showed that content-based approach performed better for inactive users, while structural approaches performed better for active users. Moreover, global structural approach outperformed local structural approach for all user groups. In addition, we conducted experiments on local and global structural approaches using different weight schemas for the edges in the network. Leverage performed the best for both local and global approaches. Finally, we integrated different approaches and demonstrated that hybrid method yielded better performance than the individual approach. The results indicate that content-based methods can effectively capture the similarity of inactive users who usually have focused interests, while structural methods can achieve better performance when rich structural information is available. Local structural approach only considers direct connections

Attitudes of nursing students on consumer participation: the effectiveness of the Mental Health Consumer Participation Questionnaire.

Science.gov (United States)

Byrne, Louise; Happell, Brenda; Platania-Phung, Chris

2015-01-01

The aims of this article were to evaluate the Mental Health Consumer Participation Questionnaire, and measure nursing students' attitudes to consumer participation. Undergraduate nursing students (n = 116) completed the Mental Health Consumer Participation Questionnaire at the start of a course on recovery for mental health nursing practice. The current findings confirm an endorsement of consumer participation in individual care processes, but less agreement with participation in organizational-level processes, such as management of mental health services and education of providers. This article also confirms that the questionnaire can effectively measure attitudes to consumer participation. The participation of consumers is critical for achieving person-centered services mental health services. It is important that nursing education influence positive attitudes. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Model of care for a changing healthcare system: are there foundational pillars for design?

Science.gov (United States)

Booker, Catriona; Turbutt, Adam; Fox, Robyn

2016-04-01

Currently, healthcare organisations are being challenged to provide optimal clinical services within budget limitations while simultaneously being confronted by aging consumers and labour and skill shortages. Within this dynamic and changing environment, the ability to remain responsive to patient needs while managing these issues poses further challenges. Development or review of the model of care (MOC) may provide a possible solution to support efficiencies in service provision. Although MOC are not readily understood or appreciated as an efficiency strategy, they can be more easily explained by considering several recurring pillars when developing or redesigning an MOC. Generic and recurring foundational pillars include integrated care models, team functioning and communication, leadership, change management and lean thinking. These foundational pillars should be incorporated into the development and application of MOC in order to achieve desired outcomes. However, sustainability requires continuous review to enable improvement and must be integrated into routine business. Moreover, successful review of MOC requires collaboration and commitment by all stakeholders. Leaders are critical to motivating clinicians and stakeholders in the review process. Further, it is imperative that leaders engage stakeholders to commit to support the agreed strategies designed to provide efficient and comprehensive healthcare services. Redesign of MOC can significantly improve patient care by applying the agreed strategies. In the current healthcare environment, these strategies can favourably affect healthcare expenditure and, at the same time, improve the quality of interprofessional health services.

Dutch healthcare reform: did it result in performance improvement of health plans? A comparison of consumer experiences over time.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hendriks, M.; Spreeuwenberg, P.; Rademakers, J.; Delnoij, D.M.J.

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND: Many countries have introduced elements of managed competition in their healthcare system with the aim to accomplish more efficient and demand-driven health care. Simultaneously, generating and reporting of comparative healthcare information has become an important quality-improvement

Effective dose in SMAW and FCAW welding processes using rutile consumables.

Science.gov (United States)

Herranz, M; Rozas, S; Idoeta, R; Alegría, N

2014-03-01

The shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) and flux cored arc welding (FCAW) processes use covered electrodes and flux cored wire as consumables. Among these consumables, ones containing rutile are the most widely used, and since they have a considerable natural radioactive content, they can be considered as NORM (naturally occurring radioactive material). To calculate the effective dose on workers during their use in a conservative situation, samples of slag and aerosols and particles emitted or deposited during welding were taken and measured by gamma, alpha and beta spectrometry. An analytical method was also developed for estimating the activity concentration of radionuclides in the inhaled air. (222)Rn activity concentration was also assessed. With all these data, internal and external doses were calculated. The results show that external doses are negligible in comparison with internal ones, which do not exceed 1 mSv yr(-1), either in this conservative situation or in any other more favourable one. Radionuclides after Rn in the radioactive natural series are emitted at the same activity concentration to the atmosphere, this being around 17 times higher than that corresponding to radionuclides before Rn. Taking into account these conclusions and the analytical method developed, it can be concluded that one way to assess the activity concentration of natural radionuclides in inhaled air and hence effective doses could be the early gamma-ray spectrometry of aerosols and particles sampled during the welding process.

Making comparative performance information more comprehensible: an experimental evaluation of the impact of formats on consumer understanding.

Science.gov (United States)

Damman, Olga C; De Jong, Anco; Hibbard, Judith H; Timmermans, Danielle R M

2016-11-01

We aimed to investigate how different presentation formats influence comprehension and use of comparative performance information (CPI) among consumers. An experimental between-subjects and within-subjects design with manipulations of CPI presentation formats. We enrolled both consumers with lower socioeconomic status (SES)/cognitive skills and consumers with higher SES/cognitive skills, recruited through an online access panel. Respondents received fictitious CPI and completed questions about interpretation and information use. Between subjects, we tested (1) displaying an overall performance score (yes/no); (2) displaying a small number of quality indicators (5 vs 9); and (3) displaying different types of evaluative symbols (star ratings, coloured dots and word icons vs numbers and bar graphs). Within subjects, we tested the effect of a reduced number of healthcare providers (5 vs 20). Data were analysed using descriptive analysis, analyses of variance and paired-sampled t tests. A total of 902 (43%) respondents participated. Displaying an overall performance score and the use of coloured dots and word icons particularly enhanced consumer understanding. Importantly, respondents provided with coloured dots most often correctly selected the top three healthcare providers (84.3%), compared with word icons (76.6% correct), star ratings (70.6% correct), numbers (62.0%) and bars (54.2%) when viewing performance scores of 20 providers. Furthermore, a reduced number of healthcare providers appeared to support consumers, for example, when provided with 20 providers, 69.5% correctly selected the top three, compared with 80.2% with five providers. Particular presentation formats enhanced consumer understanding of CPI, most importantly the use of overall performance scores, word icons and coloured dots, and a reduced number of providers displayed. Public report efforts should use these formats to maximise impact on consumers. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited

Effect of Household Coffee Processing on Pesticide Residues as a Means of Ensuring Consumers' Safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Mekonen, Seblework; Ambelu, Argaw; Spanoghe, Pieter

2015-09-30

Coffee is a highly consumed and popular beverage all over the world; however, coffee beans used for daily consumption may contain pesticide residues that may cause adverse health effects to consumers. In this monitoring study, the effect of household coffee processing on pesticide residues in coffee beans was investigated. Twelve pesticides, including metabolites and isomers (endosulfan α, endosulfan β, cypermethrin, permethrin, deltamethrin, chlorpyrifos ethyl, heptachlor epoxide, hexachlorobenzene, p'p-DDE, p'p-DDD, o'p-DDT, and p'p-DDT) were spiked in coffee beans collected from a local market in southwestern Ethiopia. The subsequent household coffee processing conditions (washing, roasting, and brewing) were established as closely as possible to the traditional household coffee processing in Ethiopia. Washing of coffee beans showed 14.63-57.69 percent reduction, while the roasting process reduced up to 99.8 percent. Chlorpyrifos ethyl, permethrin, cypermethrin, endosulfan α and β in roasting and all of the 12 pesticides in the coffee brewing processes were not detected. Kruskal-Wallis analysis indicated that the reduction of pesticide residues by washing is significantly different from roasting and brewing (P coffee roasting and brewing (P > 0.05). The processing factor (PF) was less than one (PF coffee beans. The cumulative effect of the three processing methods has a paramount importance in evaluating the risks associated with ingestion of pesticide residues, particularly in coffee beans.

Motivational factors for consuming omega-3 PUFAs: an exploratory study with Danish consumers.

Science.gov (United States)

Krutulyte, Rasa; Grunert, Klaus G; Scholderer, Joachim; Hagemann, Kit Skov; Elgaard, Peter; Nielsen, Brian; Graverholt, Jens Peter

2008-07-01

Growing consumer awareness of functional foods and understanding of their positive nutritional effects have led to the need of specific studies and have captured more attention than ever before. In Europe, Danish consumers have been found to be relatively negative towards the concept of functional foods. This paper presents the results of a qualitative pilot study that aimed to explore Danish consumers' motives for choosing omega-3/fish oil enriched products. The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) was applied as a theoretical framework to understand the process by which people choose healthy foods. By conducting qualitative in-depth interviews the study mostly focused on the role of behavioural intention predictors such as risk perception, outcome expectations and self-efficacy. The results of the study suggest that consumers' understanding of healthy eating as such does not relate to the choice of omega-3/fish oil, whereas perception of omega-3 as an ingredient in selected foods does indeed influence consumers' choice of carrier-ingredient combinations.

Setting up a randomized clinical trial in the UK: approvals and process.

Science.gov (United States)

Greene, Louise Eleanor; Bearn, David R

2013-06-01

Randomized clinical trials are considered the 'gold standard' in primary research for healthcare interventions. However, they can be expensive and time-consuming to set up and require many approvals to be in place before they can begin. This paper outlines how to determine what approvals are required for a trial, the background of each approval and the process for obtaining them.

Consumer perceptions of beef healthiness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Van Wezemael, Lynn; Verbeke, Wim; Dutra de Barcellos, Marcia

2010-01-01

of beef consumed. Focus group participants were not in favour of improving beef healthiness during processing, but rather focussed on appropriate consumption behaviour and preparation methods. CONCLUSIONS: The individual responsibility for health implies that consumers should be able to make correct......BACKGROUND: Consumer perception of the healthiness of beef is an important determinant of beef consumption. However, little is known about how consumers perceive the healthiness of beef. The aim of this study is to shed light on the associations between beef and health. METHODS: Eight focus group...... as well as negative effects of beef consumption on their health. Labelled, branded, fresh and lean beef were perceived as signalling healthful beef, in contrast with further processed and packaged beef. Consumers felt that their individual choices could make a difference with respect to the healthiness...

Use of consumer insight in the new product development process in the meat sector

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grunert, Klaus G.; Verbeke, Wim; Kügler, Jens

2011-01-01

Successful new product development requires input from the market throughout the product development process, from identification of opportunities via screening of ideas, development of concepts, development of physical prototypes and to launch. Drawing on work done in the EU FP6 projects...... PROSAFEBEEF and Q-PORKCHAINS and a Danish project, all dealing with new product development in the meat sector, it is shown how the use of consumer insight techniques can a) support the identification of market opportunities, b) make sure that technologies applied are acceptable to consumers, c) aid...... the selection and optimisation of new product concepts and related communication, and d) be used to test product prototypes before final launch....

Implementation and evaluation of a prototype consumer reporting system for patient safety events.

Science.gov (United States)

Weingart, Saul N; Weissman, Joel S; Zimmer, Karen P; Giannini, Robert C; Quigley, Denise D; Hunter, Lauren E; Ridgely, M Susan; Schneider, Eric C

2017-08-01

No methodologically robust system exists for capturing consumer-generated patient safety reports. To address this challenge, we developed and pilot-tested a prototype consumer reporting system for patient safety, the Health Care Safety Hotline. Mixed methods evaluation. The Hotline was implemented in two US healthcare systems from 1 February 2014 through 30 June 2015. Patients, family members and caregivers associated with two US healthcare systems. A consumer-oriented incident reporting system for telephone or web-based administration was developed to elicit medical mistakes and care-related injuries. Key informant interviews, measurement of website traffic and analysis of completed reports. Key informants indicated that Hotline participation was motivated by senior leaders' support and alignment with existing quality and safety initiatives. During the measurement period from 1 October 2014 through 30 June 2015, the home page had 1530 visitors with a unique IP address. During its 17 months of operation, the Hotline received 37 completed reports including 20 mistakes without harm and 15 mistakes with injury. The largest category of mistake concerned problems with diagnosis or advice from a health practitioner. Hotline reports prompted quality reviews, an education intervention, and patient follow-ups. While generating fewer reports than its capacity to manage, the Health Care Safety Hotline demonstrated the feasibility of consumer-oriented patient safety reporting. Further research is needed to understand how to increase consumers' use of these systems. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

[Autonomy for financial management in public and private healthcare facilities in Brazil].

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, Maria Angelica Borges dos; Madeira, Fátima Carvalho; Passos, Sonia Regina Lambert; Bakr, Felipe; Oliveira, Klivia Brayner de; Andreazzi, Marco Antonio Ratzsch de

2014-01-01

Autonomy in financial management is an advantage in public administration. A 2009 National Healthcare Facility Survey showed that 3.9% of Brazil's 52,055 public healthcare facilities had some degree of financial autonomy. Such autonomy was more common in inpatient facilities (17.8%), those managed by State governments (26.3%), and in Southern Brazil (6.6%). Autonomy was mainly partial (for resources in specific areas, relating to small outlays, consumables and capital goods, and outsourced services or personnel). 74.3% of 2,264 public facilities with any financial autonomy were under direct government administration. Financial autonomy in public healthcare facilities appears to be linked to local political decisions and not necessarily to the facility's specific legal and administrative status. However, legal status displays distinct scopes of autonomy - those under direct government administration tend to be less autonomous, and those under private businesses more autonomous; 85.8% of the 45,394 private healthcare facilities reported that they were financially autonomous.

Complexity leadership: a healthcare imperative.

Science.gov (United States)

Weberg, Dan

2012-01-01

The healthcare system is plagued with increasing cost and poor quality outcomes. A major contributing factor for these issues is that outdated leadership practices, such as leader-centricity, linear thinking, and poor readiness for innovation, are being used in healthcare organizations. Complexity leadership theory provides a new framework with which healthcare leaders may practice leadership. Complexity leadership theory conceptualizes leadership as a continual process that stems from collaboration, complex systems thinking, and innovation mindsets. Compared to transactional and transformational leadership concepts, complexity leadership practices hold promise to improve cost and quality in health care. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Requirements for Interoperability in Healthcare Information Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rita Noumeir

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Interoperability is a requirement for the successful deployment of Electronic Health Records (EHR. EHR improves the quality of healthcare by enabling access to all relevant information at the diagnostic decision moment, regardless of location. It is a system that results from the cooperation of several heterogeneous distributed subsystems that need to successfully exchange information relative to a specific healthcare process. This paper analyzes interoperability impediments in healthcare by first defining them and providing concrete healthcare examples, followed by discussion of how specifications can be defined and how verification can be conducted to eliminate those impediments and ensure interoperability in healthcare. This paper also analyzes how Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE has been successful in enabling interoperability, and identifies some neglected aspects that need attention.

