Missed appointments and non-attendance at outpatient clinics are a major cause of inefficiency in the health service. It is estimated that this problem currently costs the Health Service Executive (HSE) up to €33 million annually; each individual non-attendance costs €80 and adds a burden to lengthening waiting lists and a potential delay in assessment and treatment of the non-attending patient...

BACKGROUND Previous studies have found a high prevalence of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among survivors of human trafficking. European countries are required to assist trafficked people in their psychological recovery, but there are no rigorous data on the costs of doing so. The objectives of this study were to quantify the use of secondary mental health services by sur...

BACKGROUND Estimating health care costs, either in the context of understanding resource utilization in the implementation of a health plan, or in the context of economic evaluation, has become a common activity of health planners, health technology assessment agencies and academic groups. However, data sources for costs outside of direct service delivery are often scarce. WHO-CHOICE produces g...

OBJECTIVE To extend previous work and estimate health and social care costs, litigation costs, funeral-related costs, and productivity losses associated with stillbirth in the UK. DESIGN A population-based cost-of-illness study using a synthesis of secondary data. SETTING The National Health Service (NHS) and wider society in the UK. POPULATION Stillbirths occurring within a 12-month peri...

In any healthcare sector, the medical device industry plays an important role in reducing overall healthcare costs and ensuring effective access to healthcare. However, in developing countries such as India compared to the success of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, the medical device industry has not witnessed similar growth. In this context this paper studies factors and issues ...

since its establishment in 1948, the history of the national health service (nhs) has been characterized by organisational turbulence and system reform. at the same time, progress in science, medicine and technology throughout the western world have revolutionized the delivery of healthcare. the nhs has become a much loved, if much critiqued, national treasure. it is against this backdrop that ...

in their study, brenna and spandonaro analyzed the mobility into italian regions. in particular, it analyzes the situation of 5 regions, with very different backgrounds. with this paper, we try to better define the meaning of health mobility and to find its underlying causes. furthermore, we propose a strategy that could help in controlling mobility flows that currently are the source of health...

background and purpose: the emergency severity index (esi) triage system has been recommended by the ministry of health to classify patients at emergency departments. this study aimed to assess the validity of esi system (version 4) in the emergency department of a teaching hospital. outcome measures were hospitalization, emergency department (ed) length of stay, resource consumption, in-hospit...

OBJECTIVE The study investigated the factors affecting health-care costs and hospitalizations among diabetic patients in Thai public hospitals. METHODS A retrospective study was conducted by using administrative claims data obtained from diabetic patients during October 1, 2002 and September 30, 2003. Dependent variables were total health-care costs and the occurrence of hospitalizations. Ind...