BACKGROUND. The Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) is used to monitor medical inpatients in hospitals in the developed world. The South African Triage Score (SATS) was developed from the MEWS, and its use throughout South Africa has been proposed. OBJECTIVES. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of the SATS in an emergency department (ED) in a rural setting in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). METHODS. A p...

Background and Objectives: We sought to obtain data about the prevalence of dementia in rural nursing homes in Germany. Methods: We conducted our data between 2007 and 2009 in the diocese of Passau, Germany. By using a questionnaire we asked all nursing homes in the area to provide information about patients with dementia. We obtained detailed data from three nursing homes by personal visits, t...

Analysis of the Medicare provider analysis record (MEDPAR) data during fiscal years 1984 through 1989 indicates that the proportion of rural Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized in urban hospitals has remained constant during the prospective payment system (PPS). Much of the use of urban hospitals by rural beneficiaries during this period was to obtain specialized care or surgery, as suggested b...

OBJECTIVE To examine the episiotomy rate for women delivering in a regional hospital versus the rate in rural hospitals. DESIGN Retrospective review of low-risk delivery charts for a 12-month period (2006 to 2007). SETTING One regional and 3 rural hospitals in southern Alberta. PARTICIPANTS Charts were reviewed for a random sample of 10% of the women with low-risk deliveries at the region...

The elimination of urban-rural differences in the Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) standard rates implies a need to re-examine all the PPS payment adjustments. Refinements for case mix, outliers, and the wage index can make a significant contribution to avoiding payment disparities in a single-rate system. However, changes in the adjustments for teaching and disproportionate-share (DSH...

transfer service, exploded onto the scene in 2007. In just three years, it has attracted over 9.5 million customers, in a country with only 8.4 million bank accounts. Every month, more than US$320 million flows through M-PESA in person-to-person transfers, and the numbers keep rising. By nearly all accounts, M-PESA has been an admirable success and has expanded access to basic financial service...

Robotic surgery has become a standard in many large hospitals across the United States and the world. The surgical robot offers the surgeon a three-dimensional view and increased dexterity in addition to providing the benefits of laparoscopic surgery to the patient (eg, shorter hospital stays, decreased pain, fewer postoperative complications). The next progression for robotic surgery is a move...

OBJECTIVES To explore the burden of asthma on the lives of people presenting to hospital emergency departments for asthma treatment. DESIGN A qualitative study. Consenting individuals with asthma who presented to emergency departments were interviewed in-depth, and interviews were taped, transcribed and thematically analysed. Questionnaire data on medication use, respiratory health and asthma...

OBJECTIVE The fitness to practise of international medical graduates (IMGs) is usually evaluated with standardised assessment tests. The performance rather than the competency of practising doctors should, however, be assessed, for which reason workplace-based assessment (WBA) has gained increasing attention. Our aim was to assess the composite reliability of WBA instruments for assessing IMGs....

Health care access issues present significant challenges for rural populations and health providers. Psychology can support improved access and quality of rural health services through the development of integrated behavior health programs within primary care settings. This article reviews a clinical training and service delivery program, the Rural Hawai’i Behavioral Health Program, which has e...