Downsizing, reengineering, and restructuring: long-term implications for healthcare organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Leatt, P; Baker, G R; Halverson, P K; Aird, C

1997-01-01

This article provides a framework for analyzing how downsizing and reengineering have affected healthcare organizations. These approaches are reviewed, and key tools that have been used, such as across-the-board cuts, reorganizing, and redesigning, are described. Examples are drawn from healthcare as well as other business sectors. The consequences of cost reduction strategies for an organizations's performance in terms of costs, quality of services, and satisfaction of consumers and employees are explored. The case is made that an organization's context--that is, its culture, level of trust, and leadership--is an important factor that influences the effect of cost-cutting strategies. Characteristics of organizations where downsizing has a better chance of succeeding also are described.

Applying activity-based costing to healthcare settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Canby, J B

1995-02-01

Activity-based costing (ABC) focuses on processes that drive cost. By tracing healthcare activities back to events that generate cost, a more accurate measurement of financial performance is possible. This article uses ABC principles and techniques to determine costs associated with the x-ray process in a midsized outpatient clinic. The article also provides several tips for initiating an ABC cost system for an entire healthcare organization.

A Framework for Designing a Healthcare Outcome Data Warehouse

Science.gov (United States)

Parmanto, Bambang; Scotch, Matthew; Ahmad, Sjarif

2005-01-01

Many healthcare processes involve a series of patient visits or a series of outcomes. The modeling of outcomes associated with these types of healthcare processes is different from and not as well understood as the modeling of standard industry environments. For this reason, the typical multidimensional data warehouse designs that are frequently seen in other industries are often not a good match for data obtained from healthcare processes. Dimensional modeling is a data warehouse design technique that uses a data structure similar to the easily understood entity-relationship (ER) model but is sophisticated in that it supports high-performance data access. In the context of rehabilitation services, we implemented a slight variation of the dimensional modeling technique to make a data warehouse more appropriate for healthcare. One of the key aspects of designing a healthcare data warehouse is finding the right grain (scope) for different levels of analysis. We propose three levels of grain that enable the analysis of healthcare outcomes from highly summarized reports on episodes of care to fine-grained studies of progress from one treatment visit to the next. These grains allow the database to support multiple levels of analysis, which is imperative for healthcare decision making. PMID:18066371

A framework for designing a healthcare outcome data warehouse.

Science.gov (United States)

Parmanto, Bambang; Scotch, Matthew; Ahmad, Sjarif

2005-09-06

Many healthcare processes involve a series of patient visits or a series of outcomes. The modeling of outcomes associated with these types of healthcare processes is different from and not as well understood as the modeling of standard industry environments. For this reason, the typical multidimensional data warehouse designs that are frequently seen in other industries are often not a good match for data obtained from healthcare processes. Dimensional modeling is a data warehouse design technique that uses a data structure similar to the easily understood entity-relationship (ER) model but is sophisticated in that it supports high-performance data access. In the context of rehabilitation services, we implemented a slight variation of the dimensional modeling technique to make a data warehouse more appropriate for healthcare. One of the key aspects of designing a healthcare data warehouse is finding the right grain (scope) for different levels of analysis. We propose three levels of grain that enable the analysis of healthcare outcomes from highly summarized reports on episodes of care to fine-grained studies of progress from one treatment visit to the next. These grains allow the database to support multiple levels of analysis, which is imperative for healthcare decision making.

Healing or harming? Healthcare provider interactions with injured workers and insurers in workers' compensation systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Kilgour, Elizabeth; Kosny, Agnieszka; McKenzie, Donna; Collie, Alex

2015-03-01

Healthcare providers (HCPs) are influential in the injured worker's recovery process and fulfil many roles in the delivery of health services. Interactions between HCPs and insurers can also affect injured workers' engagement in rehabilitation and subsequently their recovery and return to work. Consideration of the injured workers' perceptions and experiences as consumers of medical and compensation services can provide vital information about the quality, efficacy and impact of such systems. The aim of this systematic review was to identify and synthesize published qualitative research that focused on the interactions between injured workers, HCPs and insurers in workers' compensation systems in order to identify processes or interactions which impact injured worker recovery. A search of six electronic databases for literature published between 1985 and 2012 revealed 1,006 articles. Screening for relevance identified 27 studies which were assessed for quality against set criteria. A final 13 articles of medium and high quality were retained for data extraction. Findings were synthesized using a meta-ethnographic approach. Injured workers reported that HCPs could play both healing and harming roles in their recovery. Supportive patient-centred interaction with HCPs is important for injured workers. Difficult interactions between HCPs and insurers were highlighted in themes of adversarial relations and organisational pressures. Insurer and compensation system processes exerted an influence on the therapeutic relationship. Recommendations to improve relationships included streamlining administrative demands and increasing education and communication between the parties. Injured workers with long term complex injuries experience difficulties with healthcare in the workers' compensation context. Changes in insurer administrative demands and compensation processes could increase HCP participation and job satisfaction. This in turn may improve injured worker recovery

[Intention of purchasing generic prescription drugs on the part of consumers in Asturias, Spain].

Science.gov (United States)

González Hernando, Santiago; González Mieres, Celina; Díaz Martín, Ana M

2003-01-01

Ascertaining how consumers perceive the risk related to the use of generic prescription drugs and those factors which have the greatest impact on the intention to request a generic drug from the prescribing physician and/or the pharmacist for the purpose of determining any possible barriers or hindrances to the acceptance of generics and to gather information to aid healthcare managers in their decision-making processes. Study on prescription drug use revolving around the degree to which patients are willing to request an EFG. In this quantitative transversal study, a total of 542 individuals were individually surveyed upon exiting a healthcare center or pharmacy in Asturias. A scale for measuring the perceived risk involved in the purchase of a prescription drug including 15 attributes grouped into five aspects was included in the questionnaire. Information was also gathered regarding the intention of using generic prescription drugs and on the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of those surveyed. For the analysis of the results, a factorial confirmational analysis, multiple regression and univariate analysis were used. The data was processed using the EQS and SPSS statistics programs. Mean perception of the risk (scales 1-7): functional: 2.75; physical: 2.68: financial: 2.19; psychological: 1.99; social: 1.42. Factors having a bearing on the intention of requesting generic prescription drugs from their physician: psychological risk (p = 0.000). On requesting the same from their pharmacist: psychological risk (p = 0.000) and social risk (p = 0.020). The agents interested in the development on the EFG market should target their communication efforts on putting the functional and financial aspects of the manufacturer's specialties and generic specialties on the same level, but should not leave out psychological and social aspects of the consumers' purchasing behavior.

Balancing influence between actors in healthcare decision making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Babad Yair M

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Healthcare costs in most developed countries are not clearly linked to better patient and public health outcomes, but are rather associated with service delivery orientation. In the U.S. this has resulted in large variation in healthcare availability and use, increased cost, reduced employer participation in health insurance programs, and reduced overall population health outcomes. Recent U.S. healthcare reform legislation addresses only some of these issues. Other countries face similar healthcare issues. Discussion A major goal of healthcare is to enhance patient health outcomes. This objective is not realized in many countries because incentives and structures are currently not aligned for maximizing population health. The misalignment occurs because of the competing interests between "actors" in healthcare. In a simplified model these are individuals motivated to enhance their own health; enterprises (including a mix of nonprofit, for profit and government providers, payers, and suppliers, etc. motivated by profit, political, organizational and other forces; and government which often acts in the conflicting roles of a healthcare payer and provider in addition to its role as the representative and protector of the people. An imbalance exists between the actors, due to the resources and information control of the enterprise and government actors relative to the individual and the public. Failure to use effective preventive interventions is perhaps the best example of the misalignment of incentives. We consider the current Pareto efficient balance between the actors in relation to the Pareto frontier, and show that a significant change in the healthcare market requires major changes in the utilities of the enterprise and government actors. Summary A variety of actions are necessary for maximizing population health within the constraints of available resources and the current balance between the actors. These actions include

Balancing influence between actors in healthcare decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Robert M; Babad, Yair M

2011-04-19

Healthcare costs in most developed countries are not clearly linked to better patient and public health outcomes, but are rather associated with service delivery orientation. In the U.S. this has resulted in large variation in healthcare availability and use, increased cost, reduced employer participation in health insurance programs, and reduced overall population health outcomes. Recent U.S. healthcare reform legislation addresses only some of these issues. Other countries face similar healthcare issues. A major goal of healthcare is to enhance patient health outcomes. This objective is not realized in many countries because incentives and structures are currently not aligned for maximizing population health. The misalignment occurs because of the competing interests between "actors" in healthcare. In a simplified model these are individuals motivated to enhance their own health; enterprises (including a mix of nonprofit, for profit and government providers, payers, and suppliers, etc.) motivated by profit, political, organizational and other forces; and government which often acts in the conflicting roles of a healthcare payer and provider in addition to its role as the representative and protector of the people. An imbalance exists between the actors, due to the resources and information control of the enterprise and government actors relative to the individual and the public. Failure to use effective preventive interventions is perhaps the best example of the misalignment of incentives. We consider the current Pareto efficient balance between the actors in relation to the Pareto frontier, and show that a significant change in the healthcare market requires major changes in the utilities of the enterprise and government actors. A variety of actions are necessary for maximizing population health within the constraints of available resources and the current balance between the actors. These actions include improved transparency of all aspects of medical decision

Automated integration of continuous glucose monitor data in the electronic health record using consumer technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Rajiv B; Goren, Nira D; Stark, David E; Wall, Dennis P; Longhurst, Christopher A

2016-05-01

The diabetes healthcare provider plays a key role in interpreting blood glucose trends, but few institutions have successfully integrated patient home glucose data in the electronic health record (EHR). Published implementations to date have required custom interfaces, which limit wide-scale replication. We piloted automated integration of continuous glucose monitor data in the EHR using widely available consumer technology for 10 pediatric patients with insulin-dependent diabetes. Establishment of a passive data communication bridge via a patient's/parent's smartphone enabled automated integration and analytics of patient device data within the EHR between scheduled clinic visits. It is feasible to utilize available consumer technology to assess and triage home diabetes device data within the EHR, and to engage patients/parents and improve healthcare provider workflow. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association.

Benefits and harms of direct to consumer advertising: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilbody, S; Wilson, P; Watt, I

2005-08-01

Direct to consumer advertising is increasingly used by the pharmaceutical industry, but its benefits and harms have yet to be summarised in a comprehensive and rigorous manner. A systematic review was conducted of robust evaluations of the impact (positive and negative) of direct to consumer advertising. A broad range of databases and data sources (including Cinahl, Embase, HMIC, HSRProj, Medline, PsycInfo, and the internet) were searched from inception to 2004. From 2853 citations only four reports were found that met the strict inclusion criteria and provided usable results. Direct to consumer advertising is associated with increased prescription of advertised products and there is substantial impact on patients' request for specific drugs and physicians' confidence in prescribing. No additional benefits in terms of health outcomes were demonstrated. Direct to consumer advertising is banned in most countries, and the research evidence tends to support the negative impact that is feared by those who support a legislative ban. Further research is needed into the clinical and economic impact of direct to consumer advertising in healthcare systems.

The Finnish healthcare services lean management.

Science.gov (United States)

Hihnala, Susanna; Kettunen, Lilja; Suhonen, Marjo; Tiirinki, Hanna

2018-02-05

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss health services managers' experiences of management in a special health-care unit and development efforts from the point of view of the Lean method. Additionally, the aim is to deepen the knowledge of the managers' work and nature of the Lean method development processes in the workplace. The research focuses on those aspects and results of Lean method that are currently being used in health-care environments. Design/methodology/approach These data were collected through a number of thematic interviews. The participants were nurse managers ( n = 7) and medical managers ( n = 7) who applied Lean management in their work at the University Hospital in the Northern Ostrobothnia Health Care District. The data were analysed with a qualitative content analysis. Findings A common set of values in specialized health-care services, development of activities and challenges for management in the use of the Lean manager development model to improve personal management skills. Practical implications Managers in specialized health-care services can develop and systematically manage with the help of the Lean method. This emphasizes assumptions, from the point of view of management, about systems development when the organization uses the Lean method. The research outcomes originate from specialized health-care settings in Finland in which the Lean method and its associated management principles have been implemented and applied to the delivery of health care. Originality/value The study shows that the research results and in-depth knowledge on Lean method principles can be applied to health-care management and development processes. The research also describes health services managers' experiences of using the Lean method. In the future, these results can be used to improve Lean management skills, identify personal professional competencies and develop skills required in development processes. Also, the research findings can be used

Strategic questions for consumer-based health communications.

Science.gov (United States)

Sutton, S M; Balch, G I; Lefebvre, R C

1995-01-01

Using the consumer-oriented approach of social and commercial marketers, this article presents a process for crafting messages designed to improve people's health behaviors. The process, termed consumer-based health communications (CHC), transforms scientific recommendations into message strategies that are relevant to the consumer. The core of CHC is consumer research conducted to understand the consumer's reality, and thereby allowing six strategic questions to be answered. The immediate result of the CHC process is a strategy statement--a few pages that lay out who the target consumer is, what action should be taken, what to promise and how to make the promise credible, how and when to reach him or her, and what image to convey. The strategy statement then guides the execution of all communication efforts, be they public relations, mass media, direct marketing, media advocacy, or interpersonal influence. It identifies the most important "levers" for contact with the consumer. Everyone from creative specialists through management and program personnel can use the strategy statement as a touchstone to guide and judge the effectiveness of their efforts. The article provides a step by step illustration of the CHC process using the 5 A Day campaign as an example.

From NdFeB magnets towards the rare-earth oxides: a recycling process consuming only oxalic acid

OpenAIRE

Vander Hoogerstraete, Tom; Blanpain, Bart; Van Gerven, Tom; Binnemans, Koen

2014-01-01

A chemical process which consumes a minimum amount of chemicals to recover rare-earth metals from NdFeB magnets was developed. The recovery of rare-earth elements from end-of-life consumer products has gained increasing interest during the last few years. Examples of valuable rare earths are neodymium and dysprosium because they are important constituents of strong permanent magnets used in several large or growing application fields (e.g. hard disk drives, wind turbines, electric vehicles, m...

Large scale healthcare data integration and analysis using the semantic web.

Science.gov (United States)

Timm, John; Renly, Sondra; Farkash, Ariel

2011-01-01

Healthcare data interoperability can only be achieved when the semantics of the content is well defined and consistently implemented across heterogeneous data sources. Achieving these objectives of interoperability requires the collaboration of experts from several domains. This paper describes tooling that integrates Semantic Web technologies with common tools to facilitate cross-domain collaborative development for the purposes of data interoperability. Our approach is divided into stages of data harmonization and representation, model transformation, and instance generation. We applied our approach on Hypergenes, an EU funded project, where we use our method to the Essential Hypertension disease model using a CDA template. Our domain expert partners include clinical providers, clinical domain researchers, healthcare information technology experts, and a variety of clinical data consumers. We show that bringing Semantic Web technologies into the healthcare interoperability toolkit increases opportunities for beneficial collaboration thus improving patient care and clinical research outcomes.

Consumer perception of the use of high-pressure processing and pulsed electric field technologies in food production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Henriette Boel; Sonne, Anne-Mette; Grunert, Klaus G.

2009-01-01

on consumer attitudes towards high-pressure processing (HPP) and pulsed electric field (PEF) processing of food was carried out. In all 97 adults between 20 and 71 years of age participated in 12 focus groups conducted in Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia, Norway and Denmark using a common guideline...

Innovation in healthcare: a concept analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Weberg, Dan

2009-01-01

Innovation is a frequently used buzzword in healthcare. This article will clarify innovation as a process requiring leadership, among other factors, in order to occur. The concept of innovation will be defined, as well as the precedents and consequences. This exploration will serve as the definition of healthcare innovation and provide a clearer definition for future literature and research in healthcare, especially related to leadership and change. It is the purpose for this article to allow the reader to think about innovation in a critical manner and begin to add substantive meaning related to it.

Consumer Behavior Determined by Social Classes

OpenAIRE

ªerban Comãnescu Adrian; Muhcinã Silvia

2011-01-01

Information on consumer behavior is essential in trade policy decision-making process. The study of consumer behavior has concerned different subjects:psychology, sociology, economy. In a marketing approach knowledge of consumer behavior is not an end in itself, but only a tool, a means by which business decisions are adapted to the consumer expectations.

European consumer attitudes on the associated health benefits of neutraceutical-containing processed meats using Co-enzyme Q10 as a sample functional ingredient.

Science.gov (United States)

Tobin, Brian D; O'Sullivan, Maurice G; Hamill, Ruth; Kerry, Joseph P

2014-06-01

This study accumulated European consumer attitudes towards processed meats and their use as a functional food. A survey was set up using an online web-application to gather information on consumer perception of processed meats as well as neutraceutical-containing processed meats. 548 responses were obtained and statistical analysis was carried out using a statistical software package. Data was summarized as frequencies for each question and statistical differences analyzed using the Chi-Square statistical test with a significance level of 5% (Pconsumer attitudes towards processed meat indicate that they are unhealthy products. Most believe that processed meats contain large quantities of harmful chemicals, fat and salt. Consumers were found to be very pro-bioactive compounds in yogurt style products but unsure of their feelings in meat based products, which is likely due to the lack of familiarity to these products. Many of the respondents were willing to consume meat based functional foods but were not willing to pay more for them. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Healthcare Firms and the ERP Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Garefalakis

2016-04-01

Full Text Available With the continuous and drastic changes due to the economic crisis, along with the increasing market demands, major reforms are initiated in the healthcare sector in order to improve the quality of healthcare and operational efficiency, while reducing costs and optimizing back-end operations. ERP systems have been the basic technological infrastructure to many sectors as well as healthcare. The main objective of this study is to discuss how the adoption of ERP systems in healthcare organizations improves their functionality, simplifies their business processes, assure the quality of care services and helps their management accounting and controlling. This study presents also the stages required for the implementation of ERP system in healthcare organizations. This study utilizes a literature review in order to reach the research conclusions. Specifically, through related case studies and research, it examines how ERP systems are used to evaluate the better functionality of the healthcare organizations, addressing in parallel important problems, and possible malfunctions. The implementation of ERP systems in healthcare organizations promises to evolve and align strictly to the organizations’ corporate objectives and high-levels of healthcare quality. In order to accomplish this goal, the right decisions should be made by the managers of the healthcare organization regarding the choice of the appropriate ERP system following its installation and its application. Limited research exists on the significance ERP systems implementation in healthcare organizations, while possible dysfunctions and challenges during its installation and implementation are recorded. Therefore, new evidence in the significance of ERP systems in healthcare organization is provided.

Safe medication management in specialized home healthcare - an observational study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindblad, Marléne; Flink, Maria; Ekstedt, Mirjam

2017-08-24

Medication management is a complex, error-prone process. The aim of this study was to explore what constitutes the complexity of the medication management process (MMP) in specialized home healthcare and how healthcare professionals handle this complexity. The study is theoretically based in resilience engineering. Data were collected during the MMP at three specialized home healthcare units in Sweden using two strategies: observation of workplaces and shadowing RNs in everyday work, including interviews. Transcribed material was analysed using grounded theory. The MMP in home healthcare was dynamic and complex with unclear boundaries of responsibilities, inadequate information systems and fluctuating work conditions. Healthcare professionals adapted their everyday clinical work by sharing responsibility and simultaneously being authoritative and preserving patients' active participation, autonomy and integrity. To promote a safe MMP, healthcare professionals constantly re-prioritized goals, handled gaps in communication and information transmission at a distance by creating new bridging solutions. Trade-offs and workarounds were necessary elements, but also posed a threat to patient safety, as these interim solutions were not systematically evaluated or devised learning strategies. To manage a safe medication process in home healthcare, healthcare professionals need to adapt to fluctuating conditions and create bridging strategies through multiple parallel activities distributed over time, space and actors. The healthcare professionals' strategies could be integrated in continuous learning, while preserving boundaries of safety, instead of being more or less interim solutions. Patients' and family caregivers' as active partners in the MMP may be an underestimated resource for a resilient home healthcare.

PROSES PENGAMBILAN KEPUTUSAN KONSUMEN DAN ATRIBUT PRODUK KOPI INSTAN DALAM SACHET [Consumer Decision Making Process and Product Attributes of Instant Coffee

OpenAIRE

Wisnu Satyajaya; Azhari Rangga; Fibra Nurainy; Harun Al Rasyid

2014-01-01

The objectives of this research were to observe the decision making process and the influence of product attributes in consuming of instant coffee products in sachets. This research used questionnaires to obtain information on the characteristics and consumer behavior of respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis and importance attributes.  The results showed that process of buying through the stages in the purchase decision process, namely               a). need recognition: ...

[Improvement in the efficiency of a rehabilitation service using Lean Healthcare methodology].

Science.gov (United States)

Pineda Dávila, S; Tinoco González, J

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the reduction in costs and the increase in time devoted to the patient, by applying Lean Healthcare methodology. A multidisciplinary team was formed, setting up three potential areas for improvement by performing a diagnostic process, including the storage and standardization of materials, and professional tasks in the therapeutic areas, by implementing three Lean tools: kanban, 5S and 2P. Stored material costs decreased by 43%, the cost of consumables per patient treated by 19%, and time dedicated to patient treatment increased by 7%. The processes were standardized and "muda" (wastefulness) was eliminated, thus reducing costs and increasing the value to the patient. All this demonstrates that it is possible to apply tools of industrial origin to the health sector, with the aim of improving the quality of care and achieve maximum efficiency. Copyright © 2014 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Steering healthcare service delivery: a regulatory perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Prakash, Gyan

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore regulation in India's healthcare sector and makes recommendations needed for enhancing the healthcare service. The literature was reviewed to understand healthcare's regulatory context. To understand the current healthcare system, qualitative data were collected from state-level officials, public and private hospital staff. A patient survey was performed to assess service quality (QoS). Regulation plays a central role in driving healthcare QoS. India needs to strengthen market and institutional co-production based approaches for steering its healthcare in which delivery processes are complex and pose different challenges. This study assesses current healthcare regulation in an Indian state and presents a framework for studying and strengthening regulation. Agile regulation should be based on service delivery issues (pull approach) rather than monitoring and sanctions based regulatory environment (push approach). Healthcare pitfalls across the world seem to follow similar follies. India's complexity and experience is useful for emerging and developed economies. The author reviewed around 70 publications and synthesised them in healthcare regulatory contexts. Patient's perception of private providers could be a key input towards steering regulation. Identifying gaps across QoS dimensions would be useful in taking corrective measures.

Evaluating priority setting success in healthcare: a pilot study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Upshur Ross

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In healthcare today, decisions are made in the face of serious resource constraints. Healthcare managers are struggling to provide high quality care, manage resources effectively, and meet changing patient needs. Healthcare managers who are constantly making difficult resource decisions desire a way to improve their priority setting processes. Despite the wealth of existing priority setting literature (for example, program budgeting and marginal analysis, accountability for reasonableness, the 'describe-evaluate-improve' strategy there are still no tools to evaluate how healthcare resources are prioritised. This paper describes the development and piloting of a process to evaluate priority setting in health institutions. The evaluation process was designed to examine the procedural and substantive dimensions of priority setting using a multi-methods approach, including a staff survey, decision-maker interviews, and document analysis. Methods The evaluation process was piloted in a mid-size community hospital in Ontario, Canada while its leaders worked through their annual budgeting process. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze the data. Results The evaluation process was both applicable to the context and it captured the budgeting process. In general, the pilot test provided support for our evaluation process and our definition of success, (i.e., our conceptual framework. Conclusions The purpose of the evaluation process is to provide a simple, practical way for an organization to better understand what it means to achieve success in its priority setting activities and identify areas for improvement. In order for the process to be used by healthcare managers today, modification and contextualization of the process are anticipated. As the evaluation process is applied in more health care organizations or applied repeatedly in an organization, it may become more streamlined.

Digital Direct-to-Consumer Advertising: A Perfect Storm of Rapid Evolution and Stagnant Regulation; Comment on “Trouble Spots in Online Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Promotion: A Content Analysis of FDA Warning Letters”

OpenAIRE

Tim K. Mackey

2016-01-01

The adoption and use of digital forms of direct-to-consumer advertising (also known as "eDTCA") is on the rise. At the same time, the universe of eDTCA is expanding, as technology on Internet-based platforms continues to evolve, from static websites, to social media, and nearly ubiquitous use of mobile devices. However, little is known about how this unique form of pharmaceutical marketing impacts consumer behavior, public health, and overall healthcare utilization. The study by Kim analyzing...

Translation and validation of the Dutch version of the Effective Consumer Scale (EC-17)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

ten Klooster, Peter M.; Taal, Erik; Tjin-Kam-Jet-Siemons, Liseth; Oostveen, J.C.M.; Oostveen, Johanna C.M.; Harmsen, Etelka J.; Tugwell, Peter S.; Rader, Tamara; Lyddiatt, Anne; van de Laar, Mart A F J

2013-01-01

PURPOSE: The Effective Consumer Scale (EC-17) measures the skills of musculoskeletal patients in managing their own healthcare. The objectives of this study were to translate the EC-17 into Dutch and to further evaluate its psychometric properties. METHODS: The EC-17 was translated and cognitively

Postexposure management of healthcare personnel to infectious diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Bader, Mazen S; Brooks, Annie A; Srigley, Jocelyn A

2015-01-01

Healthcare personnel (HCP) are at risk of exposure to various pathogens through their daily tasks and may serve as a reservoir for ongoing disease transmission in the healthcare setting. Management of HCP exposed to infectious agents can be disruptive to patient care, time-consuming, and costly. Exposure of HCP to an infectious source should be considered an urgent medical concern to ensure timely management and administration of postexposure prophylaxis, if available and indicated. Infection control and occupational health departments should be notified for management of exposed HCP, identification of all contacts of the index case, and application of immediate infection control measures for the index case and exposed HCP, if indicated. This article reviews the main principles of postexposure management of HCP to infectious diseases, in general, and to certain common infections, in particular, categorized by their route of transmission, in addition to primary prevention of these infections.

Health Literacy Impact on National Healthcare Utilization and Expenditure.

Science.gov (United States)

Rasu, Rafia S; Bawa, Walter Agbor; Suminski, Richard; Snella, Kathleen; Warady, Bradley

2015-08-17

Health literacy presents an enormous challenge in the delivery of effective healthcare and quality outcomes. We evaluated the impact of low health literacy (LHL) on healthcare utilization and healthcare expenditure. Database analysis used Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) from 2005-2008 which provides nationally representative estimates of healthcare utilization and expenditure. Health literacy scores (HLSs) were calculated based on a validated, predictive model and were scored according to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL). HLS ranged from 0-500. Health literacy level (HLL) and categorized in 2 groups: Below basic or basic (HLS Healthcare utilization expressed as a physician, nonphysician, or emergency room (ER) visits and healthcare spending. Expenditures were adjusted to 2010 rates using the Consumer Price Index (CPI). A P value of 0.05 or less was the criterion for statistical significance in all analyses. Multivariate regression models assessed the impact of the predicted HLLs on outpatient healthcare utilization and expenditures. All analyses were performed with SAS and STATA® 11.0 statistical software. The study evaluated 22 599 samples representing 503 374 648 weighted individuals nationally from 2005-2008. The cohort had an average age of 49 years and included more females (57%). Caucasian were the predominant racial ethnic group (83%) and 37% of the cohort were from the South region of the United States of America. The proportion of the cohort with basic or below basic health literacy was 22.4%. Annual predicted values of physician visits, nonphysician visits, and ER visits were 6.6, 4.8, and 0.2, respectively, for basic or below basic compared to 4.4, 2.6, and 0.1 for above basic. Predicted values of office and ER visits expenditures were $1284 and $151, respectively, for basic or below basic and $719 and $100 for above basic (P healthcare utilization and expenditure. Individuals with below basic or basic HLL have greater healthcare

A Longitudinal Study of Consumer Socialization.

Science.gov (United States)

Moschis, George P.; Moore, Roy L.

A study examined the effects of factors (including television, family, peers, age, and socioeconomic status) on consumer socialization, the process by which individuals develop consumption-related cognitions and behaviors. The specific criterion variables studied included consumer affairs knowledge, puffery filtering, consumer finance management,…

Conization and healthcare use

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frederiksen, Maria E.; Vázquez-Prada Baillet, Miguel; Jensen, Pernille T.

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess whether negative psychological consequences of conization reported in questionnaire studies translated into increased use of the healthcare services that could relieve such symptoms. This was a population-based register study comparing women undergoing conization......, healthcare use increased significantly from the 'before' to the 'after' period. For contacts with GPs and hospitals, the increase was significantly larger for the conization group than for the control group, but this could be attributed to the standard postconization follow-up process. In the 'before' period......, women who later had a conization used fewer drugs than women of the control-group, but their drug use increased similarly over time. The conization event did not result in an increased use of the healthcare services that could relieve potential negative side effects. However, women who underwent...

Application of Business Process Management to drive the deployment of a speech recognition system in a healthcare organization.

Science.gov (United States)

González Sánchez, María José; Framiñán Torres, José Manuel; Parra Calderón, Carlos Luis; Del Río Ortega, Juan Antonio; Vigil Martín, Eduardo; Nieto Cervera, Jaime

2008-01-01

We present a methodology based on Business Process Management to guide the development of a speech recognition system in a hospital in Spain. The methodology eases the deployment of the system by 1) involving the clinical staff in the process, 2) providing the IT professionals with a description of the process and its requirements, 3) assessing advantages and disadvantages of the speech recognition system, as well as its impact in the organisation, and 4) help reorganising the healthcare process before implementing the new technology in order to identify how it can better contribute to the overall objective of the organisation.

