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At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Different response rates in a trial of two envelop styles in mail survey research.

To determine whether academic physicians' response rates to a mail survey depend on the envelope used to mail the survey, we randomized 901 internists affiliated with a university department of medicine to receive a survey in either a university envelope or a Veterans Affairs envelope. The response rate among those receiving the Veterans Affairs envelope (41%) was 20% higher than the response rate among those receiving the university envelope (34%). We conclude that the packaging of a mail survey can influence the response rate.

Data Collection↗
PubMed2001

Cost-effectiveness of a lottery for increasing physicians' responses to a mail survey.

To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a lottery on physicians' responses to a mail survey, a randomized controlled trial was conducted with a random sample of 1,000 members of the Quebec Federation of General Practitioners in 1997. For the first mailing of this survey, each respondent was randomly assigned to the control or experimental group, which was offered participation in a lottery upon return of the questionnaire. Response rate was 41.2% in the experimental group and 34.8% in the control group, a 6.4% difference (CI95%: 0.6%-12.6%). The additional cost of the lottery was about Can$500, giving an incremental cost of Can$16 per questionnaire returned. In conclusion, a lottery resulted in a small but statistically significant increase in the response rate of physicians to a mail survey. This method may be a cost-effective option when applied to large surveys.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed2002

Caffeine, cajoling, and other strategies to maximize clinician survey response rates.

An ongoing objective in health services research is to increase response rates to clinician surveys to ensure generalizability of findings. Three HMOs in the Cancer Research Network participated in a primary care clinician survey to better understand organizational characteristics affecting adoption and implementation of breast and cervical cancer screening guidelines. A four-stage data collection strategy was implemented to maximize response. This included careful attention to survey design and layout, extensive piloting, choice of token incentive, use of "local champions," and denominator management. An overall response rate of 91% was attained, ranging from 83 to 100% among the plans (N = 621). Although the response rate after the second stage of data collection met commonly used standards, the authors argue for the four-stage method due to the possibility of differences when comparing early and late responders. This is important when multiple plans with differing structure and internal characteristics are surveyed.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed2005

Medicare-approved drug discount cards and prescription drug prices.

PURPOSE: Prescription drug prices with and without the use of Medicare-approved drug discount card programs (MADDCs) to purchase medications were studied. METHODS: The Medicare.gov Web site was used to determine if the 200 most frequently prescribed drugs in the United States in 2003 were covered by a MADDC. The lowest and highest MADDC prices at local and mail-order pharmacies and the corresponding non-MADDC prices at the same community pharmacies or an Internet pharmacy, respectively, were determined. Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to determine if there was a difference between non-MADDC medication prices and MADDC prices. RESULTS: Of the top 200 medications prescribed in 2003, 192 (96%) and 189 (94.5%) were covered by at least one MADDC in a local pharmacy or mail-order pharmacy, respectively. Overall, MADDCs saved money compared with purchasing medications without a MADDC (p < 0.001). However, a MADDC resulted in a higher price than the retail non-MADDC price for 61 (31.8%) of the prescription medications at local pharmacies, and using a MADDC at a mail-order pharmacy resulted in a higher price than the Internet pharmacy non-MADDC price for 143 (75.7%) of the drugs. CONCLUSION: MADDC prices for common prescription medications were generally lower than prices when MADDCs were not used. The highest mail-order MADDC prices were often higher than Internet non-MADDC prices.

Community Pharmacy Services↗
PubMed2000

The utility of anonymised postcoded registration data provided by the Dental Practice Board.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the completeness of the postcodes held in the data sets of the Dental Practice Board (DPB), and the use of the location of the dental practice at which a patient is registered, as a proxy for the location of their residential address. BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN: A cross-sectional evaluation of anonymised person-based registration data held by the DPB. The study population was all children aged under 6 years registered with a dentist in the North West Region of England. The percentage of records that could be geo-referenced from the postcodes contained within the DPB's data sets was calculated. For all records which could be geo-referenced, the proportion of children who lived in the same health authority as the dental practice they were registered with was also calculated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A total of 193,466 children in the North West Region were registered with a general dental practitioner (GDP). Of this total 117,607 (60.8 percent) could be geo-referenced from the contents of the postcode field. However, there was considerable variation in the match across the region. The majority of children lived in the same health authority as the dental practice they were registered with. It was noticeable that a greater proportion (28.5 percent) of residents registered with a dentist located within the boundaries of Manchester Health Authority were not Manchester residents. CONCLUSIONS: Due to a significant proportion of missing postcodes, data presently held by the DPB cannot be used to calculate accurate registration rates at a small area level. Using the dental practice location as a proxy for residential address is inaccurate at health authority level, especially for large conurbations. This inaccuracy will increase at small area level. Registration data held by DPB are a potentially valuable information source, but before this information can be of use to commissioners the problem of poor postcode coverage will need to be resolved.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1995

Advent of mail-order pharmacy causes concern among some pharmacists.

