Access to contraception: why patient choice matters

Why Full Open Access Matters

Scientific authors who pay to publish their articles in an open-access publication should be congratulated for doing so. They also should be aware that they may not be getting full open access from some publications that charge for publication under the ‘‘open access’’ label. Two features define an open-access publication: (1) the published contents are freely accessible through the Internet, a...

Increased access to emergency contraception: why it may fail.

BACKGROUND To explore why increased access to emergency contraception (EC) failed to reduce pregnancies in a recent randomized controlled trial. METHODS We used multivariable logistic regression to identify risk factors for unintended pregnancy using data from a trial involving sexually active women (n = 1490, aged 14-24 years) randomly assigned to either increased access or standard access t...

Why Learning How to Chase Butterflies Matters: A Response to Recent Commentaries

Patient choice and access to primary physician services in Norway.

Quasi-markets have become fashionable within health care. This is also the case in Norway where primary physician services are organized as a quasi-market. Physicians compete for patients, and patients can choose another physician if they are not satisfied with the physician they have. This is meant to provide incentives for physicians to provide services that are both efficient and of high qua...

Pharmacy access to emergency contraception in California.

CONTEXT California is one of eight states that allow a woman to obtain emergency contraceptives from a pharmacy without a physician prescription. Because many women do not know about emergency contraception or direct pharmacy access, it is important to understand barriers to getting the method and women's reasons for choosing the pharmacy option. METHODS In a 2004 survey at 25 predominantly i...