mcdonough’s perspective on healthcare reform in the us provides a clear, coherent analysis of the mix of access and delivery reforms in the affordable care act (aca) aka obamacare. as noted by mcdonough, this major reform bill is designed to expand access for health coverage that includes both prevention and treatment benefits among uninsured americans. additionally, this legislation includes s...

The delivery of prevention services to children and adolescents through traditional healthcare settings is challenging for a variety of reasons. Parent- and community-focused services are typically not reimbursable in traditional medical settings, and personal healthcare services are often designed for acute and chronic medical treatment rather than prevention. To provide preventive services in...

With the goal to improve healthcare services and delivery, Stanton Territorial Hospital in the Northwest Territories (NWT) invited the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF) to explore opportunities to collaborate in the redesign and improvement of the health system. This article describes the NWT’s efforts to transform its healthcare delivery to more appropriately care for people...

The Work Group’s recommendations led to formation of the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21 Century, whose principal charge is to “right-size” the acute and long term care delivery systems. The Commission’s mandate is to shape a health care delivery system that meets community needs, rather than simply preserve existing institutions. The Commission also envisions new acute and long ...

In order to improve the quality of patient care, while at the same time keeping up with the pace of increased needs of the population for healthcare services that directly impacts on the cost of care delivery processes, the Republic of Croatia, under the leadership of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, has formed a strategy and campaign for national public healthcare system reform. The ...

background: the iranian healthcare system is primarily an insurance based system. this structure has an important influence on the efficiency and equity of the provision of healthcare in iran. this paper reviews the history of the iranian healthcare system and the impact of the iranian health insurance system on healthcare performance based on the results of interviews with key opinion leaders ...

Recent years have witnessed a parallel and seemingly contradictory trend towards both the standardization and the customization of healthcare and medical treatment. Here, we explore what is meant by ‘standardization’ and ‘customization’ in healthcare settings and explore the implications of these changes for healthcare delivery. We frame the paradox of these divergent and opposing factors in te...

Changes in healthcare delivery have become so widespread and frequent that the idea of change in healthcare has become one of anticipation and expectation rather than interruption and surprise. Consumers, providers, organizations and societies have seen changes in the definitions of vital concepts related to healthcare delivery, like health and quality, which have in turn altered the methods by...

background: iran has a high c-section rate (40.6% in 2005). the objective of this study was to assess the associations and population-attributable risks (par) of risk factors combinations and c-section in the southwest iran. methods: we performed a population-based cohort study using the reports provided by shiraz university of medical sciences. the cohort included pregnant women within septemb...