Health Services Administration Commons^™

Emergency Department Utilization Among Recently Released Prisoners: A Retrospective Cohort Study, Suyanpeng Zhang, Allie Silverman, Sze Chaun Suen, Christina Andrews, Brian Chen

Faculty Publications

Background: The population of ex-prisoners returning to their communities is large. Morbidity and mortality is increased during the period following release. Understanding utilization of emergency services by this population may inform interventions to reduce adverse outcomes. We examined Emergency Department utilization among a cohort of recently released prisoners.

Methods: We linked Rhode Island Department of Corrections records with electronic health record data from a large hospital system from 2007 to 2009 to analyze emergency department utilization for mental health disorders, substance use disorders and ambulatory care sensitive conditions by ex-prisoners in the year after release from prison in comparison to …

Chhs November 2013 E-Newsletter, Vashon S. Wells, Editor, Dr. John Bonaguro, Dean, Wku College Of Health & Human Services

College of Health & Human Services Publications

No abstract provided.

How Could, Should, And Would Physicians Use Facebook With Patients, Joy Peluchette, Katherine Karl, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

After reviewing the benefits and risks of social media, we examine online discussion boards to determine the thoughts of physicians and patients regarding the use of Facebook to communicate with one another about health-related issues. Of the 290 comments analyzed, we found 42 percent were opposed to physicians using Facebook. Additionally, most (51.7 were opposed to physicians being Facebook “friends” with patients. Most opponents expressed concerns about privacy and the need to maintain professional boundaries in the physician-patient relationship. We provide suggestions for how healthcare administrators can effectively manage their social media presence and provide assistance to physicians.

Seeking Value In Medicare: Performance Measurement For Clinical Professionals, Lisa Sprague

National Health Policy Forum

The Medicare program, despite its reputation of being a bill payer with little regard to the worth of the services it buys, has begun to put in place a range of programs aimed at assessing quality and value, with more to come. Attention to resource use and cost is nascent. The issues are complex, and it is no surprise that there is a level of contention between providers and regulators, even though both profess commitment to improved quality. This paper summarizes the quality and value programs that apply to physicians and other clinical professionals, as well as programs designed to …

Health Policy & Management News, Georgia Southern University

Health Policy & Community Health: News & Publications (2011-2018)

• Quality Improvement

Health Workforce Needs: Projections Complicated By Practice And Technology Changes, Rob Cunningham

National Health Policy Forum

As population growth and the aging of the overall population increase demand for health care, policymakers and analysts posit whether sufficient health care providers will be able to meet that demand. Some argue there are too few providers already; others say our current supply-demand problems lie with efficiency. But suppose both are correct? Perhaps the real challenge is to understand how physician practices are changing in response to market forces such as payment changes, provider distributions, and technology innovations. This issue brief reviews what is known about evolving practice organizations, professional mixes, information technology support, and the implications of these …

Health Policy & Management News, Georgia Southern University

Health Policy & Community Health: News & Publications (2011-2018)

• Effectiveness of Mass Media

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

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 levels. …

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 report …

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, 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.

The Commission On Long-Term Care: Background Behind The Mission, Carol O'Shaughnessy

National Health Policy Forum

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA, P.L. 112-240) created a Commission on Long-Term Care charged with developing a plan for financing of long-term services and supports (LTSS) and issuing a report in September 2013. Significant research and advocacy have been devoted to LTSS financing issues and perceived inadequacies of the delivery system over the past several decades, but the most recent comprehensive review of financing options was in 1990 by the Pepper Commission. This publication presents brief background behind the mission of the Commission, including a time line of selected federal and national activities on LTSS financing and …

Health Policy & Management News, Georgia Southern University

Health Policy & Community Health: News & Publications (2011-2018)

• Georgia Southern Examines Abdominal Adiposity and Caregiver Recall

Ndank-Ndank: How Governmental Health Organizations Can Take Their First Step To Help Other’S Take Their First Step: A Case Study Of A Prosthetics And Orthotics Rehabilitation Center In Dakar, Senegal, Sarah Jacobi

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The number of people with disability in the world is very large, however; what having a disability means for each person is even more alarming. In a developing country, it is extremely difficult for people with disabilities to receive the health care they need. The organizations that offer health care to people with disabilities are faced with a number of challenges; but they continue to do the best they can. This study was done at a prosthetics and orthotics rehabilitation center in Dakar, Senegal. It is a case study that examines the difficulties the workers face, the motivations the workers …

Massachusetts Health Care Reform: Is It Working?, Joshua Mcadoo, Julian Irving, Stacie Deslich, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

Before 2006, Massachusetts had more than 500 000 residents who lacked health insurance. Governor Mitt Romney enacted landmark legislation requiring all residents to obtain health insurance. Also, the legislation established a health insurance exchange for the purpose of broadening the choices of insurance plans made available to individuals in the state. The purpose of this research was to assess the Massachusetts health care reform in terms of access, cost, and sustainability. The methodology used was a literature review from 2006 to 2013; a total of 43 references were used. Health reform resulted in additional overall state spending of $2.42 billion …

Gender Disparities In Access To Hiv Testing And Antiretroviral Treatment Services, Wyatt Lombard Smith

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Throughout a six-week practicum period at TASO Mulago in Kampala, Uganda and St. Francis Naggalama Hospital in Naggalama, Uganda, the researcher aimed to find methods to increase male engagement in all facets of comprehensive HIV/AIDS care. Women and children generally receive most global attention on the issue of HIV/AIDS in Uganda but men are beginning to demand more attention. Antiretroviral treatment has been critical in allowing countless people to live functionally with HIV but many research projects have hypothesized that delayed access to HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention methods has resulted in men exhibiting higher mortality rates upon initiation of this …

Opinions Of Individuals In The Greater Durban Area Concerning Government Healthcare, Alexander Braun

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

One important determinant of health in South Africa is how government entities, from the local level to the national level, use their health budgets. A complex system of organizations involving many government employees at the various levels are involved in the process of turning a budget allocation of Rand into healthcare services and goods that make their way to the South African people. What do individuals in the greater Durban area think about that process as it exists currently, and what do they think of the services that are eventually delivered to them? This is an important question, especially in …

Bibliographic Review Of Research Publications On Access To And Use Of Medicines In Low-Income And Middle-Income Countries In The Eastern Mediterranean Region: Identifying The Research Gaps., Arash Rashidian, Nader Jahanmehr, Samer Jabbour, Shehla Zaidi, Fatemeh Soleymani, Maryam Bigdeli

Community Health Sciences

BJECTIVES:

We assessed the situation of academic publications on access to and use of medicines (ATM) in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). We aimed to inform priority setting for research on ATM in the region.

DESIGN:

Bibliographic review of published studies.

SETTING:

LMICs in EMR.

INCLUSION CRITERIA:

Publications on ATM issues originating from or focusing on EMR LMICs covering the period 2000-2011. Publications involving multinational studies were included if at least one eligible country had been included in the study.

INFORMATION SOURCES AND DATA EXTRACTION:

We conducted comprehensive searches of the PubMed, Social Science …

Accreditation And Standardization In Local Public Health, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

Reducing harmful, wasteful, and inequitable variation in public health delivery is a central objective for administrative and policy decision-makers in public health, and is embedded in the national accreditation movement. The challenge lies in accomplishing this objective while preserving the benefits of customization in public health delivery that accrue through tailoring and targeting of resources to unique community needs and risks. Public health services and systems research (PHSSR) can help determine the optimal balance between standardization and customization in public health delivery.