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University of Alabama at Birmingham

Theses/Dissertations

2013

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) School of Health Professions

Articles 1 - 7 of 7

Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Understanding The Predictors Of Patient Trust And Its Role In Utilization And Outcomes, Sheikilya Lewis Thomas Jan 2013

Understanding The Predictors Of Patient Trust And Its Role In Utilization And Outcomes, Sheikilya Lewis Thomas

All ETDs from UAB

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine patient-related factors that predict trust in one's physician, and subsequently identify the role of patient trust in health care utilization and clinical outcomes among African Americans with hypertension. Three separate studies are conducted using an adapted version of the Interaction Model for Client Health Behavior (IMCHB). The first paper is a three-step review of quantitative studies investigating the (a) patient characteristics that influence trust; (b) impact of trust on health care utilization; and (c) impact of trust on outcomes. Based on the predictors identified, the second study examines the significance of these …


The Relation Of Hospital Choices In It Infrastructure Spending And Deployment With Hit/Ehr Strategies And Operational Efficiency, Harold Neumeier Jan 2013

The Relation Of Hospital Choices In It Infrastructure Spending And Deployment With Hit/Ehr Strategies And Operational Efficiency, Harold Neumeier

All ETDs from UAB

This study examined certain aspects of the association between information technology (IT) strategy and structure changes within hospitals, as well as the effects of IT infrastructure changes on measures of financial performance for these hospitals during the period of 2009-2011. Following the Process School of the Resource Based View, both internal and external information technology resources were examined to see how hospitals had responded to Federal policies related to the "meaningful use" of Health IT and Electronic Health records. Specifically, this study examined changes in information technology spending by hospitals based on size, hospital type, and percentage of revenue derived …


Impact Of Quality Performance On Financial Risk And Cost Of Capital In Hospitals, James D. Byrd Jr Jan 2013

Impact Of Quality Performance On Financial Risk And Cost Of Capital In Hospitals, James D. Byrd Jr

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This study evaluated the relationship of hospital quality of care as measured by mortality scores to hospital cost of capital as represented by average cost of debt. A composite mortality score (weighted average of Hospital Compare's risk adjusted mortality rate for each hospital) was regressed against the hospitals' average cost of debt using OLS and the Stata 11 robust clustering function to adjust for repeated occurrences of hospitals across years. The data base consisted of acute care hospitals with interest expense observed over the three year period 2008 - 2010 (n=3420). Control variables included a number of hospital characteristic (e.g., …


Hospitalists And Organizational Performance, Josué Patien Epané Jan 2013

Hospitalists And Organizational Performance, Josué Patien Epané

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Two decades ago, a group of hospital-based physicians (hospitalists) specializing in the practice of hospital medicine were introduced in the U.S. health care system. Since then, this group of physicians has experienced an unprecedented growth. Prior studies on hospitalists have focused on benefits associated with the use of hospitalists. Compared to non-hospitalists, these studies revealed that hospitalists are more efficient as they are able to reduce length of stay and costs while achieving similar or better quality of care. However, most of these studies have been cross-sectional, limited to few hospitals, and limited to pediatric and teaching hospitals. Very little …


Hospital Financial Performance: A Look At Governance And Hit Strategies, Taleah Collum Jan 2013

Hospital Financial Performance: A Look At Governance And Hit Strategies, Taleah Collum

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Taken together, the purpose of the three papers included in this dissertation is to provide empirical evidence on the relationship between strategies employed by hospital managers and hospital financial performance. The findings of these studies are important to managers as they search for ways to sustain and improve hospital financial performance in light of environmental changes that have taken place over the last three decades. The results of this dissertation suggest that to improve financial performance hospital leaders (e.g. management, board of directors) should choose strategies that are more amenable to their control. Specifically, having BOD members that are independent …


High-Tech Services And Hospital Performance In The United States, Ferhat Devrim Zengul Jan 2013

High-Tech Services And Hospital Performance In The United States, Ferhat Devrim Zengul

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This dissertation examined the relationship between high-technology medical services and hospital performance by focusing on financial and quality performance dimensions. An initial systematic review disclosed the paucity of research and mixed findings about the technology-performance relationship. The review indicated the need for further analyses by emphasizing some limitations of existing studies. The resource-based view (RBV) of a firm was used as a conceptual framework in examining the relationship between high-tech medical services and hospital financial performance. It was hypothesized that large breadth (number) of high-tech services and the use of rare high-tech services would be positively associated with hospitals' financial …


Insulin Resistance, Lipids, And The Metabolic Syndrome Trait Cluster: Impact Of Race And Very Low Calorie Diet, Veeradej Pisprasert Jan 2013

Insulin Resistance, Lipids, And The Metabolic Syndrome Trait Cluster: Impact Of Race And Very Low Calorie Diet, Veeradej Pisprasert

All ETDs from UAB

Insulin resistance (IR) is central to the pathogenesis of cardiometabolic disorders. Early detection, along with appropriate interventions, is paramount to reduce the morbidity and mortality of IR-related diseases. The gold standard measurement for IR is the hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp, which is markedly sophisticated for clinical evaluation but costly and invasive for clinical practice. Several alternative surrogate indicators of IR have been identified and used by clinicians, including insulin sensitivity indices derived from plasma glucose and insulin values, as well as other indicators that are independent of direct insulin measurements. In addition, lipid panel and lipoprotein subclass profile have emerged as markers …