Challenges of healthcare administration: optimizing quality and value at an affordable cost in pediatric cardiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Mitchell I; Frias, Patricio A

2018-01-01

The purpose of this review is to explore the paradigm shift in healthcare delivery that will need to take place over the next few years away from an emphasis on supply-driven health care to better quality transparent-driven health care whose focus is on the consumer's best interest. The current healthcare system is fragmented and costs continue to rise. The best way to contain costs is to improve quality to the consumer, the patient. Physicians and hospitals need to align in a team-based approach that allows physicians to understand current costs and how to strive toward a focus on healthcare outcomes. Pediatric cardiology is a unique discipline that cares for patients with complex congenital conditions that will span their lifetime and also involves not just cardiology but surgery, intensive care, anesthesia, nursing, and a host of inpatient and ambulatory services. Understanding what matters to the patient and his/her family and presenting quality outcomes in a transparent fashion will gradually allow a shift to take place away from physician visits, tests ordered, and procedures performed. This can only be achieved with physicians, given the appropriate tools to understand costs, value, and outcomes and models where the hospitals and physicians are aligned. The transformation to a value-based healthcare system is beginning and pediatric cardiologists need to be educated, given the appropriate resources, receive appropriate feedback, and patients need to be part of the solution so that care providers can understand what matters most to them.

Computer skills for the next generation of healthcare executives.

Science.gov (United States)

Côté, Murray J; Van Enyde, Donald F; DelliFraine, Jami L; Tucker, Stephen L

2005-01-01

Students beginning a career in healthcare administration must possess an array of professional and management skills in addition to a strong fundamental understanding of the field of healthcare administration. Proficient computer skills are a prime example of an essential management tool for healthcare administrators. However, it is unclear which computer skills are absolutely necessary for healthcare administrators and the extent of congruency between the computer skills possessed by new graduates and the needs of senior healthcare professionals. Our objectives in this research are to assess which computer skills are the most important to senior healthcare executives and recent healthcare administration graduates and examine the level of agreement between the two groups. Based on a survey of senior healthcare executives and graduate healthcare administration students, we identify a comprehensive and pragmatic array of computer skills and categorize them into four groups, according to their importance, for making recent health administration graduates valuable in the healthcare administration workplace. Traditional parametric hypothesis tests are used to assess congruency between responses of senior executives and of recent healthcare administration graduates. For each skill, responses of the two groups are averaged to create an overall ranking of the computer skills. Not surprisingly, both groups agreed on the importance of computer skills for recent healthcare administration graduates. In particular, computer skills such as word processing, graphics and presentation, using operating systems, creating and editing databases, spreadsheet analysis, using imported data, e-mail, using electronic bulletin boards, and downloading information were among the highest ranked computer skills necessary for recent graduates. However, there were statistically significant differences in perceptions between senior executives and healthcare administration students as to the extent

Lean in healthcare from employees' perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Drotz, Erik; Poksinska, Bozena

2014-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to contribute toward a deeper understanding of the new roles, responsibilities, and job characteristics of employees in Lean healthcare organizations. The paper is based on three cases studies of healthcare organizations that are regarded as successful examples of Lean applications in the healthcare context. Data were collected by methods including interviews, observations, and document studies. The implementation of Lean in healthcare settings has had a great influence on the roles, responsibilities, and job characteristics of the employees. The focus has shifted from healthcare professionals, where clinical autonomy and professional skills have been the guarding principles of patient care, to process improvement and teamwork. Different job characteristics may make it difficult to implement certain Lean practices in healthcare. Teamwork and decentralization of authority are examples of Lean practices that could be considered countercultural because of the strong professional culture and uneven power distribution, with doctors as the dominant decision makers. Teamwork, value flow orientation, and company-wide involvement in CI were associated with positive effects on the organizations' working environment, staff development, and organizational performance. In order to succeed with Lean healthcare, it is important to understand and recognize the differences in job characteristics between Lean manufacturing and healthcare. This paper provides insights into how Lean implementation changes the roles, responsibilities, and job characteristics of healthcare staff and the challenges and implications that may follow from this.

Vertical equity of healthcare in Taiwan: health services were distributed according to need

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Shiow-Ing

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction To test the hypothesis that the distribution of healthcare services is according to health need can be achieved under a rather open access system. Methods The 2001 National Health Interview Survey of Taiwan and National Health Insurance claims data were linked in the study. Health need was defined by self-perceived health status. We used Concentration index to measure need-related inequality in healthcare utilization and expenditure. Results People with greater health need received more healthcare services, indicating a pro-need character of healthcare distribution, conforming to the meaning of vertical equity. For outpatient service, subjects with the highest health need had higher proportion of ever use in a year than those who had the least health need and consumed more outpatient visits and expenditures per person per year. Similar patterns were observed for emergency services and hospitalization. The concentration indices of utilization for outpatient, emergency services, and hospitalization suggest that the distribution of utilization was related to health need, whereas the preventive service was less related to need. Conclusions The universal coverage plus healthcare networking system makes it possible for healthcare to be utilized according to need. Taiwan’s experience can serve as a reference for health reform.

PROBLEMS OF CONSUMER PROTECTION IN TOURISM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gina Ionela Butnaru

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The actuality of the topic, its extent and importance, were strong arguments for writing this paper - Problems of consumer protection in tourism. To this, also the convergence of the fields that focus on the description of a image in deep of the topic is added, we are talking about economic, legal social features or features that belong to the specifics of tourism and of products and services consumed within it. The multiple dimensions of the approached topic transform it into an exciting topic which proves its usefulness when it is known since each individual can acquire the quality of a consumer, and his rights as a consumer are nothing else but the human rights of which every individual has to be aware. A process of education and information of the citizens regarding the rights they possess as consumers could reduce a part of the problems appearing in the process of consume of tourism products and services but it would contribute to the optimization of the protection of rights and interests of the consumers. In economic terms, democracy also implies ensuring the rights of the consumers and thus their protection, therefore the concept of protection of rights and interests of consumers exists.

Development of a Process to Internationalize Occupational Programs in the Consumer and Hospitality Services Division.

Science.gov (United States)

Advincula-Carpenter, Marietta M.

The purpose of a practicum project was to develop a process to internationalize occupational programs in the consumer and hospitality services division (CHSD). Five procedures were used to complete the project. First, a review of literature was conducted on how other colleges had internalized their courses. It included some research and practices…

Effects of risk disclosure prominence in direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs: An integrative cognitive process model.

Science.gov (United States)

Ju, Ilwoo; Park, Jin Seong

2018-01-01

The literature shows that the prominence of risk disclosure influences consumer responses to direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs. However, little is known about the psychological process whereby disclosure prominence exerts its influences on health beliefs and behavior. Based on a review of the literature on health cognition and behavior, the current study proposed and tested a model to show that risk disclosure prominence affects consumers' drug choice intention through the mediating roles of awareness of drug adverse reactions (ARs), perceived control over ARs, and perceived risk of ARs. The findings were discussed in terms of their theoretical and managerial implications.

Healthcare Data Analytics on the Cloud

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Indrajit Bhattacharya

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Meaningful analysis of voluminous health information has always been a challenge in most healthcare organizations. Accurate and timely information required by the management to lead a healthcare organization through the challenges found in the industry can be obtained using business intelligence (BI or business analytics tools. However, these require large capital investments to implement and support the large volumes of data that needs to be analyzed to identify trends. They also require enormous processing power which places pressure on the business resources in addition to the dynamic changes in the digital technology. This paper evaluates the various nuances of business analytics of healthcare hosted on the cloud computing environment. The paper explores BI being offered as Software as a Service (SaaS solution towards offering meaningful use of information for improving functions in healthcare enterprise. It also attempts to identify the challenges that healthcare enterprises face when making use of a BI SaaS solution.

Consumer responses to ecolabels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thøgersen, John; Haugaard, Pernille; Olesen, Anja

2010-01-01

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop and apply a framework for understanding consumer responses to ecolabelling. Design/methodology/approach - From a consumer perspective, ecolabels are tools for supporting decision making with regard to environmentally significant products. The paper...... process. Starting the adoption process depends on both motivation (intention to buy sustainable fish products) and ability (issue-relevant knowledge). Whether and how quickly the consumer completes the adoption depends on his or her motivation, past experience with using ecolabels, and trust...... scoring highly on both issue-relevant knowledge and motivation are the most likely innovators and early adopters. Their high level of expertise means that they do not need a lot of explanation for understanding the label and its self-relevance and their strong motivation means that they will search...

Control of corruption in healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, Armin; Azim, Afzal

2015-01-01

A recently published article on corruption in Indian healthcare in the BMJ has triggered a hot debate and numerous responses (1, 2, 3, 4). We do agree that corruption in Indian healthcare is a colossal issue and needs to be tackled urgently (5). However, we want to highlight that corruption in healthcare is not a local phenomenon confined to the Indian subcontinent, though India does serve as a good case study and intervention area due to the magnitude of the problem and the country's large population (6). Good governance, strict rules, transparency and zero tolerance are some of the strategies prescribed everywhere to tackle corruption. However, those entrusted with implementing good governance and strict rules in India need to go through a process of introspection to carry out their duties in a responsible fashion. At present, it looks like a no-win situation. In this article, we recommend education in medical ethics as the major intervention for dealing with corruption in healthcare.

Consumer acceptance and aroma characterization of navy bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) powders prepared by extrusion and conventional processing methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Szczygiel, Edward J; Harte, Janice B; Strasburg, Gale M; Cho, Sungeun

2017-09-01

Food products produced with bean ingredients are gaining in popularity among consumers due to the reported health benefits. Navy bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) powder produced through extrusion can be considered as a resource-efficient alternative to conventional methods, which often involve high water inputs. Therefore, navy bean powders produced with extrusion and conventional methods were assessed for the impact of processing on consumer liking in end-use products and odor-active compounds. Consumer acceptance results reveal significant differences in flavor, texture and overall acceptance scores of several products produced with navy bean powder. Crackers produced with extruded navy bean powder received higher hedonic flavor ratings than those produced with commercial navy bean powder (P < 0.001). GC-O data showed that the commercial powder produced through conventional processing had much greater contents of several aliphatic aldehydes commonly formed via lipid oxidation, such as hexanal, octanal and nonanal with descriptors of 'grassy', 'nutty', 'fruity', 'dusty', and 'cleaner', compared to the extruded powder. Extrusion processed navy bean powders were preferred over commercial powders for certain navy bean powder applications. This is best explained by substantial differences in aroma profiles of the two powders that may have been caused by lipid oxidation. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

[Consumer's psychological processes of hoarding and avoidant purchasing after the Tohoku earthquake].

Science.gov (United States)

Ohtomo, Shoji; Hirose, Yukio

2014-02-01

This study examined psychological processes of consumers that had determined hoarding and avoidant purchasing behaviors after the Tohoku earthquake within a dual-process model. The model hypothesized that both intentional motivation based on reflective decision and reactive motivation based on non-reflective decision predicted the behaviors. This study assumed that attitude, subjective norm and descriptive norm in relation to hoarding and avoidant purchasing were determinants of motivations. Residents in the Tokyo metropolitan area (n = 667) completed internet longitudinal surveys at three times (April, June, and November, 2011). The results indicated that intentional and reactive motivation determined avoidant purchasing behaviors in June; only intentional motivation determined the behaviors in November. Attitude was a main determinant of the motivations each time. Moreover, previous behaviors predicted future behaviors. In conclusion, purchasing behaviors were intentional rather than reactive behaviors. Furthermore, attitude and previous behaviors were important determinants in the dual-process model. Attitude and behaviors formed in April continued to strengthen the subsequent decisions of purchasing behavior.

Collaborative writing applications in healthcare: effects on professional practice and healthcare outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Archambault, Patrick M; van de Belt, Tom H; Kuziemsky, Craig; Plaisance, Ariane; Dupuis, Audrey; McGinn, Carrie A; Francois, Rebecca; Gagnon, Marie-Pierre; Turgeon, Alexis F; Horsley, Tanya; Witteman, William; Poitras, Julien; Lapointe, Jean; Brand, Kevin; Lachaine, Jean; Légaré, France

2017-05-10

Collaborative writing applications (CWAs), such as wikis and Google Documents, hold the potential to improve the use of evidence in both public health and healthcare. Although a growing body of literature indicates that CWAs could have positive effects on healthcare, such as improved collaboration, behavioural change, learning, knowledge management, and adaptation of knowledge to local context, this has never been assessed systematically. Moreover, several questions regarding safety, reliability, and legal aspects exist. The objectives of this review were to (1) assess the effects of the use of CWAs on process (including the behaviour of healthcare professionals) and patient outcomes, (2) critically appraise and summarise current evidence on the use of resources, costs, and cost-effectiveness associated with CWAs to improve professional practices and patient outcomes, and (3) explore the effects of different CWA features (e.g. open versus closed) and different implementation factors (e.g. the presence of a moderator) on process and patient outcomes. We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, and 11 other electronic databases. We searched the grey literature, two trial registries, CWA websites, individual journals, and conference proceedings. We also contacted authors and experts in the field. We did not apply date or language limits. We searched for published literature to August 2016, and grey literature to September 2015. We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs), non-randomised controlled trials (NRCTs), controlled before-and-after (CBA) studies, interrupted time series (ITS) studies, and repeated measures studies (RMS), in which CWAs were used as an intervention to improve the process of care, patient outcomes, or healthcare costs. Teams of two review authors independently assessed the eligibility of studies. Disagreements were resolved by discussion, and when consensus was not reached, a third review author was consulted. We screened 11,993 studies identified

Consumer Health Informatics: The Application of ICT in Improving Patient-Provider Partnership for a Better Health Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Abaidoo, Benjamin; Larweh, Benjamin Teye

2014-01-01

There is a growing interest concerning the potential of ICT solutions that are customized to consumers. This emerging discipline referred to as consumer health informatics (CHI) plays a major role in providing information to patients and the public, and facilitates the promotion of self-management. The concept of CHI has emerged out of the desire of most patients to shoulder responsibilities regarding their health and a growing desire of health practitioners to fully appreciate the potential of the patient. To describe the role of ICT in improving the patient-provider partnership in consumer health informatics. Systematic reviewing of literature, identification of reference sources and formulation of search strategies and manual search regarding the significance of developed CHI applications in healthcare delivery. New consumer health IT applications have been developed to be used on a variety of different platforms, including the Web, messaging systems, PDAs, and cell phones. These applications assists patients with self-management through reminders and prompts, delivery of real-time data on a patient's health condition to patients and providers, web-based communication and personal electronic health information. New tools are being developed for the purposes of providing information to patients and the public which has enhanced decision making in health matters and an avenue for clinicians and consumers to exchange health information for personal and public use. This calls for corroboration among healthcare organizations, governments and the ICT industry to develop new research and IT innovations which are tailored to the health needs of the consumer.

Integration of Value Stream Map and Healthcare Failure Mode and Effect Analysis into Six Sigma Methodology to Improve Process of Surgical Specimen Handling.