MEDITrust, a major mail-order pharmacy, promises low drug prices and dispensing fees for people who order drugs via mail. Its arrival has created some strong opposition in Quebec. The Canadian Pharmaceutical Association says the arrival of mail-order companies may give community pharmacists an opportunity to promote the benefits of face-to-face contact with pharmacists. The CMA's Dr. Anne Carter says there will always be a need for community pharmacists, who can provide drugs on short notice and provide personal counselling for patients.

Humans↗
PubMed2002

Effects of mailed dissemination of the Royal College of Radiologists' guidelines on general practitioner referrals for radiography: a time series analysis.

AIM: To evaluate the effect of postal dissemination of the third edition of the Royal College of Radiologists' (RCR) guidelines on general practitioner referrals for radiography. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An interrupted time series using monthly data for 34 months before and 14 months after dissemination of the guidelines was employed. Data were abstracted for the period April 1994 to March 1998 from the computerized administrative systems of open access radiological services provided by two teaching hospitals in one region of Scotland. The time series results are contrasted with those obtained by using a simple before and after design. RESULTS: A total of 117 747 imaging requests from general practice were received in the two departments. There were no significant effects of disseminating the guidelines on the total number of requests, or on requests for individual examinations. If a simple before and after study had been used, then we would have erroneously concluded that significant changes had occurred in referral practice for 11 of the 18 procedures concerned. CONCLUSION: Mailing of copies of the RCR guidelines had a small effect on general practitioners' use of X-ray investigations of uncertain clinical significance. Additional dissemination and implementation strategies appear necessary to promote the use of guidelines.

Family Practice↗
PubMed1997

Impact of postal invitations and user fee on influenza vaccination rates among the elderly. A randomized controlled trial in general practice.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of postal invitations and user fee on influenza vaccination rates. DESIGN: A controlled randomized trial in 13 general practices. One third of the participating patients received postal invitations to influenza vaccination free of charge. Another third received postal invitations to influenza vaccination on paying the usual fee (US$ 40-60). The last third served as a control group, being vaccinated at their own request and paying the usual fee. SETTING: General practice in the Counties of Funen and Vejle, Denmark. PATIENTS: Five hundred and eighty-five patients aged 65 years or older, recognized by their general practitioner (GP) as being in the risk group for whom influenza vaccination is recommended. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Influenza vaccination rates. RESULTS: In the control group 25% (19-31%, 95% confidence interval) of the patients were vaccinated, compared with 49% (42-56%) in the group who received a postal reminder and paid the usual fee, and 72% (65-78%) in the group invited to be vaccinated free of charge. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that GPs send postal invitations to their elderly patients in the risk groups urgently recommending influenza vaccination. Attention should also be given to offering free influenza vaccination to elderly patients who have recognized indications for vaccination.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

A controlled trial of an educational program to prevent low back injuries.

BACKGROUND: Low back injuries are common and costly, accounting for 15 to 25 percent of injuries covered by workers' compensation and 30 to 40 percent of the payments made under that program. The high costs of injury, the lack of effective treatment. and the evidence that there are behavioral risk factors have led to widespread use of employee education programs that teach safe lifting and handling. The effectiveness of those programs, however, has received little rigorous evaluation. METHODS: We evaluated an educational program designed to prevent low back injury in a randomized, controlled trial involving about 4000 postal workers. The program, similar to that in wide use in so-called back schools, was taught by experienced physical therapists. Work units of workers and supervisors were trained in a two-session back school (three hours of training), followed by three to four reinforcement sessions over the succeeding few years. Injured subjects (from both the intervention and the control groups) were randomized a second time to receive either training or no training after their return to work. RESULTS: Physical therapists trained 2534 postal workers and 134 supervisors. Over 5.5 years of follow-up, 360 workers reported low back injuries, for a rate of 21.2 injuries per 1000 worker-years of risk. The median time off from work per injury was 14 days (range, 0 to 1717); the median cost was $204 (range, zero to $190,380). After their return to work, 75 workers were injured again. Our comparison of the intervention and control groups found that the education program did not reduce the rate of low back injury, the median cost per injury, the time off from work per injury, the rate of related musculoskeletal injuries, or the rate of repeated injury after return to work; only the subjects' knowledge of safe behavior was increased by the training. CONCLUSIONS: A large-scale, randomized, controlled trial of an educational program to prevent work-associated low back injury found no long-term benefits associated with training.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Medications through the Internet: what clinicians and patients need to know.

Patients are now able to obtain mail order prescriptions through the Internet from reputable online pharmacies without leaving their home. While this can be a great convenience, the Internet also provides a new means for easily questionable or even illegal prescription medications, i.e., prescription legend medications may be obtained without a prescription and drug products not legally available in the United States can be obtained in this way. Many chronic pain patients are drug seeking, and increasingly many are using the Internet to learn about medications, and perhaps to obtain them. Clinicians should know where their patients obtain medications, how to verify the validity of the sources of prescriptions, and how to report fraud. Ways to verify the legitimacy of an online pharmacy are described.

Drug Prescriptions↗