Health and Medical Administration Commons^™

The Mental Handicap Of A Hostile Environment, Hannah P. Roche

The Meducator

As the Western world continues to progress to new heights of development, the emphasis on the care and rehabilitation of children living with physical and mental disabilities becomes more focused. In schools across the developed world, clubs and societies are formed to promote the incorporation of students with disabilities into our friend groups and ultimately our lives as well. The vast majority of education and social institutes have a zero tolerance policy concerning discrimination against children with mental and physical challenges. Hundreds of charities, companies, and organizations raise funds and awareness in support of this cause. We have an unmistakably ...

Multi-Morbidity In Ontario: Integrated Approaches To Address A Multifaceted Problem, Cheryl Young, Asha Behdinan

The Meducator

The McMaster Health Forum convened a stakeholder dialogue on the topic of multimorbidity in Ontario on October 21, 2013. The Forum, in consultation with expert informants, created an issue brief which outlines the problem. They also described three elements of an effective approach to addressing the problem, and implementation considerations.

Pathways For Successful Accountable Care Organizations: Physician Engagement

Population Health Matters (Formerly Health Policy Newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Healthcare-Associated Infections-Is Targeting Zero A Global Reality?, Mary Lou Manning Phd, Crnp, Cic, Faan, Denise Murphy Rn, Mph, Cic, Faan

Population Health Matters (Formerly Health Policy Newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Models For Identifying Patients At Risk Of Hospitalization: Use In Medical Homes In Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy, Vittorio Maio Pharmd, Ms, Msph, Guiseppina Rossi Md, Stefano Del Canale Md, Phd, Massimo Fabi Md, Ettore Brianti Md, Stefano Sforza Ms, Mary Robeson Ms, Scott Keith Phd, Joseph S. Gonnella Md, Daniel Z. Louis Ms

Population Health Matters (Formerly Health Policy Newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Moving To A User-Driven Research Paradigm, Gurvaneet Randhawa

eGEMs (Generating Evidence & Methods to improve patient outcomes)

The traditional bench-to-bedside paradigm for clinical research has been successfully used for many decades. This model of knowledge generation has led to discoveries that have enhanced the quality and length of life. The combination of changes in research practice and in healthcare delivery, growing complexity in decision-making, increasing use of Electronic Health Records, and growing resource constraints, necessitate a shift to a user-driven research paradigm to generate new knowledge. This conceptual framework was created to clarify the perspective of the decision-makers, and the range of factors and the variability in thresholds used to make decisions. This framework may help researchers ...

How Electronic Clinical Data Can Improve Health Technology Assessment, Jonathan R. Treadwell Phd, Eileen Erinoff Mslis, Vivian Coates Mba

eGEMs (Generating Evidence & Methods to improve patient outcomes)

Health technology assessments represent comprehensive summaries of available evidence and information on a technology. They are used by medical decision makers in a variety of ways, including diagnostic testing, treatment selection, care management, patient perspectives, patient safety, insurance coverage, pharmaceutical innovation, equipment planning, device purchasing, and total cost-of-care. Electronic clinical data, which are captured routinely by clinicians and hospitals, are only rarely incorporated into formal health technology assessments. This disconnect reveals a key opportunity. In this paper, we discuss current uses of electronic clinical data, several benefits of including it in health technology assessments, potential pitfalls of that inclusion, and ...

Applications Of Electronic Health Information In Public Health: Uses, Opportunities And Barriers, Alan Tomines, Heather Readhead, Adam Readhead, Steven Teutsch

eGEMs (Generating Evidence & Methods to improve patient outcomes)

Electronic health information systems can re-shape the practice of public health including public health surveillance, bi-directional communication, disease and injury investigation and control, decision making, quality assurance, and policy development. While these opportunities are potentially transformative, and the federal program for the meaningful use of electronic health records has included important public health components, significant barriers remain. Unlike incentives in the clinical care system, scant funding is available to public health departments to develop the necessary information infrastructure and workforce capacity to capitalize on electronic health records, personal health records, or big data. Current electronic health record systems are primarily ...

Preliminary Findings From An Interventional Study Using Network Analysis To Support Management In Local Health Departments In Florida, Chin S. Park Mba, Rn, Hado Byon Ms, Mph, Rn, Jonathan W. Keeling Phd, Leslie M. Beitsch Md, Jd, Jacqueline A. Merrill Phd, Mph, Rn

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Management is the core service that integrates and coordinates essential public health services. Managers of local health departments (LHDs) are experts in practice but may not have expertise in organizational management. We conducted an evidence-based training intervention in 10 LHDs in Florida to support managers’ decision-making on organizational integration and coordination. We deployed a standard survey to collect organizational network measurements pre and post intervention. We presented results as evidence-based performance feedback and interviewed managers to document how they used the results in the context of each organization. Post intervention we found unexpected, significantly higher network centralization in daily work ...

Characteristics Of A Local Health Department Associated With The Use Of The Health Equity Index, Moira A. Lawson, Sharon Mierzwa, Michael Knapp

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Local health departments are tasked with understanding and addressing health inequities in the populations they serve. To meaningfully address health inequities, local health departments have identified the need for credible local data to better understand the relationship between community conditions and health outcomes. Yet, when given access to these data, we observe a very large variation in the level of interest between local health departments.

In this study, we offered Connecticut’s Local health departments access to the Health Equity Index, a web based tool that provides data on health outcomes and community conditions at the state, municipal or neighborhood ...

