BACKGROUND During the last two decades the German hospital sector has been engaged in a constant process of transformation. One obvious sign of this is the growing amount of hospital privatization. To date, most research studies have focused on the effects of privatization regarding financial outcomes and quality of care, leaving important organizational issues unexplored. Yet little attention ...

AIM Primary acute kidney injury (AKI) is a direct cause of hospitalisation in children, but can also result from other conditions. There is limited information on the epidemiology of this condition. Our aim was to describe the national incidence rate and aetiology of acute kidney injury in children under the age of 16 in Norway from 1999 to 2008. METHODS We carried out a retrospective study o...

HYPOTHESIS Immediate enteral feeding following major abdominal surgery reduces postoperative complications and mortality when compared with parenteral nutrition. DESIGN A prospective multicenter randomized trial. SETTING A university hospital department of digestive surgery. PATIENTS AND INTERVENTIONS Two hundred forty-one malnourished patients undergoing major elective abdominal surgery ...

BACKGROUND Prior to the implementation of the Hospital-Acquired Condition-Present on Admission (HAC-POA) payment policy, concerns regarding its potential impact were raised by a number of organizations and individuals. The purpose of this study was to explore direct and indirect effects of the HAC-POA payment policy on hospitals, patients, and other payers during the policy's first 3 years of i...

PURPOSE To evaluate the general contextual effect (GCE) of the hospital department on one-year mortality in Swedish and Danish patients with heart failure (HF) by applying a multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity. METHODS Using the Swedish patient register, we obtained data on 36,943 patients who were 45-80 years old and admitted for HF to the hospital between 2007 and 2009. From the...

Background and Objectives. Sarcoma patients often experience delay before diagnosis. We examined the association between presenting symptoms/signs and time intervals for suspected sarcoma patients. Methods. 545 consecutive patients suspected for sarcoma referred over a one-year period were included. Median time intervals in routes to diagnosis were collected from medical records and questionnai...

INTRODUCTION Recently, information availability has become more elaborate and widespread, and treatment decisions are based on a multitude of factors. Gathering relevant data, also referred to as Big Data, is therefore critical for reaching the best patient care, and enhancing interdisciplinary and clinical research. Combining patient data from all involved systems is essential to prepare unstr...