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, Sheng-Hui; Wang, Pa-Chun; Lin, Hung-Chun; Chen, Hung-Ying; Su, Chao-Ton

2015-01-01

Specimen handling is a critical patient safety issue. Problematic handling process, such as misidentification (of patients, surgical site, and specimen counts), specimen loss, or improper specimen preparation can lead to serious patient harms and lawsuits. Value stream map (VSM) is a tool used to find out non-value-added works, enhance the quality, and reduce the cost of the studied process. On the other hand, healthcare failure mode and effect analysis (HFMEA) is now frequently employed to avoid possible medication errors in healthcare process. Both of them have a goal similar to Six Sigma methodology for process improvement. This study proposes a model that integrates VSM and HFMEA into the framework, which mainly consists of define, measure, analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC), of Six Sigma. A Six Sigma project for improving the process of surgical specimen handling in a hospital was conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model.

DGNB certified Healthcare Centres

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brunsgaard, Camilla; Larsen, Tine Steen

2015-01-01

for sustainability and wants a certification. This research investigates the decision‐making and design process (DMaDP) behind four DGNB certified Healthcare Centres (HCC) in Northern Jutland in Denmark. In general, knowledge about the DMaDP is important. However it is important to know what part DGNB plays...... a dialog about DGNB and energy concept is important even before anyone start sketching. Experiences with the different approaches will be further outlined in the paper.Future research has the intention to collect further knowledge about DGNB and DMaDP in practise. This project was limited to Healthcare...

Outsourcing in private healthcare organisations: a Greek perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Moschuris, Socrates J; Kondylis, Michael N

2007-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to present a study carried out to investigate the extent of outsourcing, the decision-making process, the impact of outsourcing, and the future trend of outsourcing in private healthcare organisations in Greece. A survey instrument was designed and mailed to a random sample of 100 private healthcare organisations in Greece. A total of 25 usable questionnaires were received, representing a response rate of 25 percent. The survey instrument focused on the extent to which private healthcare organisations outsource services, the decision-making process for choosing an external service provider, the impact of outsourcing, and the future trend of outsourcing. Private healthcare organisations in Greece outsource a variety of activities. Cost savings, customisation, and customer satisfaction are the main factors affecting the outsourcing decision. The cooperation with a contract service provider has led to an improvement in customer satisfaction and to a cost reduction. Most users are highly satisfied with the performance of these companies and believe that there will be a future increase in the usage of these services. The paper provides a framework regarding outsourcing in private healthcare organisations. This research fills the gap in the area of outsourcing in private healthcare organisations in Greece.

The Relationship between Environmental Turbulence, Management Support, Organizational Collaboration, Information Technology Solution Realization, and Process Performance, in Healthcare Provider Organizations

Science.gov (United States)

Muglia, Victor O.

2010-01-01

The Problem: The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between environmental turbulence, management support, organizational collaboration, information technology solution realization, and process performance in healthcare provider organizations. Method: A descriptive/correlational study of Hospital medical services process…

Behavioral Reference Model for Pervasive Healthcare Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Tahmasbi, Arezoo; Adabi, Sahar; Rezaee, Ali

2016-12-01

The emergence of mobile healthcare systems is an important outcome of application of pervasive computing concepts for medical care purposes. These systems provide the facilities and infrastructure required for automatic and ubiquitous sharing of medical information. Healthcare systems have a dynamic structure and configuration, therefore having an architecture is essential for future development of these systems. The need for increased response rate, problem limited storage, accelerated processing and etc. the tendency toward creating a new generation of healthcare system architecture highlight the need for further focus on cloud-based solutions for transfer data and data processing challenges. Integrity and reliability of healthcare systems are of critical importance, as even the slightest error may put the patients' lives in danger; therefore acquiring a behavioral model for these systems and developing the tools required to model their behaviors are of significant importance. The high-level designs may contain some flaws, therefor the system must be fully examined for different scenarios and conditions. This paper presents a software architecture for development of healthcare systems based on pervasive computing concepts, and then models the behavior of described system. A set of solutions are then proposed to improve the design's qualitative characteristics including, availability, interoperability and performance.

Concepts and trends in healthcare information systems

CERN Document Server

Koutsouris, Dionysios-Dimitrios

2014-01-01

​Concepts and Trends in Healthcare Information Systems covers the latest research topics in the field from leading researchers and practitioners. This book offers theory-driven research that explores the role of Information Systems in the delivery of healthcare in its diverse organizational and regulatory settings. In addition to the embedded role of Information Technology (IT) in clinical and diagnostics equipment, Information Systems are uniquely positioned to capture, store, process, and communicate timely information to decision makers for better coordination of healthcare at both the individual and population levels. For example, data mining and decision support capabilities can identify potential adverse events for an individual patient while also contributing to the population's health by providing insights into the causes of disease complications. Information systems have great potential to reduce healthcare costs and improve outcomes. The healthcare delivery systems share similar characteristics w...

Ethical issues in consumer genome sequencing: Use of consumers' samples and data.

Science.gov (United States)

Niemiec, Emilia; Howard, Heidi Carmen

2016-03-01

High throughput approaches such as whole genome sequencing (WGS) and whole exome sequencing (WES) create an unprecedented amount of data providing powerful resources for clinical care and research. Recently, WGS and WES services have been made available by commercial direct-to-consumer (DTC) companies. The DTC offer of genetic testing (GT) has already brought attention to potentially problematic issues such as the adequacy of consumers' informed consent and transparency of companies' research activities. In this study, we analysed the websites of four DTC GT companies offering WGS and/or WES with regard to their policies governing storage and future use of consumers' data and samples. The results are discussed in relation to recommendations and guiding principles such as the "Statement of the European Society of Human Genetics on DTC GT for health-related purposes" (2010) and the "Framework for responsible sharing of genomic and health-related data" (Global Alliance for Genomics and Health, 2014). The analysis reveals that some companies may store and use consumers' samples or sequencing data for unspecified research and share the data with third parties. Moreover, the companies do not provide sufficient or clear information to consumers about this, which can undermine the validity of the consent process. Furthermore, while all companies state that they provide privacy safeguards for data and mention the limitations of these, information about the possibility of re-identification is lacking. Finally, although the companies that may conduct research do include information regarding proprietary claims and commercialisation of the results, it is not clear whether consumers are aware of the consequences of these policies. These results indicate that DTC GT companies still need to improve the transparency regarding handling of consumers' samples and data, including having an explicit and clear consent process for research activities.

Ethical issues in consumer genome sequencing: Use of consumers' samples and data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emilia Niemiec

2016-03-01

Full Text Available High throughput approaches such as whole genome sequencing (WGS and whole exome sequencing (WES create an unprecedented amount of data providing powerful resources for clinical care and research. Recently, WGS and WES services have been made available by commercial direct-to-consumer (DTC companies. The DTC offer of genetic testing (GT has already brought attention to potentially problematic issues such as the adequacy of consumers' informed consent and transparency of companies' research activities. In this study, we analysed the websites of four DTC GT companies offering WGS and/or WES with regard to their policies governing storage and future use of consumers' data and samples. The results are discussed in relation to recommendations and guiding principles such as the “Statement of the European Society of Human Genetics on DTC GT for health-related purposes” (2010 and the “Framework for responsible sharing of genomic and health-related data” (Global Alliance for Genomics and Health, 2014. The analysis reveals that some companies may store and use consumers' samples or sequencing data for unspecified research and share the data with third parties. Moreover, the companies do not provide sufficient or clear information to consumers about this, which can undermine the validity of the consent process. Furthermore, while all companies state that they provide privacy safeguards for data and mention the limitations of these, information about the possibility of re-identification is lacking. Finally, although the companies that may conduct research do include information regarding proprietary claims and commercialisation of the results, it is not clear whether consumers are aware of the consequences of these policies. These results indicate that DTC GT companies still need to improve the transparency regarding handling of consumers' samples and data, including having an explicit and clear consent process for research activities.

Natural antioxidant activity of commonly consumed plant foods in India: effect of domestic processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Sreeramulu, D; Reddy, C V K; Chauhan, Anitha; Balakrishna, N; Raghunath, M

2013-01-01

Phytochemicals protect against oxidative stress which in turn helps in maintaining the balance between oxidants and antioxidants. In recent times natural antioxidants are gaining considerable interest among nutritionists, food manufacturers, and consumers because of their perceived safety, potential therapeutic value, and long shelf life. Plant foods are known to protect against degenerative diseases and ageing due to their antioxidant activity (AOA) attributed to their high polyphenolic content (PC). Data on AOA and PC of Indian plant foods is scanty. Therefore we have determined the antioxidant activity in 107 commonly consumed Indian plant foods and assessed their relation to their PC. Antioxidant activity is presented as the range of values for each of the food groups. The foods studied had good amounts of PC and AOA although they belonged to different food groups. Interestingly, significant correlation was observed between AOA (DPPH and FRAP) and PC in most of the foods, corroborating the literature that polyphenols are potent antioxidants and that they may be important contributors to the AOA of the plant foods. We have also observed that common domestic methods of processing may not affect the PC and AOA of the foods studied in general. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first results of the kind in commonly consumed Indian plant foods.

Consumer Ethnocentrism and Willingness to Buy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Josiassen, Alexander; Assaf, A. Georg; Karpen, Ingo O.

2011-01-01

has also discovered important differences in the cognitive processes and behavior depending on demographic characteristics. However, there are competing views in the literature as to how these fundamental consumer characteristics influence and interact with consumer ethnocentrism. This study further......Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to clarify how demographic consumer characteristics influence and interact with consumer ethnocentrism on willingness to buy. The authors analyze the direct effects of selected characteristics on the tendency for consumer ethnocentrism. Further, the moderating...... effects of these consumer characteristics are investigated. Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered from 361 consumers in Australia. Data analysis was conducted using regression analysis with interactions and post hoc slope analysis. Findings – The empirical findings show that consumer tendencies...

Welding of Nb micro-alloyed steel by the submerged arc process using Brazilian consumables

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scotti, A.; Quites, A.M.

1982-01-01

A set of procedures was established for welding of Nb micro-alloyed steel by the submerged arc process, using national consumables, in order to simultaneously achieve a more economic welding and better mechanical properties. From all the wire-flux combinations the better were the correspondent to AWS F84ED1, F74EM12K and F84EH14, the last being the best. (Author) [pt

The disciplined healthcare professional: a qualitative interview study on the impact of the disciplinary process and imposed measures in the Netherlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Verhoef, Lise M; Weenink, Jan-Willem; Winters, Sjenny; Robben, Paul B M; Westert, Gert P; Kool, Rudolf B

2015-11-25

It is known that doctors who receive complaints may have feelings of anger, guilt, shame and depression, both in the short and in the long term. This might lead to functional impairment. Less is known about the impact of the disciplinary process and imposed measures. Previous studies of disciplinary proceedings have mainly focused on identifying characteristics of disciplined doctors and on sentencing policies. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore what impact the disciplinary process and imposed measures have on healthcare professionals. Semistructured interview study, with purposive sampling and inductive qualitative content analysis. 16 healthcare professionals (9 medical specialists, 3 general practitioners, 2 physiotherapists and 2 psychologists) that were sanctioned by the disciplinary tribunal. The Netherlands. Professionals described feelings of misery and insecurity both during the process as in its aftermath. Furthermore, they reported to fear receiving new complaints and provide care more cautiously after the imposed measure. Factors that may enhance psychological and professional impact are the publication of measures online and in newspapers, media coverage, the feeling of treated as guilty before any verdict has been reached, and the long duration of the process. This study shows that the disciplinary process and imposed measures can have a profound psychological and professional impact on healthcare professionals. Although a disciplinary measure is meant to have a corrective effect, our results suggest that the impact that is experienced by professionals might hamper optimal rehabilitation afterwards. Therefore, organising emotional support should be considered during the disciplinary process and in the period after the verdict. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Towards a better understanding of unethical consumer behavior : the influence of individual characteristics, situational circumstances and emotional experiences in consumers' ethical decision-making processes

OpenAIRE

Steenhaut, Sarah

2006-01-01

In sum, we may conclude that – although many questions are still to be resolved – the present dissertation contributes to a better understanding of unethical consumer behavior by further enhancing the theory development of consumers’ ethical decision-making processes by conceiving and testing (1) additional individual characteristics, (2) situational circumstances, and (3) emotional experiences (along with other issue-related influences), and considering the potential mediating and moderating...

Patient experiences of partnering with healthcare professionals for hand hygiene compliance: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Butenko, Samantha; Lockwood, Craig; McArthur, Alexa

2017-06-01

consumers in this context were patients and vice versa; the term patient is therefore used throughout this report for consistency. The current review considered studies that investigated the experience of partnership between patients and healthcare professionals in relation to hand hygiene compliance. This review investigated the phenomena of partnering from both the perspectives of the patient and the healthcare professional. The current review considered studies that focused on qualitative data including, but not limited to, designs such as phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, action research and feminist research. As qualitative studies were identified and on appraisal found to be of sufficient quality for inclusion, this review did not seek alternate forms of evidence such as text and opinion. The search strategy aimed to find both published and unpublished studies from 1990 to May 2015. Studies published in English were considered for inclusion in this review. Qualitative papers selected for retrieval were assessed by two independent reviewers for methodological validity prior to inclusion in the review using standardized critical appraisal instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-QARI). Qualitative data were extracted from papers included in the review using the standardized data extraction tool from JBI-QARI. Qualitative research findings were pooled using JBI-QARI. Following the systematic search and critical appraisal process, three studies were included in the review for data extraction and synthesis of findings. The review process resulted in 29 study findings that were aggregated into seven categories. The categories generated two meta-synthesized findings. The two final synthesized findings were as follows. Synthesized finding 1: Organizational structures enable partnering between healthcare professionals and patients for hand hygiene compliance; however, the culture, beliefs and behaviors of

Healthcare leadership's diversity paradox.

Science.gov (United States)

Silver, Reginald

2017-02-06

color in leadership roles that guide healthcare policy and access. This study connects contemporary literature to perspectives of executives in the field and offers practical solutions to improving the representation of people of color in executive healthcare leadership roles. Social implications The recommendations offered as a result of this research effort serve to create awareness of the challenges that people of color face in career attainment. Although the process of increasing the representation of people of color in executive healthcare leadership will be a complex task that will involve a number of players over the course of several years, this study serves to provide a practical roadmap with actionable tactics that can be deployed. Originality/value This paper is an extension of the work that was done by the author during the course of completing the program requirements for the author's doctoral program. The findings were previously discussed in the author's dissertation. The value of these findings is significant because they validate some of the topics in contemporary literature with the perspectives of practicing healthcare executives. This study is also unique from other studies in that it offers a long-term plan to increase the representation of people of color in executive roles by creating an early disposition toward executive level roles and identifies a number of practical steps toward that end.

Consumer design priorities for upper limb prosthetics.

Science.gov (United States)

Biddiss, Elaine; Beaton, Dorcas; Chau, Tom

2007-11-01

To measure consumer satisfaction with upper limb prosthetics and provide an enumerated list of design priorities for future developments. A self-administered, anonymous survey collected information on participant demographics, history of and goals for prosthesis use, satisfaction, and design priorities. The questionnaire was available online and in paper format and was distributed through healthcare providers, community support groups, and one prosthesis manufacturer; 242 participants of all ages and levels of upper limb absence completed the survey. Rates of rejection for myoelectric hands, passive hands, and body-powered hooks were 39%, 53%, and 50%, respectively. Prosthesis wearers were generally satisfied with their devices while prosthesis rejecters were dissatisfied. Reduced prosthesis weight emerged as the highest priority design concern of consumers. Lower cost ranked within the top five design priorities for adult wearers of all device types. Life-like appearance is a priority for passive/cosmetic prostheses, while improved harness comfort, wrist movement, grip control and strength are required for body-powered devices. Glove durability, lack of sensory feedback, and poor dexterity were also identified as design priorities for electric devices. Design priorities reflect consumer goals for prosthesis use and vary depending on the type of prosthesis used and age. Future design efforts should focus on the development of more light-weight, comfortable prostheses.

Do Health Professionals have Positive Perception Towards Consumer Reporting of Adverse Drug Reactions?

Science.gov (United States)

Alshakka, Mohammed Ahmed; Ibrahim, Mohamed Izham Mohamed; Hassali, Mohamed Azmi Ahmad

2013-01-01

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the perceptions of general practitioners (GPs) and community pharmacists (CPs) in Penang, Malaysia, towards consumer reporting of Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs). Methodology: A cross-sectional mail survey was adopted for the performance of the study. Survey questionnaires were sent to 192 CPs and 400 GPs in the state of Penang, Malaysia. Reminders were sent to all the non-respondents after 3 weeks of the initial mailing. Data which were collected from the questionnaires were analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), version 15. The Chi-square test was used to determine as to whether there was any significant difference between expected and observed frequencies at the alpha level of 0.05. Results: Only 104 respondents (47 CPs and 57 GPs) returned the survey, with a response rate of 18.0%- a figure which could be considered to be low. This study indicated that GPs and CPs were aware about the importance and benefits of consumer reporting. A majority of them (88.0%) thought that consumer reporting would add more benefits to the existing pharmacovigilance program. Similarly, 97% of the respondents agreed that reporting of ADRs was necessary and 87.0% respondents had seen ADRs among their patients. However, 57 of them (6.0%), had not been aware that the national program in Malaysia allowed consumers to report ADRs. A majority of them (97.0%) agreed that consumers needed more education regarding ADR reporting. Most of them (84.0%) thought that consumers could not write valid reports which were similar to reports which were made by healthcare professionals (HCPs). A majority of the respondents (68.0%) had not heard about the consumer reporting program in Malaysia and half of them did not believe that consumer reporting could overcome under-reporting, which was the main problem of the national pharmacovigilance program in Malaysia. Conclusion: The GPs and CPs were aware about the importance and benefits

Do Health Professionals have Positive Perception Towards Consumer Reporting of Adverse Drug Reactions?

Science.gov (United States)

Alshakka, Mohammed Ahmed; Ibrahim, Mohamed Izham Mohamed; Hassali, Mohamed Azmi Ahmad

2013-10-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the perceptions of general practitioners (GPs) and community pharmacists (CPs) in Penang, Malaysia, towards consumer reporting of Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs). A cross-sectional mail survey was adopted for the performance of the study. Survey questionnaires were sent to 192 CPs and 400 GPs in the state of Penang, Malaysia. Reminders were sent to all the non-respondents after 3 weeks of the initial mailing. Data which were collected from the questionnaires were analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), version 15. The Chi-square test was used to determine as to whether there was any significant difference between expected and observed frequencies at the alpha level of 0.05. Only 104 respondents (47 CPs and 57 GPs) returned the survey, with a response rate of 18.0%- a figure which could be considered to be low. This study indicated that GPs and CPs were aware about the importance and benefits of consumer reporting. A majority of them (88.0%) thought that consumer reporting would add more benefits to the existing pharmacovigilance program. Similarly, 97% of the respondents agreed that reporting of ADRs was necessary and 87.0% respondents had seen ADRs among their patients. However, 57 of them (6.0%), had not been aware that the national program in Malaysia allowed consumers to report ADRs. A majority of them (97.0%) agreed that consumers needed more education regarding ADR reporting. Most of them (84.0%) thought that consumers could not write valid reports which were similar to reports which were made by healthcare professionals (HCPs). A majority of the respondents (68.0%) had not heard about the consumer reporting program in Malaysia and half of them did not believe that consumer reporting could overcome under-reporting, which was the main problem of the national pharmacovigilance program in Malaysia. The GPs and CPs were aware about the importance and benefits of consumer reporting. Such reporting

Integration of Value Stream Map and Healthcare Failure Mode and Effect Analysis into Six Sigma Methodology to Improve Process of Surgical Specimen Handling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sheng-Hui Hung

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Specimen handling is a critical patient safety issue. Problematic handling process, such as misidentification (of patients, surgical site, and specimen counts, specimen loss, or improper specimen preparation can lead to serious patient harms and lawsuits. Value stream map (VSM is a tool used to find out non-value-added works, enhance the quality, and reduce the cost of the studied process. On the other hand, healthcare failure mode and effect analysis (HFMEA is now frequently employed to avoid possible medication errors in healthcare process. Both of them have a goal similar to Six Sigma methodology for process improvement. This study proposes a model that integrates VSM and HFMEA into the framework, which mainly consists of define, measure, analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC, of Six Sigma. A Six Sigma project for improving the process of surgical specimen handling in a hospital was conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model.

Mobile Usability Testing in Healthcare: Methodological Approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Borycki, Elizabeth M; Monkman, Helen; Griffith, Janessa; Kushniruk, Andre W

2015-01-01

The use of mobile devices and healthcare applications is increasing exponentially worldwide. This has lead to the need for the healthcare industry to develop a better understanding of the impact of the usability of mobile software and hardware upon consumer and health professional adoption and use of these technologies. There are many methodological approaches that can be employed in conducting usability evaluation of mobile technologies. More obtrusive approaches to collecting study data may lead to changes in study participant behaviour, leading to study results that are less consistent with how the technologies will be used in the real-world. Alternatively, less obstrusive methods used in evaluating the usability of mobile software and hardware in-situ and laboratory settings can lead to less detailed information being collected about how an individual interacts with both the software and hardware. In this paper we review and discuss several innovative mobile usability evaluation methods on a contiuum from least to most obtrusive and their effects on the quality of the usability data collected. The strengths and limitations of methods are also discussed.

Improvement attributes in healthcare: implications for integrated care.

Science.gov (United States)

Harnett, Patrick John

2018-04-16

Purpose Healthcare quality improvement is a key concern for policy makers, regulators, carers and service users. Despite a contemporary consensus among policy makers that integrated care represents a means to substantially improve service outcomes, progress has been slow. Difficulties achieving sustained improvement at scale imply that methods employed are not sufficient and that healthcare improvement attributes may be different when compared to prior reference domains. The purpose of this paper is to examine and synthesise key improvement attributes relevant to a complex healthcare change process, specifically integrated care. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on an integrative literature review on systemic improvement in healthcare. Findings A central theme emerging from the literature review indicates that implementing systemic change needs to address the relationship between vision, methods and participant social dynamics. Practical implications Accommodating personal and professional network dynamics is required for systemic improvement, especially among high autonomy individuals. This reinforces the need to recognise the change process as taking place in a complex adaptive system where personal/professional purpose/meaning is central to the process. Originality/value Shared personal/professional narratives are insufficiently recognised as a powerful change force, under-represented in linear and rational empirical improvement approaches.

Consumer-Mediated Health Information Exchanges: The 2012 ACMI Debate

Science.gov (United States)

Cimino, James J.; Frisse, Mark; Halamka, John; Sweeney, Latanya; Yasnoff, William

2017-01-01

The American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) sponsors periodic debates during the American Medical Informatics Fall Symposium to highlight important informatics issues of broad interest. In 2012, a panel debated the following topic: “Resolved: Health Information Exchange Organizations Should Shift Their Principal Focus to Consumer-Mediated Exchange in Order to Facilitate the Rapid Development of Effective, Scalable, and Sustainable Health Information Infrastructure.” Those supporting the proposition emphasized the need for consumer-controlled community repositories of electronic health records (health record banks) to address privacy, stakeholder cooperation, scalability, and sustainability. Those opposing the proposition emphasized that the current healthcare environment is so complex that development of consumer control will take time and that even then, consumers may not be able to mediate their information effectively. While privately, each discussant recognizes that there are many sides to this complex issue, each followed the debater’s tradition of taking an extreme position in order emphasize some of the polarizing aspects in the short time allotted them. In preparing this summary, we sought to convey the substance and spirit of the debate in printed form. Transcripts of the actual debate were edited for clarity, and appropriate supporting citations were added for the further edification of the reader. PMID:24561078

Consumer-mediated health information exchanges: the 2012 ACMI debate.

Science.gov (United States)

Cimino, James J; Frisse, Mark E; Halamka, John; Sweeney, Latanya; Yasnoff, William

2014-04-01

The American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) sponsors periodic debates during the American Medical Informatics Fall Symposium to highlight important informatics issues of broad interest. In 2012, a panel debated the following topic: "Resolved: Health Information Exchange Organizations Should Shift Their Principal Focus to Consumer-Mediated Exchange in Order to Facilitate the Rapid Development of Effective, Scalable, and Sustainable Health Information Infrastructure." Those supporting the proposition emphasized the need for consumer-controlled community repositories of electronic health records (health record banks) to address privacy, stakeholder cooperation, scalability, and sustainability. Those opposing the proposition emphasized that the current healthcare environment is so complex that development of consumer control will take time and that even then, consumers may not be able to mediate their information effectively. While privately each discussant recognizes that there are many sides to this complex issue, each followed the debater's tradition of taking an extreme position in order emphasize some of the polarizing aspects in the short time allotted them. In preparing this summary, we sought to convey the substance and spirit of the debate in printed form. Transcripts of the actual debate were edited for clarity, and appropriate supporting citations were added for the further edification of the reader. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Strategic planning in healthcare organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez Perera, Francisco de Paula; Peiró, Manel

2012-08-01

Strategic planning is a completely valid and useful tool for guiding all types of organizations, including healthcare organizations. The organizational level at which the strategic planning process is relevant depends on the unit's size, its complexity, and the differentiation of the service provided. A cardiology department, a hemodynamic unit, or an electrophysiology unit can be an appropriate level, as long as their plans align with other plans at higher levels. The leader of each unit is the person responsible for promoting the planning process, a core and essential part of his or her role. The process of strategic planning is programmable, systematic, rational, and holistic and integrates the short, medium, and long term, allowing the healthcare organization to focus on relevant and lasting transformations for the future. Copyright © 2012 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Supply chain dynamics in healthcare services.

Science.gov (United States)

Samuel, Cherian; Gonapa, Kasiviswanadh; Chaudhary, P K; Mishra, Ananya

2010-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to analyse health service supply chain systems. A great deal of literature is available on supply chain management in finished goods inventory situations; however, little research exists on managing service capacity when finished goods inventories are absent. System dynamics models for a typical service-oriented supply chain such as healthcare processes are developed, wherein three service stages are presented sequentially. Just like supply chains with finished goods inventory, healthcare service supply chains also show dynamic behaviour. Comparing options, service reduction, and capacity adjustment delays showed that reducing capacity adjustment and service delays gives better results. The study is confined to health service-oriented supply chains. Further work includes extending the study to service-oriented supply chains with parallel processing, i.e. having more than one stage to perform a similar operation and also to study the behaviour in service-oriented supply chains that have re-entrant orders and applications. Specific case studies can also be developed to reveal factors relevant to particular service-oriented supply chains. The paper explains the bullwhip effect in healthcare service-oriented supply chains. Reducing stages and capacity adjustment are strategic options for service-oriented supply chains. The paper throws light on policy options for managing healthcare service-oriented supply chain dynamics.

Automated Classification of Consumer Health Information Needs in Patient Portal Messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Cronin, Robert M; Fabbri, Daniel; Denny, Joshua C; Jackson, Gretchen Purcell

2015-01-01

Patients have diverse health information needs, and secure messaging through patient portals is an emerging means by which such needs are expressed and met. As patient portal adoption increases, growing volumes of secure messages may burden healthcare providers. Automated classification could expedite portal message triage and answering. We created four automated classifiers based on word content and natural language processing techniques to identify health information needs in 1000 patient-generated portal messages. Logistic regression and random forest classifiers detected single information needs well, with area under the curves of 0.804-0.914. A logistic regression classifier accurately found the set of needs within a message, with a Jaccard index of 0.859 (95% Confidence Interval: (0.847, 0.871)). Automated classification of consumer health information needs expressed in patient portal messages is feasible and may allow direct linking to relevant resources or creation of institutional resources for commonly expressed needs.

Teaching medical students about fair distribution of healthcare resources.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leget, C.J.W.; Hoedemaekers, R.H.M.V.

2007-01-01

Healthcare package decisions are complex. Different judgements about effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and disease burden influence the decision-making process. Moreover, different concepts of justice generate different ideas about fair distribution of healthcare resources. This paper presents a

An Empirical Analysis of United States Consumers' Concerns about Eight Food Production and Processing Technologies

OpenAIRE

Hwang, Yun Jae; Roe, Brian E.; Teisl, Mario F.

2005-01-01

For a representative sample of U.S. consumers, we rank, correlate and explain ratings of concern toward eight food production and processing technologies (antibiotics, pesticides, artificial growth hormones, genetic modification, irradiation, artificial colors/flavors, pasteurization, and preservatives). Concern is highest for pesticides and hormones, followed by concern toward antibiotics, genetic modification and irradiation. We document standard relationships between many demographic, econ...

Factors affecting dry-cured ham consumer acceptability.

Science.gov (United States)

Morales, R; Guerrero, L; Aguiar, A P S; Guàrdia, M D; Gou, P

2013-11-01

The objectives of the present study were (1) to compare the relative importance of price, processing time, texture and intramuscular fat in purchase intention of dry-cured ham through conjoint analysis, (2) to evaluate the effect of dry-cured ham appearance on consumer expectations, and (3) to describe the consumer sensory preferences of dry-cured ham using external preference mapping. Texture and processing time influenced the consumer preferences in conjoint analysis. Red colour intensity, colour uniformity, external fat and white film presence/absence influenced consumer expectations. The consumer disliked hams with bitter and metallic flavour and with excessive saltiness and piquantness. Differences between expected and experienced acceptability were found, which indicates that the visual preference of consumers does not allow them to select a dry-cured ham that satisfies their sensory preferences of flavour and texture. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pre-consumer apparel waste mangement in Macedonia

OpenAIRE

Tomovska, Elena; Jordeva, Sonja; Trajković, Dušan; Zafirova, Koleta

2014-01-01

By its origine textile waste can bi divided in two broad categories: post-consumer waste derived from householda, and pre consumer waste generated during the manifacturing process. The division of the clothing supply chain between developed consumer markets and developing countries where apparel production capacities are out outsources implies that post-consumer waste is present in the former countries, whereas the later generate more pre-consumer waste. To effectively utilize the textile was...

