BACKGROUND Cost containment typically involves rationalizing healthcare service delivery through centralization of services to achieve economies of scale. Hospitals are frequently the chosen site of cost containment and rationalization especially in rural areas. Socio-demographic and geographic characteristics make hospital service allocation more difficult in rural and remote regions. This res...

BACKGROUND In contrast to India's poor performance in palliative and end-of-life care, the state of Kerala has gained considerable attention for its palliative care (PC) policy. This study tried to understand the structure, organization, and delivery of the program currently offered to the rural population, and its conformity to the state's PC policy and guidelines for Local Self-government Ins...

OBJECTIVE To examine the disparities in psychiatric service utilisation over a 10-year period for patients with first admission for psychosis in relation to urban-rural residence following the implementation of universal health coverage in Taiwan. DESIGN Population-based retrospective cohort study. SETTING Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database, which has a population coverage...

In general, Policy-based approaches play an important role in the management of web services, for instance, in the choice of semantic web service and quality of services (QoS) in particular. The present research work illustrates a procedure for the web service selection among functionality similar web services based on WS-Policy semantic matching. In this study, the procedure of WS-Policy publi...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to assess the possible mismatch of obstetrical skills between the training offered in Ecuadorian medical schools and the tasks required for compulsory rural service. SETTING Primary care, rural health centres in Southern Ecuador. PARTICIPANTS A total of 92 recent graduated medical doctors during their compulsory rural year. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOM...

We reviewed evidence of any apparently significant 'rural-urban' health status differentials in developed countries, to determine whether such differentials are generic or nation-specific, and to explore the nature and policy implications of determinants underpinning rural-urban health variations. A comprehensive literature review of rural-urban health status differentials within Australia, New...

BACKGROUND Australians living in rural and remote areas experience poorer access to primary health care (PHC) and poorer health outcomes compared to metropolitan populations. Current health reform in Australia aims to ensure all Australians, regardless of where they live, have access to essential PHC services. However, at a national level policy makers and health planners lack an evidence-based...

Objectives To gain a consensus view of potential roles for Nurse Practitioners (NPs) in a rural Australian hospital and identify the barriers and enablers in their development and implementation. Developing the Nurse Practitioner role in a rural Australian hospital ‐ a Delphi study of practice opportunities, barriers and enablers Design A three round Delphi study. Setting A rural hospital. Part...

INTRODUCTION This study intended to describe the types of organizations and communities in which Nationally Registered First Responders (NRFR) perform their duties. Also, it aimed to estimate the number of NRFR who received disaster preparedness training. It was hypothesized that NRFR participation in disaster preparedness training was related to the types of organizations and communities in wh...