BACKGROUND To describe hospitalisations of nursing home (NH) residents in Germany during their last months of life. METHODS Retrospective cohort study on 792 NH residents in the Rhine-Neckar region in South-West Germany, newly institutionalized in the year 2000, who died until the study end (December 2001). Baseline variables were derived from a standardized medical examination routinely cond...

The Canadian health care environment represents a unique opportunity to capture data on SUDEP in children; however, it is well recognized that only a small subset of children with epilepsy receive care from a paediatric neurologist. Dr. Jette, a coinvestigator on this project, is currently leading a study examining the health care utilization of 26,000 people with epilepsy in Alberta. Dr. Jette...

BACKGROUND Informal (dementia) care has economic consequences throughout the health care system. Whilst the health and wellbeing of the care recipient might improve, the health of the caregiver might also change, typically for the worse. Therefore, this analysis aims to examine the association between caregiving intensity and caregivers' health and health care utilization. DATA AND METHODS Th...

Like other countries seeking a progressive path to universalism, Peru has attempted to reduce inequalities in access to health care by granting the poor entitlement to tax-financed basic care without charge. We identify the impact of this policy by comparing the target population's change in health care utilization with that of poor adults already covered through employment-based insurance. The...

background and objectives: data on patient complains can be used as a feedback to improve the quality of healthcare services. the aim of this study was to develop an indicator for reliable retrieval of statistical data on patient complaints.   methods: a triangulated study was conducted. a comprehensive literature review was done to identifying the relevant major themes. two-rounds of delphi se...

Minnesota Department of Health Introduction With a sizeable number of currently uninsured individuals potentially obtaining health insurance coverage in January 2014, understanding their current patterns of health care utilization can help the state, insurers and providers prepare for this transition. This issue brief illustrates differences in health care utilization for Minnesota residents by...

OBJECTIVE This report highlights the health characteristics of four age groups of older adults-55-64 years, 65-74 years, 75-84 years, and 85 years and over-providing estimates by sex, race and Hispanic origin, poverty status, health insurance status, and marital status. METHODS The estimates in this report were derived from the 2000-2003--National Health Interview Surveys' Family and Sample A...

OBJECTIVE To assess the initial impact of offering consumer-defined health plan (CDHP) options on employees. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING A mail survey of 4,680 employees in the corporate offices of Humana Inc. in June 2001. STUDY DESIGN The study was a cross-sectional mail survey of employees aged 18 and older who were eligible for health care benefits. The survey was conducted following ope...

BACKGROUND Roemer's Law, a widely cited principle in health care policy, states that hospital beds that are built tend to be used. This simple but powerful expression has been invoked to justify Certificate of Need regulation of hospital beds in an effort to contain health care costs. Despite its influence, a surprisingly small body of empirical evidence supports its content. Furthermore, known...

BACKGROUND This paper aims to compare the classification of race/skin color based on the discrete categories used by the Demographic Census of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and a skin color scale with values ranging from 1 (lighter skin) to 10 (darker skin), examining whether choosing one alternative or the other can influence measures of self-evaluation of health s...