The impact of youtube recommendations on consumer's decision-making process

OpenAIRE

Bom, Inês Sofia Inácio

2016-01-01

JEL Classification System: D81- Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty; M31- Marketing The development of the Internet allowed consumers to easily share their opinions about products and services, and discuss it with other consumers. In this context, online sources of recommendation became more reliable and relevant, specially among young people. New opinion leaders start to arise on the Internet, being in some cases more reliable and relatable to young people than trad...

The Impact of Online Additional Reviews on Consumer's Purchase Process

OpenAIRE

Tiantian Shen; Qi Dai; Ran Wang; Qinglong Gou

2015-01-01

As the supplement of buyers' original reviews on products, online additional reviews were supported by some B2C websites recently. That is to say, consumers could post their recommendations or comments again in several months. This paper attempts to measure the impacts of additional reviews on consumers, as well as to investigate whether they are different from those of original ones. Our results not only indicate that purchasing intention, attitude certainty and after-sales service have sign...

The difficulties experienced by nurses and healthcare staff involved in the process of breaking bad news.

Science.gov (United States)

Warnock, Clare; Buchanan, Jean; Tod, Angela Mary

2017-07-01

The aim of this study was to explore the difficulties experienced by nurses and healthcare professionals when engaging in the process of breaking bad news. The challenges faced by staff when breaking bad news have previously been researched in relation to particular settings or participants. This study involved staff from diverse settings and roles to develop broader insights into the range of difficulties experienced in clinical practice. The study used a descriptive survey design involving self-reported written accounts and framework analysis. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire containing a free text section that asked participants to describe a difficult experience they had encountered when involved in the process of breaking bad news. Data were collected from healthcare staff from hospital, community, hospice and care home settings attending training days on breaking bad news between April 2011 and April 2014. Multiple inter-related factors presented challenges to staff engaging in activities associated with breaking bad news. Traditional subjects such as diagnostic and treatment information were described but additional topics were identified such as the impact of illness and care at the end of life. A descriptive framework was developed that summarizes the factors that contribute to creating difficult experiences for staff when breaking bad news. The framework provides insights into the scope of the challenges faced by staff when they engage in the process of breaking bad news. This provides the foundation for developing interventions to support staff that more closely matches their experiences in clinical practice. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Clinical engagement: improving healthcare together.

Science.gov (United States)

Riches, E; Robson, B

2014-02-01

Clinical engagement can achieve lasting change in the delivery of healthcare. In October 2011, Healthcare Improvement Scotland formulated a clinical engagement strategy to ensure that a progressive and sustainable approach to engaging healthcare professionals is firmly embedded in its health improvement and public assurance activities. The strategy was developed using a 90-day process, combining an evidence base of best practice and feedback from semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The strategy aims to create a culture where clinicians view working with Healthcare Improvement Scotland as a worthwhile venture, which offers a number of positive benefits such as training, career development and research opportunities. The strategy works towards developing a respectful partnership between Healthcare Improvement Scotland, the clinical community and key stakeholders whereby clinicians' contributions are recognised in a non-financial reward system. To do this, the organisation needs a sustainable infrastructure and an efficient, cost-effective approach to clinical engagement. There are a number of obstacles to achieving successful clinical engagement and these must be addressed as key drivers in its implementation. The implementation of the strategy is supported by an action and resource plan, and its impact will be monitored by a measurement plan to ensure the organisation reviews its approaches towards clinical engagement.

Healthcare waste management: current practices in selected healthcare facilities, Botswana.

Science.gov (United States)

Mbongwe, Bontle; Mmereki, Baagi T; Magashula, Andrew

2008-01-01

Healthcare waste management continues to present an array of challenges for developing countries, and Botswana is no exception. The possible impact of healthcare waste on public health and the environment has received a lot of attention such that Waste Management dedicated a special issue to the management of healthcare waste (Healthcare Wastes Management, 2005. Waste Management 25(6) 567-665). As the demand for more healthcare facilities increases, there is also an increase on waste generation from these facilities. This situation requires an organised system of healthcare waste management to curb public health risks as well as occupational hazards among healthcare workers as a result of poor waste management. This paper reviews current waste management practices at the healthcare facility level and proposes possible options for improvement in Botswana.

LEAN THINKING IN HEALTHCARE: REVIEW OF IMPLEMENTATION RESULTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marija Kovacevic

2016-03-01

Full Text Available For over decade, automotive industry originated lean concept has been successfully implemented in healthcare systems as a management method and philosophy with main focus on elimination of all types of wastes and looses in all tasks and processes so that time, materials, resources and medical procedures could be realized as effectively as it is possible. As main result lean concept implementation ensured to healthcare organizations to focus on their main core function and dedicate more time and efforts to patients without additional costs for them or healthcare system. However, lean implementation in healthcare could be much more difficult than in standard industrial environment and there are significant number of examples of lean in healthcare projects that failed to gain any measurable results and sustainable benefits from it. This paper presents review of some of the most successful implementations of lean tools and principles in healthcare organizations.

The Cuban National Healthcare System: Characterization of primary healthcare services.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keli Regina DAL PRÁ

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This article presents a report on the experience of healthcare professionals in Florianópolis, who took the course La Atención Primaria de Salud y la Medicina Familiar en Cuba [Primary Healthcare and Family Medicine in Cuba], in 2014. The purpose of the study is to characterize the healthcare units and services provided by the Cuban National Healthcare System (SNS and to reflect on this experience/immersion, particularly on Cuba’s Primary Healthcare Service. The results found that in comparison with Brazil’s Single Healthcare System (SUS Cuba’s SNS Family Healthcare (SF service is the central organizing element of the Primary Healthcare Service. The number of SF teams per inhabitant is different than in Brazil; the programs given priority in the APS are similar to those in Brazil and the intersectorial nature and scope of the services prove to be effective in the resolution of healthcare problems.

Enhancing Health-Care Services with Mixed Reality Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Stantchev, Vladimir

This work presents a development approach for mixed reality systems in health care. Although health-care service costs account for 5-15% of GDP in developed countries the sector has been remarkably resistant to the introduction of technology-supported optimizations. Digitalization of data storing and processing in the form of electronic patient records (EPR) and hospital information systems (HIS) is a first necessary step. Contrary to typical business functions (e.g., accounting or CRM) a health-care service is characterized by a knowledge intensive decision process and usage of specialized devices ranging from stethoscopes to complex surgical systems. Mixed reality systems can help fill the gap between highly patient-specific health-care services that need a variety of technical resources on the one side and the streamlined process flow that typical process supporting information systems expect on the other side. To achieve this task, we present a development approach that includes an evaluation of existing tasks and processes within the health-care service and the information systems that currently support the service, as well as identification of decision paths and actions that can benefit from mixed reality systems. The result is a mixed reality system that allows a clinician to monitor the elements of the physical world and to blend them with virtual information provided by the systems. He or she can also plan and schedule treatments and operations in the digital world depending on status information from this mixed reality.

PRof ILE of ORANGE CONSUMPTION AND CONSUMER ATTITUDES TO MINIMALLY PROCESSED ‘PERA’ ORANGE IN MUNICIPALITIES of THE STATE of SÃO PAULO

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Cecília de Arruda PALHARINI

2012-08-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work was to investigate the prof ile of orange consumption and consumer attitude to minimally processed orange. Seven hundred and seventeen questionnaires were applied in commercial establishments in three municipalities in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Main results of this research are: orange is a highly appreciated fruit, being consumed in natura and also as its natural juice, moreover orange is purchased weekly at hypermarkets, the purchase intent for minimally processed orange was low and the likely consumers’ willingness of paying for that product would be near 200% over the ‘in natura’ fruit. Considering the high consume of ‘in natura’ orange and the increasing need for convenience and practicality, it is possible to affirm that there is a potential for commercializing minimally processed orange.

Consumer’s Perception on Design and Layout of Consumer Medical Information Leaflets on Obesity and Lipid Lowering Drugs

Science.gov (United States)

Mathew, Elizabeth M.; Rajiah, Kingston; Sharma, Krishana Kumar

2013-01-01

Background: Printed education materials are often used to augment healthcare professional’s verbal information to consumers so it serves as an important component of symptom management. They also enhance the teaching process and can be used by consumers as a home reference. Objective: This study was aimed to interpret consumers’ perception on Consumer Medical Information Leaflets (CMILs) on obesity and lipid lowering drugs, on design and layout using the standard method such as Baker Able Leaflet Design (BALD). Material and Methods: Convenience sampling was done. The study was conducted over a period of 3 years in community pharmacy settings in Tamil Nadu, India. The Consumer Medical Information Leaflets (CMILs) were randomly collected from different community pharmacies. Total of 19 CMILs which are commonly used by the consumers were collected and CMILs were assessed using BALD assessment tool Results: According to BALD assessment (46.28%) leaflets were rated as ‘above standard’ and (53.72) leaflets were rated as ‘standard or poor’ in layout and design since their scores were less than 25. This shows that this issue may be important from the patient’s perspective, which may discourage patient from actually reading the CMILs. Conclusion: In India, generally CMILs are continued to be prepared in English and with higher proportion of consumers with English illiteracy. CMILs, which are prepared without taking consideration of reading level of consumers and proper layout and design, may not achieve the intended purpose. This is an important aspect that any company has to reckon while preparing leaflets and at least in some major local languages in which CMILs have to be prepared. PMID:24551641

Ethical Issues of Social Media Usage in Healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Denecke, K; Bamidis, P; Bond, C; Gabarron, E; Househ, M; Lau, A Y S; Mayer, M A; Merolli, M; Hansen, M

2015-08-13

Social media, web and mobile technologies are increasingly used in healthcare and directly support patientcentered care. Patients benefit from disease self-management tools, contact to others, and closer monitoring. Researchers study drug efficiency, or recruit patients for clinical studies via these technologies. However, low communication barriers in socialmedia, limited privacy and security issues lead to problems from an ethical perspective. This paper summarizes the ethical issues to be considered when social media is exploited in healthcare contexts. Starting from our experiences in social-media research, we collected ethical issues for selected social-media use cases in the context of patient-centered care. Results were enriched by collecting and analyzing relevant literature and were discussed and interpreted by members of the IMIA Social Media Working Group. Most relevant issues in social-media applications are confidence and privacy that need to be carefully preserved. The patient-physician relationship can suffer from the new information gain on both sides since private information of both healthcare provider and consumer may be accessible through the Internet. Physicians need to ensure they keep the borders between private and professional intact. Beyond, preserving patient anonymity when citing Internet content is crucial for research studies. Exploiting medical social-media in healthcare applications requires a careful reflection of roles and responsibilities. Availability of data and information can be useful in many settings, but the abuse of data needs to be prevented. Preserving privacy and confidentiality of online users is a main issue, as well as providing means for patients or Internet users to express concerns on data usage.

The rise of digital direct-to-consumer advertising?: Comparison of direct-to-consumer advertising expenditure trends from publicly available data sources and global policy implications

OpenAIRE

Mackey, Tim K.; Cuomo, Raphael E.; Liang, Bryan A.

2015-01-01

Background Pharmaceutical marketing is undergoing a major shift in the United States, in part due to new transparency regulations under the healthcare reform act. Changes in pharmaceutical marketing practices include a possible shift from more traditional forms of direct-to-consumer advertising towards emerging use of Internet-based DTCA (?eDTCA?) given the growing importance of digital health or ?eHealth.? Though legally allowed only in the U.S. and New Zealand, eDTCA poses novel regulatory ...

Retiree out-of-pocket healthcare spending: a study of consumer expectations and policy implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffman, Allison K; Jackson, Howell E

2013-01-01

Even though most American retirees benefit from Medicare coverage, a mounting body of research predicts that many will face large and increasing out-of-pocket expenditures for healthcare costs in retirement and that many already struggle to finance these costs. It is unclear, however, whether the general population understands the likely magnitude of these out-of-pocket expenditures well enough to plan for them effectively. This study is the first comprehensive examination of Americans' expectations regarding their out-of-pocket spending on healthcare in retirement. We surveyed over 1700 near retirees and retirees to assess their expectations regarding their own spending and then compared their responses to experts' estimates. Our main findings are twofold. First, overall expectations of out-of-pocket spending are mixed. While a significant proportion of respondents estimated out-of-pocket costs in retirement at or above expert estimates of what the typical retiree will spend, a disproportionate number estimated their future spending substantially below what experts view as likely. Estimates by members of some demographic subgroups, including women and younger respondents, deviated relatively further from the experts' estimates. Second, respondents consistently misjudged spending uncertainty. In particular, respondents significantly underestimated how much individual health experience and changes in government policy can affect individual out-of-pocket spending. We discuss possible policy responses, including efforts to improve financial planning and ways to reduce unanticipated financial risk through reform of health insurance regulation.

Consumer demand and quality assurance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grunert, Klaus G; Wognum, Nel; Trienekens, Jacques

2011-01-01

Consumers differ in their demands, and this mau have implications for the type of supply chain governance that is most suitable for serving them. We present a segmentation of pork consumers in the EU based on their food-related lifestyles and demand for different pork products. We then present...... an inventory of pork chain governance and quality management systems, also resulting from a pan-European study, and attempt to match types of chains to consumer segments, arguing that the type of quality demanded by the consumers has implications especially for the quality management system governing the chain......, and that these implications are different for fresh meat and processed meat. The paper closes with a call for more collaboration between chain researchers and consumer researchers....

European consumers and beef safety

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Van Wezemael, Lynn; Verbeke, Wim; Kügler, Jens Oliver

2010-01-01

European beef consumption has been gradually declining during the past decades, while consumers' concerns about beef safety have increased. This paper explores consumer perceptions of and interest in beef safety and beef safety information, and their role in beef safety assessment and the beef...... consumption decision making process. Eight focus group discussions were performed with a total of 65 beef consumers in four European countries. Content analysis revealed that European consumers experienced difficulties in the assessment of the safety of beef and beef products and adopted diverging uncertainty...... reduction strategies. These include the use of colour, labels, brands and indications of origin as cues signalling beef safety. In general, consumer trust in beef safety was relatively high, despite distrust in particular actors....

