Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Medical Laboratory Science”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed2004

Methodological and technical issues related to the diagnosis, screening, prevention, and treatment of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia.

In contrast with advances made in treating or eliminating many other serious disorders, severe morbidity and mortality associated with pre-eclampsia/eclampsia remain among the leading problems that threaten safe motherhood, particularly in developing countries. This article reviews technical issues related to diagnosis, screening, prevention, and treatment of pre-eclampsia and identifies corresponding needs. The authors stress the lack of standardized definitions of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia and discuss problems in blood-pressure measurements and assessment of urinary protein. They summarize the evidence for prevention strategies and screening tests for early detection. For treatment, magnesium sulfate has been proven effective, but not widely used. The authors outline priorities for narrowing the identified gaps and emphasize the need for coordinated efforts to reduce the morbidity and mortality due to pre-eclampsia/eclampsia. They conclude that the mystery of this disease must be resolved to achieve primary prevention of it.

Developing Countries↗
PubMed1997

Health care telematics: who is liable?

This paper deals with questions of liability that may arise with the implementation and use of telematics and informatics in the health care sector. Traditionally liability has evolved around the responsible health care professionals. However, with increasing reliance on informatics and telematics in health care there may come a shift away from this concept of liability to the idea of shared liability between the responsible health care professionals and those who have provided this technology.

Artificial Intelligence↗
PubMed1997

Patient's view of dialysis care: development of a taxonomy and rating of importance of different aspects of care. CHOICE study. Choices for Healthy Outcomes in Caring for ESRD.

Quality assessment efforts to enhance public accountability in dialysis care and to support provider efforts to improve care have lacked patient input. To develop brief patient evaluation or satisfaction surveys suitable for busy clinical settings, knowing patients' priorities can be helpful in deciding which aspects of care should be tracked. We conducted a study to identify salient attributes of dialysis care and to rank the importance of these attributes from the perspective of dialysis patients. We analyzed the content of patient focus group transcripts to characterize dialysis care from the patients' perspective. We then surveyed 86 patients to determine how patients would rank the importance of each aspect to quality of dialysis care. The 18 broad aspects of care identified in the focus group included: (1) care provided by nephrologists, (2) care provided by other physicians (nonnephrologists), (3) care provided by dialysis center nurses, (4) care provided by social workers and psychologists, (5) care provided by dieticians, (6) clergy, (7) care provided by technicians and physician assistants/nurse practitioners, (8) care provided by dialysis center staff in general, (9) supplies, (10) treatment choice and effectiveness, (11) patient education and training, (12) self-care, (13) dialysis machines, (14) unit environment and policies, (15) cost containment, (16) billing, (17) cost of care, and (18) health outcomes. Items ranked in the top 10 by both groups of patients included issues related to nephrologists, other doctors, nurses, and patient education and training. Compared with hemodialysis patients, peritoneal dialysis patients gave higher ratings to hospital doctors' and nurses' attention to cleanliness when working with access sites, how correct the nephrologist's instructions to patients are, whether emergency room doctors check with nephrologists, the amount of information patients get about their diet, and how well nurses answer patients' questions. Patients value certain aspects of dialysis care highly, and these aspects differed in some respects for the relatively small number of hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients studied. Construction of brief questionnaires for quality assessment and assurance requires thoughtful consideration of what questions to include. Knowing patients' priorities regarding the most important aspects of care that have high potential for dissatisfaction may be helpful to continuous quality improvement of end-stage renal disease care.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Adoption of smart cards in the medical sector: the Canadian experience.

This research evaluates the factors influencing the adoption of smart cards in the medical sector (a smart card has a micro-processor containing information about the patient: identification, emergency data (allergies, blood type, etc.), vaccination, drugs used, and the general medical record). This research was conducted after a pilot study designed to evaluate the use of such smart cards. Two hundred and ninety-nine professionals, along with 7248 clients, used the smart card for a year. The targeted population included mostly elderly people, infants, and pregnant women (the most intensive users of health care services). Following this pilot study, two surveys were conducted, together with numerous interviews, to assess the factors influencing adoption of the technology. A general picture emerged. indicating that although the new card is well-perceived by individuals, tangible benefits must be available to motivate professionals and clients to adopt the technology. Results show that the fundamental dimension that needs to be assessed before massive diffusion is the relative advantage to the professional. The system must provide a direct benefit to its user. The relative advantage of the system for the professional is directly linked to the obligation for the client to use the card. The system is beneficial for the professional only if the information on the card is complete. Technical adequacy is a necessary but not sufficient condition for adoption.

