UNICEF renews appeal for humanitarian funds.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
SEARCH · Search PubMed
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.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Japan has a government financed outpatient program for people with mental disorders, called the 'publicly-insured' program. This study was performed to examine whether the target patient population used this publicly-insured program properly and to compare the degree of satisfaction of publicly-insured psychiatric outpatients with generally-insured psychiatric outpatients. The characteristics and satisfaction of 97 (43.9%) publicly-insured psychiatric outpatients and 124 (55.1%) generally-insured outpatients in Japan were studied. Psychiatrists rated sociodemographic and diagnostic information and patients were asked to complete the Japanese version of Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8J). The publicly-insured were longer-term and lower functioning patients and were significantly more dissatisfied with the services they received than the generally-insured patients. The publicly-insured program was successful in that patients with lower functioning (the primary target population of this program) were cared for and because they received treatment for longer periods of time. However, the program does not sufficiently satisfy the consumers of the services, despite its high costs. In this respect, this program needs to focus more on patients' points of view. More information on programs their enrollment procedures for patients may be helpful in educating consumers and citizens, clarifying expectations of services, and in influencing satisfaction.
This paper considers health care finance in four Caribbean territories and plans for reform in comparison with developments in European countries, to which these territories are historically linked. European health care reforms are aimed at making resource allocation in health care more efficient and more responsive to consumers' demands and preferences. These reforms in Europe have been continuing without appearing to have influenced the developments in the Caribbean very much, except in Martinique. In Trinidad and Tobago current reform entails delegation of responsibility for providing services to four regional health authorities and no purchaser/provider split at the regional or facility level as in the UK has been implemented. In the Bahamas, managed care arrangements are likely to emerge given the proximity of the United States. Recent universal coverage reform in Martinique was aimed at harmonisation of finance by bringing social security and social aid functions together under one management structure and may provide more opportunities for contracting and other initiatives towards greater efficiency. The first priority in Suriname is to restore proper functioning of the current system. Reforms in the four Caribbean territories have a largely administrative character and affect the organisation of the third party role in health care rather than fundamentally changing the relationship between this third party and the various other parties in health care.
As a result of China's transition to a socialist market economy, its rural health services have undergone many of the changes commonly associated with health sector reform. These have included a decreased reliance on state funding, decentralisation of public health services, increased autonomy of health facilities, increased freedom of movement of health workers, and decreased political control. These changes have been associated with growing inequality in access to health services, increases in the cost of medical care, and the deterioration of preventive programmes in some poor areas. This paper argues that the government's strategy for addressing these problems has overemphasised the identification of new sources of revenue and has paid inadequate attention to factors that influence provider behaviour. The strategy also does not address contextual issues such as public sector employment practices and systems of local government finance. Other countries can learn from China's experience by taking a systematic approach to the formulation and implementation of strategies for health sector reform.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
To assess the economic burden of Alzheimer's disease (AD), we carried out a cross-sectional prevalence cost-of-illness study in France. Fifty-one probable AD patients (NINCDS-ADRDA) actually treated in ambulatory care were recruited in two university outpatient centers. Demographic, clinical (including actual Mini-Mental State Examination scores), and economic data were collected by clinical investigators and trained interviewers. Total costs included actual expenditures such as direct medical costs and direct nonmedical costs, as well as indirect costs (loss of earnings due to loss of productivity). Cost valuation was based on the societal perspective using an opportunity costing approach. We found that indirect costs represented a significant portion of total costs (36%-40%). In terms of expenditures, patients and caregivers were found to bear the major part of AD total costs. We found a positive and significant correlation between disease severity and costs. Our findings support the hypothesis of a relationship between disease evolution and healthcare costs.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
BACKGROUND: The need for calculations of costs of health care has increased during the last few years. When priorities within the national health services in the five Nordic countries are discussed, treatment of infertility is often one of the issues. AIM AND METHODS: The aim of this study was to evaluate cost effectiveness and calculate the proportion of publicly financed in-vitro fertilization/embryo transfers in the Nordic countries. The mean direct and indirect costs of the treatments were calculated in both public and private clinics. The total cost of in-vitro fertilization was calculated and compared with the proportion financed through the national health services in the five countries. RESULTS: The cost analysis showed a direct and indirect cost of 3,300 Pounds per started treatment and 12,700 Pounds per term pregnancy for the whole Nordic material. The publicly financed costs were calculated at 27,342,300 Pounds, which is 66% of the total cost for in-vitro fertilization treatments. When these costs were compared with the total cost of health care in the countries, the proportion used for in-vitro fertilization treatments was between 0.08 and 0.16%. CONCLUSION: It will be difficult for the national health services in the five countries to make large savings by limiting the number of treatments financed within the system.