BACKGROUND Compared with the traditional ways of gaining health-related information from newspapers, magazines, radio, and television, the Internet is inexpensive, accessible, and conveys diverse opinions. Several studies on how increasing Internet use affected outpatient clinic visits were inconclusive. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to examine the role of Internet use on ambulato...

OBJECTIVES There is a need for effective processes in healthcare clinics, especially in tertiary hospitals, that consist of a set of complex steps for outpatient care, in order to provide high quality care and reduce the time cost. This study aimed to discover the potential of a process mining technique to determine an outpatient care process that can be utilized for further improvements. MET...

BACKGROUND Health systems increasingly try to make their services more responsive to users' expectations. In the context of the World Health Report 2000, WHO developed the concept of health system responsiveness as a performance parameter. Responsiveness relates to the system's ability to respond to service users' legitimate expectations of non-medical aspects. We used this concept in an effort...

BACKGROUND The challenges trainees experience in the traditional medical clinic are felt to be one deterrent to choosing a primary care career. OBJECTIVE We examined whether participation in a second outpatient continuity experience (Second Site) affects trainee perception of primary care practice. METHODS 241 current and former graduates of the Brown Alpert Medical School Internal Medicine...

Palliative care strives to improve the quality of life for patients and their families by impeccable assessment and management using an interdisciplinary approach. However, patients with cancer-related pain and other symptoms tend to be undertreated because of limited follow-up visits due to late referrals and logistics. Thus, patients who present to the outpatient Supportive Care Center at The...

BACKGROUND Previous studies investigating factors associated with healthcare utilization by older Ghanaians lack distinction between public and private health services. The present study examined factors associated with public and private healthcare service use, and the resulting perceived health system responsiveness. OBJECTIVES To identify factors associated with public and private healthca...

Suboptimal public health is an intrinsic (if unintentional) feature of the American health care system. Because of the reactive nature of patients and providers to illness, conditions that could be managed successfully in outpatient settings often deteriorate before patients receive care. That care, typically provided in emergency rooms and hospitals, then becomes far more expensive than proact...

AIM Because the Dutch population has a growing number of older people, an increasing burden on mental health services is expected. To facilitate policy making for the future, it is important to know what changes there have been in use of mental health services by elderly in the past. This study investigates changes in the use of mental health services by older adults in the period 1990-2004. ...

26 Aim: To determine current practice among experts in palliative care and a qualitative 27 exploration of their recommendations regarding outpatient palliative emergencies. The main 28 goal of the study was to get the experts ́ opinions on their nationally practised concepts. 29 Methods: A standardised questionnaire was mailed to experts in palliative and emergency 30 care. In the search for ex...