Evaluating Use Of Custom Survey Reports By Local Health Departments, Nadya M. Belenky, Christine A. Bevc, Elizabeth Mahanna, Carol Gunther-Mohr, Mary V. Davis

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

This report demonstrates how providing survey feedback, like comparative reports, to survey respondents can result in improvement activities. For each of the past three years (2010-2013), the North Carolina Institute for Public Health (NCIPH) has invited local health departments (LHDs) from 40 states to participate in a preparedness capacities survey. In addition, NCIPH fielded a six-question evaluation survey to a subset of LHDs (n=70) to determine how LHDs use these reports. LHDs that reported using their custom reports compared their preparedness capacities to other LHDs, conducted strategic planning (e.g., benchmarking, setting preparedness goals), planned staff trainings, and disseminated ...

The Relationship Between Quality Improvement And Health Information Technology Use In Local Health Departments, Kendra Johnson, Kim K. Nguyen, Shimin Zheng, Robin P. Pendley

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

This research examined if there is a relationship between engagement in quality improvement (QI) and health information technology (HIT) for local health departments (LHDs) controlling for workforce, finance, population, and governance structure. This was a cross-sectional study that analyzed data obtained from the Core questions and Module 1 in the NACCHO 2010 Profile of LHDs. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, and logistic regression analyses were conducted. Findings suggest that LHD engagement in QI has a relationship with utilization of HIT including electronic health records, practice management systems, and electronic syndromic surveillance systems. This study provides baseline information about the HIT use ...

Commentary: The Road To Quality In Public Health, A Long But Important Journey, F. Douglas Scutchfield Md, Glen Mays, Marylou Wallace

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Quality improvement (QI) in public health departments is a focus in this sixth issue of Frontiers. Data is important to the development of quality improvement efforts. As we see growth of and meaningful use of electronic health records, the health department is in a position to take the lead as a data hub and to use this information wisely to both improve their QI efforts and link that QI to outcomes.

A Cross-Cultural Health Care Approach To Improve Veteran Health Services In An Academic Community Hospital, Judith Sabino Mph, Eric Johnson Mpsa, Cps, Caama, Chs, Chep, Cdp, James F. Geiger Mpa, Fache

Administration & Leadership

No abstract provided.

Delisting Medical Imaging In Private Settings From Public Coverage In Québec, Amélie Quesnel-Vallée

Health Reform Observer - Observatoire des Réformes de Santé

On December 19, 1981, the Quebec government passed a bill allowing notably for the determination of public coverage of services based on location of delivery, opening the door to subsequent delisting of medical imaging (mammography, ultrasonography, computerized axial tomography scans and magnetic resonance imaging) when performed out of the hospital. Rationing and increased governmental regulatory powers were the explicit aims of this reform, with cost-efficiency an implicit aim. This reform occurred in the national context of decreased federal transfers for health, a severe recession, and on the provincial front, physicians in Quebec had been without a contract since November 1979 ...

Assessing Ontario’S Personal Support Worker Registry, Audrey Laporte, David Rudoler

Health Reform Observer - Observatoire des Réformes de Santé

In response to the growing role of personal support workers (PSWs) in the delivery of health care services to Ontarians, the Ontario government has moved forward with the creation of a PSW registry. This registry will be mandatory for all PSWs employed by publicly funded health care employers, and has the stated objectives of better highlighting the work that PSWs do in Ontario, providing a platform for PSWs and employers to more easily access the labour market, and to provide government with information for human resources planning.

In this paper we consider the factors that brought the creation of a ...

Diffusion Of Innovation Across A National Local Health Department Network: A Simulation Approach To Policy Development Using Agent-Based Modeling, Mark Orr, Jacqueline Merrill Rn, Mph, Dnsc

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

The network that local health officials use to communicate about professional issues is sparsely connected, which may limit the spread of innovative practices. We used agent-based simulation modeling to find out if a policy to promote more connections improved the network’s capability to diffuse innovation. We found that unanticipated effects could result, depending on the requirements of the policy and the proportion of health officials involved. With carefully crafted assumptions and reliable data it is possible to untangle complex processes using simulation modeling. The results represent how the world might actually work which may provide useful decision support for ...

Community Health Assessment By Local Health Departments: Presence Of Epidemiologist, Governance, And Federal And State Funds Are Critical, Gulzar H. Shah Dr., Barbara Laymon, Julia Joh Elligers, Carolyn Leep, Christine B. Bhutta

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Using the data from the National Association of County and City Health Officials’ (NACCHO) 2010 Profile of Local Health Departments (LHDs) our study investigates whether or not infrastructural characteristics of LHDs were associated with completion of community health assessment (CHA). Our results show that local and shared LHD governance, greater share of revenue from federal and state sources, smaller population size in LHD jurisdiction, and having an epidemiologist significantly increased the odds of CHA completion in the past, after controlling for community characteristics and other independent variables. These findings have important implications for LHDs, PHAB and its partners.

Health Reform Upate: The Road To Implementing State-Run, Partnered, And Federally Facilitated Exchanges, Anne Mainardi Md, Shira Yun Md

Population Health Matters (Formerly Health Policy Newsletter)

No abstract provided.

The Memorial Hospital Collection, 1873 – 1990: A Finding Aid, Office Of Medical History And Archives, Lamar Soutter Library, University Of Massachusetts Medical School

Finding Aids

The Memorial Hospital Collection comprises annual reports and other material by or about The Memorial Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts.