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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Transportation or CT scanners: a theory and method of health resources allocation.

Cost containment and access to appropriate care are the two most frequently discussed issues in contemporary health policy. Conceiving of the health services available in specific regions as "packages" of diverse items, the authors of this article consider the economic trade-offs among the various resources needed for appropriate care. In the discussion that follows, we examine the trade-offs between two divergent offering of the health care system: high technology medicine and support services. Specifically, we examine several strategies designed to achieve an optimal mix of investments in CT scanners and transportation resources in the South Chicago region. Using linear programming as a method for examining these options, the authors found that 1) the proper location of CT scanners is as important for cost containment as optimal number, and 2) excess capacity in the utilization of a single resource--CT scanners--need not imply inefficiency in the overall delivery of the service. These findings help demonstrate the importance of viewing health care as a package of interrelated services, both for achieving cost containment and for providing access to appropriate care.

Catchment Area, Health

Potential cost effectiveness of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator versus streptokinase for acute myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVE: An economic evaluation of the potential incremental benefits of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) versus streptokinase (SK) for treatment of acute myocardial infarction. DESIGN: Cost effectiveness analysis from a third-party payer perspective (Ontario Ministry of Health). ECONOMIC INPUTS: Fully allocated costs for cardiovascular procedures and hospitalization for myocardial infarction were obtained anonymously for four Ontario teaching hospitals and converted to 1988 Canadian dollars. Professional charges were taken from the provincial health insurance fee schedule and drug costs obtained from the manufacturers. CLINICAL INPUTS: The baseline analysis was for nonelderly patients with uncomplicated myocardial infarctions; sensitivity analyses allowed extrapolation to higher risk subgroups. Short and longer term mortality and short term invasive procedure rates were estimated using data from clinical trials. MAIN RESULTS: If tPA achieves a 1% short term mortality advantage over SK with no advantages for other survivors, cost per life-year gained can be comparable to other cardiovascular interventions at $58,600. In the absence of immediate survival advantages, but assuming greater left ventricular preservation, the constant annual hazard rate advantage must be about 0.5% per year for competitive cost effectiveness ratios. CONCLUSIONS: A full range of projections is presented to help guide the policy decisions that will arise in the wake of the Global Utilization of SK and tPA for Occluded Coronary Arteries (GUSTO) trial. The analysis also illustrates the general importance of considering longer term effects of in-hospital therapies for acute myocardial infarction.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

The crisis in health care cost in the United States: some implications for radiation oncology.

This communication reviews the increasing cost of medical care in the USA (13% of GNP in 1995) and the associated lack of access to care for 35 million citizens. Factors affecting cost and access are presented, including where the increases are seen. The resulting effects on the Federal government, private industry, the patient, and the physician are noted. The failure of a current mechanism of control of cost is illustrated as are the views of patients and physicians. The portion of radiation oncology devoted to palliative care is discussed for its potential to reduce costs by $150-$250 million through the elimination of excessive treatments and thereby contribute to the solution of excessive cost of care.

Attitude to Health

Public-private partnerships: the Connecticut model for financing long-term care.

Responses to the growing crisis in long-term care financing have included efforts to negotiate partnerships between the private and public sectors for the purpose of developing innovative models for long-term care insurance. One such set of models has been encouraged by support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's "Long Term Care Insurance Program" grants. The Connecticut Partnership for Long Term Care uses a cooperative approach to encourage the development of private sector long-term care insurance products that are integrated with Medicaid eligibility determinations. The Connecticut model is described, accompanied by a history of its development, and a comparison is made with other models currently under consideration by national policy analysts.

Connecticut

Disease cost in a surgical ward.

Data relating to the cost of caring for individual patients were collected for all patients in a general surgical ward over a six-month period. From this the cost per patient was calculated for various diseases and was found to be related to duration of stay. Postoperative morbidity was important in determining cost. A system that calculates cost by means of units based on the use of resources rather than by cash cost accounting is probably the most suitable for a clinician who has to monitor resources.

Adult

Cost analysis in a CMHC: determining the cost of staff time.

The program evaluation and research unit of a community mental health center developed and field-tested a survey form to measure how employees spend their time. The form is divided into direct patient care activities, which include interviewing and testing, conducting therapy, and prescribing medications, and administrative or support activities, which include filling out charts, attending meetings, and training staff. All staff record daily, for one week, the hours and minutes they spend in each activity. Using that data as a base, the evaluation unit can determine the percentage of time staff spend in each activity and the cost of each activity based on staff members' paychecks.

Community Mental Health Centers

Industrial emission of cadmium in Japan.

Direct emission of cadmium into air and water in Japan has been controlled on the basis of the Emission and Effluent Standards. Environmental quality in these media has been improved, but delayed effects of these emissions in the past are now manifest by contamination of agricultural acreage in various parts of this country. Special land improvement projects are therefore required, and cost allocation should be made on the basis of scientific assessment of natural background. An impact assessment on accidental release of potential sources of cadmium dispersed in the water system should be made on the basis of inventory surveillance. Assessment of natural background can practically be made by two means. One is to examine the vertical distribution of cadmium in a soil profile and to search for a subsurface layer in which there can be no contamination. Another is the use of the Zn/Cd ratio as an index of pollution, a value of 400 being suggested as a screening level. The transport of cadmium was found to occur principally in particulate form, and sampling and analysis of water together with suspended solid after a heavy rainfall is suggested as a useful means for assessing the character of a catchment area and for planning the improvement of land surface in mining districts.

Agriculture

Administrative costs in the U.S. health care system: the problem or the solution?

The estimates of potential savings as a result of reductions in administrative costs have generated considerable controversy. In response to this debate, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsored an invitational workshop for policymakers, health services researchers, and key stakeholders in the health care system. The workshop, conducted by the Alpha Center in February this year, provided a framework for identifying, measuring, and weighing the value of administrative costs and served as a vehicle for discussion of these issues. This article summarizes the presentations, the issues raised, and questions for further research. Overall, the papers and presentations emphasized that while the focus of attention has been on the controversy over whether particular aggregate estimates of administrative costs and potential savings are correct, the fundamental underlying issue is how the health care system might best be managed.

Cost Allocation

Increase control of operations to reduce linen costs.

Hospital linen managers can reduce costs most effectively by devising and imposing controls on linen operations rather than by merely limiting linen usage. Such controls include use of work load timetables for the laundry department, an itemized charge system for each linen-using department, standards for daily usage, and immediate investigation of deviations from the standards.

Bedding and Linens