background priority setting in healthcare is a key determinant of health system performance. however, there is no widely accepted priority setting evaluation framework. we reviewed literature with the aim of developing and proposing a framework for the evaluation of macro and meso level healthcare priority setting practices.   methods we systematically searched econlit, pubmed, cinahl, and ebsc...

From its once preeminent position in state health policy, prospective hospital rate setting has declined in use from more than thirty states in 1980 to two today. This essay tracks the trend toward deregulation in various states--especially Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York-- and examines the continuation of rate setting in Maryland. Principally, the decline reflects the development of ma...

BACKGROUND The Ottawa Model of Smoking Cessation (OMSC) is a hospital-based smoking cessation program that is expanding across Canada. While the short-term effectiveness of hospital cessation programs has been documented, less is known about long-term sustainability. The purpose of this exploratory study was to understand how hospitals using the OMSC were addressing sustainability and determine...

We evaluated the effectiveness of the electrolarynx as a communication tool in the short-term hospital setting with 22 tracheostomized patients. Following an initial training period, we found that 14 of 22 patients achieved good results in communicating with the electrolarynx, three patients had fair results, and five patients had poor results. There were no differences in success rates for old...

OBJECTIVE An exploratory study to identify patterns of communication behaviour among hospital based healthcare workers. DESIGN Non-participatory, qualitative observational study. SETTING British district general hospital. SUBJECTS Eight doctors and two nurses. RESULTS Communication behaviours resulted in an interruptive workplace, which seemed to contribute to inefficiency in work pract...