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Biomedical subjects

J B Conway

Publications and source records attributed to J B Conway.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Breaking down professional silos: the potential of integrated management.

The "change" train is headed down the track. You can be on board the train, be under it, or be left at the station, but this train will continue with or without you. Patients, families and healthcare professionals believe that healthcare is delivered in a fragmented fashion. Our silos--our departments, the facilities we are associated with, our professions and professional associations--are under attack and must respond. Schools are educating students to practice in a place that just isn't there anymore. Many educators have been away from the healthcare arena too long. Critical factors for an organization's success, in business and in healthcare, include having a seamless, aligned and simplified operation that offers high value. The successful healthcare organization must be financially viable. It must harness technology's potential, particularly in information systems, to improve the work we do. Change must be lead or driven from the top. Concepts must be sold to staff, family members and patients so each group believes its best interests are served.

Delivery of Health Care, Integrated↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cooperation in health affairs between adjacent international communities: a successful model.

The border between the United States and Mexico presents a number of problems related to health that are simultaneously local and international. Large-scale government-to-government interactions have generally failed to achieve lasting cooperation on important health issues, with a few important exceptions. One reason for this may be that the issues have been complicated by much larger and more complex social, cultural, economic, and political differences. Another is that large organizations must each function according to their own mandates, goals, and procedures and may not mesh well with others, even with nominal counterparts. In 1981 we conceptualized a model for encouraging binational cooperation on small-scale local projects. The model incorporates three elements: a significant and difficult but soluble technical problem affecting both sides of the border (the "technocratic factor"), a mutually respected individual or team whose function is to facilitate communication and prevent misunderstandings (the "human factor"), and the actions of governments or institutions larger than the working groups (the "institutional factor"). Subsequently, we applied the model to water quality and to the distribution of sources of toxic substances in the border area, which met the criteria for the technocratic factor. Two highly respected figures in environmental health, one American and one Mexican, mediated between colleagues on either side of the border and facilitated the development of projects. Finally, after the projects had been under way long enough to have demonstrated their viability and personal interactions among the principals had become trusting and collegial, the institutional factor was admitted and major financial and administrative support obtained.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Environmental Health↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Nitrate contamination of domestic potable water supplies: a social problem?

Nitrate contamination of potable water supplies is a recognized health hazard. Potentially, the contamination of private drinking water supplies could be a problem in the rural Palouse area of Idaho and Washington. Studies have shown that 12 percent of the rural population of Whitman County, Washington, may be drinking water containing nitrates in excess of the national standard. Yet there is no organized concern about this potential health hazard among local citizens. After reviewing the literature on nitrate contamination of ground water and discussing nitrate contamination of private potable water supplies in the Palouse, we use a social movement theory of social problems to explain why this situation has not been defined as a public health problem.

Humans↗