Attitude↗
PubMed1988

What's new in tumor markers and their measurements?

Clinical interest and usefulness of the various marker determinations in staging, detection, prognosis, and monitoring of therapy in patients with tumors of different organ systems is discussed. It is stated that there is an urgent need for markers that can be used in early stage cancers, since neither the classical nor the new markers are sensitive or specific enough to be used for screening purposes or the detection of incipient malignancies. Despite having experienced frustrating limitations with the circulating markers these substances became of great interest as target antigens in histopathology and immunescintigraphy. These new applications of the tumor markers are also reviewed.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

What is done, what is needed and what is realistic to expect from medical informatics standards.

Medical informatic experts have made considerable progress in the development of standards for orders and clinical results (CEN, HL7, ASTM), EKG tracings (CEN), diagnostic images (DICOM), claims processing (X12 and EDIFAC) and in vocabulary and codes (SNOMED, Read Codes, the MED, LOINC). Considerable work still remains to be carried out. Abstract models of health care information have to be created, to cover the necessary domain, and yet be simple enough to assimilate, implement, and manage. This requires a high degree of abstraction. Enormous amounts to develop standardized vocabulary are still required to complement such a model, and to define the subsets that apply to given contexts.

Computer Communication Networks↗
PubMed1994

The diffusion of obstetric technology into rural U.S. hospitals.

We determined the distribution and sophistication of obstetric technologies in all 80 maternity hospitals in the state of Washington and examined the effect of rural or urban location, birth volume, and physician staffing on technological intensity. Although smaller and more rural hospitals refer most premature and low-birth-weight infants to regional referral centers, sophisticated prenatal and intrapartum technologies are available in the majority of even the smallest and most remote rural units. Rural hospitals have slightly lower obstetrical intervention rates than do their urban counterparts, but the differences are not great.

Female↗
PubMed1997

Technical efficiencies of Turkish hospitals: DEA approach.

This study uses Data Envelopment Analysis to examine the technical efficiencies of 573 Turkish acute general hospitals. Inputs of number of beds, number of primary care physicians, and number of specialists, and how they are used to produce outputs of inpatient discharges, outpatient visits, and surgical operations, are examined. Results illustrate that less than ten percent of Turkish acute general hospitals operate efficiently compared to their counterparts. Inefficient, compared to efficient hospitals, on average utilize 32% more specialists, 47% more primary care physicians, and have 119% more staffed bed capacity. They also produce on average less output. Particularly, 13% less outpatient visits, 16% inpatient hospitalization, and 57% less surgical procedures. Additionally, the validity of DEA is illustrated by comparing it to the ratio analysis method; no discernible differences in the results are found.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1997

Determining the optimal physician mix in health maintenance organizations.

Described is a simulation model for forecasting the appropriate mix of physicians needed to meet health service demands of patients in managed health care organizations. The model can be used by executives of managed health care organizations to plan for physician staffing levels by specialty. Uncertainties such as changes in the population size served by the managed health care organization, new developments in health care delivery technologies and changing attitudes of the population regarding healthier lifestyles are considered in this model. Use of the model is illustrated in an example.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1997

Is there an evidence base for the practice of ENT surgery?

In order to assess the strength of the 'evidence base' for the practice of otolaryngology a review of recent journal articles was undertaken. A review of all articles published during the period 1990-1994 in five major general otolaryngology journals was performed. The articles were classified according to a standardized scheme from the abstract or, if necessary, the full paper. Papers were grouped into observational studies (descriptive or analytical, hypothesis-testing), controlled trials, randomized controlled trials, audits, non-clinical and others. One true meta-analysis was found. Randomized controlled trials comprised 0.7%-4% of articles across the journals studied; other controlled trials comprised 0.8-2%; and other analytical studies 7.6-21.9%. Very few true audits were seen. Descriptive studies were by far the commonest type of paper seen. This literature review suggests there is a poor evidence base for our specialty if one regards randomized controlled trials as the gold standard.

Animals↗