Health Services Research articles from February 2008

Health Services Research archives from February 2008

The new medical technologies and the organizations of medical science and treatment.(Editorial)
February 1, 2008... Despite remarkable scientific and technological achievements during the 20th century, the 21st century has already witnessed additional new and profound changes in all areas of medical science and research, including innovations and discoveries...

Intelligent information: a national system for monitoring clinical performance.(Medical and Information Technology)
February 1, 2008... There is an ever-increasing focus on monitoring clinical standards in many countries' health services, including measures of process (such as administration of prophylactic antibiotics), outcome (such as mortality), and safety (adverse events...

Just what the doctor ordered. Review of the evidence of the impact of computerized physician order entry system on medication errors.(Report)
February 1, 2008... BACKGROUND Medication errors are associated with substantial death and injury (Kohn, Corrigan, and Donaldson 2000). More than half a million patients are injured or die each year in hospitals from adverse drug events (ADEs) (Classen et al....

Women's preconceptional health and use of health services: implications for preconception care.(Use of Health Services)(Survey)
February 1, 2008... Objective. To improve understanding of women's use of health care before pregnancy, by analyzing how the health stares and health risks of pre- and interconceptional women are associated with health services use. Data Source. Data are from...

Associations between outpatient and inpatient service use among persons with HIV infection: a positive or negative relationship?
February 1, 2008... Objective. To examine the prospective association between frequency of outpatient visits and subsequent inpatient admissions. Data Sources. Medical record data on 13,942 patients with HIV infection seen in 10 HIV speciality care sites...

Spousal concordance in health behavior change.(Impact of Families)
February 1, 2008... Smoking, drinking, and obesity have all garnered much attention for their detrimental effects on health and other outcomes. Behaviors such as exercise and a healthy diet, in contrast, can have positive effects on health. Similarly, the use of...

Reexamining the effects of family structure on children's access to care: the single-father family.
February 1, 2008... Objective. To examine the effects of family structure, focusing on the single-father family, on children's access to medical care. Data Source. The 1999 and 2002 rounds of the National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) including 62,193...

Hospice effect on government expenditures among nursing home residents.(Organizational Factors)(Author abstract)(Report)
February 1, 2008... Over the last decades, improvements in health care and socioeconomic conditions have resulted in an increase in longevity and a rising share of deaths occurring from chronic and long-term illnesses. These demographic and case-mix changes,...

Nurse staffing levels: impact of organizational characteristics and registered nurse supply.(Author abstract)
February 1, 2008... In 2002, the Bureau of Health Professions at the Health Resources and Services Administration released a report on the supply of, demand for, and shortages of registered nurses (RNs) (Biviano et al. 2004). The report, based on data from state...

The CABG surgery volume-outcome relationship: temporal trends and selection effects in California, 1998-2004.(Health Care Outcomes)(coronary artery bypass graft)
February 1, 2008... Objective. To investigate the temporal trends in the volume-outcome relationship in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery in California from 1998 to 2004, and to assess the selection effects on this relationship by using data from periods...

Long-term effects of cancer survivorship on the employment of older workers.(Author abstract)(Clinical report)
February 1, 2008... There is little doubt that cancer treatment takes a toll on the employment and productivity of patients in the short term. About 40 percent stop working during treatment (Short, Vasey, and Tunceli 2005). In a recent prospective study by Bradley...

Six- and twelve-month outcomes among homeless youth accessing therapy and case management services through an urban drop-in center. (Health Care Outcomes.(Author abstract)(Clinical report)
February 1, 2008... Homeless youths' presence on the streets and in shelters is growing each year (Shane 1996). Homeless youth suffer high rates of alcohol consumption, illicit drug use, survival sex, physical and sexual abuse, depression, and teen pregnancy...

Telephone and web: mixed-mode challenge.(Methods)(Author abstract)
February 1, 2008... The challenges of conducting telephone-based survey research have increased substantially over the last decade. The emergence and popularity of caller id, call blocking, answering machines, and cellular phones have contributed to falling survey...

Rare adverse medical events in VA inpatient care: reliability limits to using patient safety indicators as performance measures.(Author abstract)(Report)
February 1, 2008... Patient safety has become an issue of focal interest in the evaluation of health care quality (Kohn, Corrigan, and Donaldson 1999). Recently the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ.) has developed a comprehensive set of...