Using the Internet to investigate consumer choice spaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Crow, Janis J; Shanteau, James; Casey, John D

2003-05-01

Traditional investigations of consumer choice processes include a matrix of alternatives described by attributes. The researcher-created matrix presents a product option space for the participant. In this article, we propose an alternative methodological approach to consumer choice processes. Specifically, we investigate choice processes when a participant creates his/her own product space. We describe a Web-based program and methodology used to collect data for three customizable products. Empirical results indicate that consumers are willing and able to make choices from their own product space. This research provides a new avenue for exploring choice processes.

Volume and Value of Big Healthcare Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Dinov, Ivo D

Modern scientific inquiries require significant data-driven evidence and trans-disciplinary expertise to extract valuable information and gain actionable knowledge about natural processes. Effective evidence-based decisions require collection, processing and interpretation of vast amounts of complex data. The Moore's and Kryder's laws of exponential increase of computational power and information storage, respectively, dictate the need rapid trans-disciplinary advances, technological innovation and effective mechanisms for managing and interrogating Big Healthcare Data. In this article, we review important aspects of Big Data analytics and discuss important questions like: What are the challenges and opportunities associated with this biomedical, social, and healthcare data avalanche? Are there innovative statistical computing strategies to represent, model, analyze and interpret Big heterogeneous data? We present the foundation of a new compressive big data analytics (CBDA) framework for representation, modeling and inference of large, complex and heterogeneous datasets. Finally, we consider specific directions likely to impact the process of extracting information from Big healthcare data, translating that information to knowledge, and deriving appropriate actions.

Assessment of healthcare waste generation rate and its ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Assessment of healthcare waste generation rate and its management system in health centers of Bench Maji Zone. ... Background: It is known that the basic role of healthcare system is to preserve the health of patients and protect the public from diseases. However, in the process of performing these activities, health ...

Do healthcare tax credits help poor-health individuals on low incomes?

Science.gov (United States)

Di Novi, Cinzia; Marenzi, Anna; Rizzi, Dino

2018-03-01

In several countries, personal income tax permits tax credits for out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure. Tax credits benefit taxpayers at all income levels by reducing their net tax liability and modify the price of out-of-pocket expenditure. To the extent that consumer demand is price elastic, they may influence the amount of eligible healthcare expenditure for which taxpayers may claim a credit. These effects influence, in turn, income distributions and taxpayers' health status and therefore income-related inequality in health. Redistributive consequences of tax credits have been widely investigated. However, little is known about the ability of tax credits to alleviate health inequality. In this paper, we study the potential effects that tax credits for health expenses may have on income-related inequality in health status with reference to the Italian institutional setting. The analysis is performed using a tax-benefit microsimulation model that reproduces the personal income tax and incorporates taxpayers' behavioral responses to changes in tax credit rate. Our results suggest that the current healthcare tax credit design tends to favor the richest part of the population.

Mindful Application of Aviation Practices in Healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Powell-Dunford, Nicole; Brennan, Peter A; Peerally, Mohammad Farhad; Kapur, Narinder; Hynes, Jonny M; Hodkinson, Peter D

2017-12-01

Evidence supports the efficacy of incorporating select recognized aviation practices and procedures into healthcare. Incident analysis, debrief, safety brief, and crew resource management (CRM) have all been assessed for implementation within the UK healthcare system, a world leader in aviation-based patient safety initiatives. Mindful application, in which aviation practices are specifically tailored to the unique healthcare setting, show promise in terms of acceptance and long-term sustainment. In order to establish British healthcare applications of aviation practices, a PubMed search of UK authored manuscripts published between 2005-2016 was undertaken using search terms 'aviation,' 'healthcare,' 'checklist,' and 'CRM.' A convenience sample of UK-authored aviation medical conference presentations and UK-authored patient safety manuscripts were also reviewed. A total of 11 of 94 papers with UK academic affiliations published between 2005-2016 and relevant to aviation modeled healthcare delivery were found. The debrief process, incident analysis, and CRM are the primary practices incorporated into UK healthcare, with success dependent on cultural acceptance and mindful application. CRM training has gained significant acceptance in UK healthcare environments. Aviation modeled incident analysis, debrief, safety brief, and CRM training are increasingly undertaken within the UK healthcare system. Nuanced application, in which the unique aspects of the healthcare setting are addressed as part of a comprehensive safety approach, shows promise for long-term success. The patient safety brief and aviation modeled incident analysis are in earlier phases of implementation, and warrant further analysis.Powell-Dunford N, Brennan PA, Peerally MF, Kapur N, Hynes JM, Hodkinson PD. Mindful application of aviation practices in healthcare. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 88(12):1107-1116.

Consumer transformation: Cosmetic surgery as the expression of consumer freedom or as a marketing imperative?

OpenAIRE

Hill, B.

2016-01-01

McCracken’s analysis of identity construction in contemporary culture sees the drive to transform oneself as the expression of consumer agency and individual freedom. Transformation is accessible through cosmetic surgery, enabling consumers with funds to purchase a ‘whole new me’. This consumer is an active participant in the transformation process, not content with observing beauty but actively engaged in the creative construction of new improved selves. In doing so, they have “mastered the ...

Social Media and eBusiness: Cultural Impacts on the Influence Process in Consumer Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yong; Chen, Hong; Xu, Li

2016-08-01

Social media has been used as an important tool by firms to influence consumers’ attitude and behavior. Influence occurs in consumer communities in social media because community members have the control of discovering, producing, sharing, and distributing information and because the spread out of their experiences and opinions in the format of electronic word-of-mouth forms emerging conformance. Prior research has explored how the influence occurring in online social media communities impacts consumers’ attitude and behavior (e.g., product attitude and purchase decision, effectual thinking and behavior, brand trust and brand loyalty). But because social media has the ability of global reach, cross-border factors should not be neglected in studying the influence process. As such, this paper adopts national cultural dimensions identified by Hofstede (1984), individualism/collectivism and power distance particularly, the index of cultural distance, and the social influence theory to explore how culture impacts the influence occurring in consumer communities in social media.

Declarative Modelling and Safe Distribution of Healthcare Workflows

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hildebrandt, Thomas; Mukkamala, Raghava Rao; Slaats, Tijs

2012-01-01

We present a formal technique for safe distribution of workflow processes described declaratively as Nested Condition Response (NCR) Graphs and apply the technique to a distributed healthcare workflow. Concretely, we provide a method to synthesize from a NCR Graph and any distribution of its events......-organizational case management. The contributions of this paper is to adapt the technique to allow for nested processes and milestones and to apply it to a healthcare workflow identified in a previous field study at danish hospitals....

Effect of Processing on Postprandial Glycemic Response and Consumer Acceptability of Lentil-Containing Food Items.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramdath, D Dan; Wolever, Thomas M S; Siow, Yaw Chris; Ryland, Donna; Hawke, Aileen; Taylor, Carla; Zahradka, Peter; Aliani, Michel

2018-05-11

The consumption of pulses is associated with many health benefits. This study assessed post-prandial blood glucose response (PPBG) and the acceptability of food items containing green lentils. In human trials we: (i) defined processing methods (boiling, pureeing, freezing, roasting, spray-drying) that preserve the PPBG-lowering feature of lentils; (ii) used an appropriate processing method to prepare lentil food items, and compared the PPBG and relative glycemic responses (RGR) of lentil and control foods; and (iii) conducted consumer acceptability of the lentil foods. Eight food items were formulated from either whole lentil puree (test) or instant potato (control). In separate PPBG studies, participants consumed fixed amounts of available carbohydrates from test foods, control foods, or a white bread standard. Finger prick blood samples were obtained at 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 min after the first bite, analyzed for glucose, and used to calculate incremental area under the blood glucose response curve and RGR; glycemic index (GI) was measured only for processed lentils. Mean GI (± standard error of the mean) of processed lentils ranged from 25 ± 3 (boiled) to 66 ± 6 (spray-dried); the GI of spray-dried lentils was significantly ( p roasted lentil. Overall, lentil-based food items all elicited significantly lower RGR compared to potato-based items (40 ± 3 vs. 73 ± 3%; p chicken, chicken pot pie, and lemony parsley soup had the highest overall acceptability corresponding to "like slightly" to "like moderately". Processing influenced the PPBG of lentils, but food items formulated from lentil puree significantly attenuated PPBG. Formulation was associated with significant differences in sensory attributes.

A review of the design and development processes of simulation for training in healthcare - A technology-centered versus a human-centered perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Persson, Johanna

2017-01-01

This article reviews literature about simulation systems for training in healthcare regarding the prevalence of human-centered approaches in the design and development of these systems, motivated by a tradition in this field of working technology-centered. The results show that the focus on human needs and context of use is limited. It is argued that a reduction of the focus on technical advancements in favor of the needs of the users and the healthcare community, underpinned by human factors and ergonomics theory, is favorable. Due to the low number of identified articles describing or discussing human-centered approaches it is furthermore concluded that the publication culture promotes technical descriptions and summative evaluations rather than descriptions and reflections regarding the design and development processes. Shifting the focus from a technology-centered approach to a human-centered one can aid in the process of creating simulation systems for training in healthcare that are: 1) relevant to the learning objectives, 2) adapted to the needs of users, context and task, and 3) not selected based on technical or fidelity criteria. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

LOW INCOME CONSUMERS AND ONLINE SHOPPING: APPREHENSIONS IN CONSUMING THROUGH THE INTERNET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Pablo da Silva Dias

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The growth in access of low income consumers to the internet has taken them to use the net in search of entertainment, education and relationships. However, consuming online is still an activity surrounded by distrust. The present study aims to discuss the reasons why low income consumers have apprehension in consuming through the internet. For this, in depth interviews were conducted with 23 low income consumers. The collected data shows that the internet is still seen by the interviewees as being, mainly, for leisure and entertainment. Online shopping still is a task they fear, because of different motives. Initially, one can point the preference to consume in physical stores, since the consumers can touch the desired product, enjoy the trip to the store as a moment of pleasure and the possibility of interacting with salesmen, who help them in their choice. The apprehensions in buying online are also influenced by the perception that sites are not safe, because they offer threats, such as viruses or theft of personal information. Furthermore, interviewees believe that online stores are not compromised with their customers, since they permit problems to occur in the delivery of merchandise, are not clear about the shopping process, and create difficulties in payment method. Another reason for them not to buy online is the perception that if a negative consuming episode of online shopping happened to someone they know, it is also bound to happen with them. Despite this reasoning, these consumers point the importance of help from a third party in their reference group as main incentive for them to face the obstacles to consuming through the internet. In conclusion, it is possible to consider that low income consumers have apprehensions that are similar to their higher income peers, but, also, show different feelings, which are seldom discussed in the literature about online shopping.

HACCP and the management of healthcare associated infections: are there lessons to be learnt from other industries?

Science.gov (United States)

Griffith, Chris

2006-01-01

Hospital cleaning and healthcare associated infections (HCAIs) continue to attract adverse media attention and consumer concern. Parallels exist with similar publicity relating to cleaning and food safety in the food industry almost 13 years earlier. This paper examines some of the management solutions developed in the food industry, and discusses their application to healthcare delivery. The food industry is managing food safety by adopting a dual approach based on pre-requisite programmes and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP). How these differ is described and how the approaches and terminology can be adapted for use in healthcare is discussed. The food industry is moving towards external certification of safety using national and international standards. The HACCP approach, a management tool and a central requirement of these standards, is evolving and there is interest worldwide from the healthcare community. Its application to the decontamination of endoscopes, using conventional HACCP, is presented, as well as suggestions for a simplified format for managing patient-related procedures. Taking this type of approach to the management of HCAIs could provide greater transparency, reduce infection rates and increase consumer confidence. Potential problems in adopting HACCP, including cost and human resource, are discussed. The HACCP method/approach has previously been mentioned in the medical literature but this paper is one of the few to examine, from basic principles, its infection control application within a broader approach to quality assurance.

From healthcare assistant to student nurse

OpenAIRE

Adair, Fiona

2017-01-01

This article discusses research undertaken to investigate the journey that student nurses make who have previously worked as healthcare assistants (HCAs). It briefly identifies the research process, followed by in-depth discussion of one of the themes that emerged from the study: the difference between a student nurse and a healthcare assistant.\\ud \\ud The author chose to explore this theme in depth because more and more HCAs are undertaking the undergraduate degree programme to become a regi...

Consumer-driven and commercialised practice in dentistry: an ethical and professional problem?

Science.gov (United States)

Holden, A C L

2018-03-20

The rise and persistence of a commercial model of healthcare and the potential shift towards the commodification of dental services, provided to consumers, should provoke thought about the nature and purpose of dentistry and whether this paradigm is cause for concern. Within this article, whether dentistry is a commodity and the legitimacy of dentistry as a business is explored and assessed. Dentistry is perceived to be a commodity, dependent upon the context of how services are to be provided and the interpretation of the patient-professional relationship. Commercially-focused practices threaten the fiduciary nature of the interaction between consumer and provider. The solution to managing commercial elements within dentistry is not through rejection of the new paradigm of the consumer of dental services, but in the rejection of competitive practices, coercive advertising and the erosion of professional values and duty. Consumerism may bring empowerment to those accessing dental services. However, if the patient-practitioner relationship is reduced to a mere transaction in the name of enhanced consumer participation, this empowerment is but a myth.

Women as Video Game Consumers

OpenAIRE

Kiviranta, Hanna

2017-01-01

The purpose of this Thesis is to study women as video game consumers through the games that they play. This was done by case studies on the content of five video games from genres that statistically are popular amongst women. To introduce the topic and to build the theoretical framework, the key terms and the video game industry are introduced. The reader is acquainted with theories on consumer behaviour, buying processes and factors that influence our consuming habits. These aspects are...

An investigation of factors influencing healthcare workers' use and acceptance of e-learning in post-school healthcare education.

Science.gov (United States)

Mikalsen, Marius; Walderhaug, Ståle

2009-01-01

The objective of the study presented here was to perform an empirical investigation on factors affecting healthcare workers acceptance and utilisation of e-learning in post-school healthcare education. E-learning benefits are realised when key features of e-learning are not only applied, but deemed useful, compatible with the learning process and supportive in order to reach the overall goals of the learning process. We conducted a survey of 14 state-enrolled nurses and skilled-workers within the field of healthcare in Norway. The results show that perceived compatibility and subjective norm explain system usage of the e-learning tool amongst the students. We found that the fact that the students considered the e-learning to be compatible with the course in question had a positive effect on e-learning tool usage. We also found support for factors such as facilitating conditions and ease of use leads to the e-learning tool being considered useful.

The health of healthcare, Part II: patient healthcare has cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Waldman, Deane

2013-01-01

In this article, we make the etiologic diagnosis for a sick patient named Healthcare: the cancer of greed. When we explore the two forms of this cancer--corporate and bureaucratic--we find the latter is the greater danger to We the Patients. The "treatments" applied to patient Healthcare by the Congressional "doctors" have consistently made the patient worse, not better. At the core of healthcare's woes is the government's diversion of money from healthcare services to healthcare bureaucracy. As this is the root cause, it is what we must address in order to cure, not sedate or palliate, patient Healthcare.