The impact of private insurance coverage on veterans' use of VA care: insurance and selection effects.(Veterans Health Administration)(Author abstract)(Report)
February 1, 2008... One of the largest integrated health care delivery systems in the United States, the Veterans Health Administration (VA) provided care to 4.2 million veterans in fiscal year (FY) 2003. Treatment is virtually free for enrollees with high...

Parental beliefs and children's receipt of preventive care: another piece of the puzzle?(Research Brief)(Author abstract)(Report)
February 1, 2008... Access to health care is a leading indicator for Healthy People 2010 (US-DHHS 2000). Access is "the timely use of personal health services to achieve the best possible health outcomes" (Millman 1993). For children, routine visits are an...

Are high-quality cardiac surgeons less likely to operate on high-risk patients compared to low-quality surgeons? Evidence from New York State.(Author abstract)(Report)
February 1, 2008... Patient race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES) are known to be important determinants of access and quality in the American health care system in general (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 2005) and for coronary artery bypass...

Identification of dementia: agreement among national survey data, medicare claims, and death certificates.(Author abstract)(Report)
February 1, 2008... BACKGROUND Accurate dementia prevalence estimates are important from public health, long-term care planning, and cost perspectives. Numerous estimates have been made, (Pfeffer, Afifi, and Chance 1987; Evans et al. 1989; O'Connor et al....

Addressing ceiling effects in health status measures: a comparison of techniques applied to measures for people with HIV disease.(Author abstract)
February 1, 2008... Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is increasingly used to measure health status. Health profile and preference-based approaches are two types of methods frequently used to measure HRQoL. Health profiles tap multiple dimensions of health....

Correction to "International Recruitment of Nurses: Bellagio Conference participant list.".(Erratum)(Correction notice)
February 1, 2008... Article originally published in HSR, Volume 42, Number 3, Part II, June 2007. Participants in the International Recruitment of Nurses: Bellagio Conference also included Linda O'Brien-Pallas, Professor, University of Toronto. REFERENCE...

The need for research and evaluation of state health reforms.(Editorial)(Editorial)
February 1, 2008... Massachusetts' enactment of near universal health insurance coverage in 2006 created enthusiasm among proponents of health care reform that the initiative would spark a series of similar legislative successes in states across the country. Yet...

Meeting the need for personal care among the elderly: does Medicaid home care spending matter?(Author abstract)(Report)
February 1, 2008... The U.S. Census (2004) projects that the population older than age 65 years will double from 31 to 62 million people between 2000 and 2030 as the baby boom generation ages. As a consequence, the population needing long-term care--help with...

Medicaid HMO penetration and its mix: did increased penetration affect physician participation in urban markets?(Author abstract)(Report)
February 1, 2008... States have recently increased their use of Medicaid managed care in order to assure predictable cost increases by shifting financial risk onto plans and to potentially improve patient access and quality of care. Enrollment in Medicaid managed...

Evaluating Florida's Medicaid provider services network demonstration.(Author abstract)(Report)
February 1, 2008... State policies and actions are an integral part of our nation's health policy framework. This is particularly obvious in the case of Medicaid, a program for which the states share fiscal obligations and have primary administrative...

Uninsurance among children whose parents are losing Medicaid coverage: results from a statewide survey of Oregon families.(Survey)(Clinical report)
February 1, 2008... BACKGROUND The lack of stable health insurance for millions of people in the United States is a growing problem. An estimated 46 million Americans were uninsured sometime during 2004 (Collins et al. 2006). Children have not escaped this...

Crowd-out in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP): incidence, enrollee characteristics and experiences, and potential impact on New York's SCHIP.(United States. State Children's Health Insurance Program)(Author abstract)(Report)
February 1, 2008... The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) offers public coverage to eligible children who would otherwise remain uninsured, (Blumberg 2003). Public coverage expansions can displace or "crowd-out" private health insurance if some...

Impact of medicaid prior authorization requirement for COX-2 inhibitor drugs in Nebraska.(Author abstract)(Report)
February 1, 2008... In 2004, national health care spending rose 7.9 percent to $1.9 trillion (Smith et al. 2006). Expenditures on prescription drugs in noninstitutionalized settings grew from $51.0 billion in 1993 to $188.5 billion in 2004. The three main factors...