BACKGROUND The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing at an alarming rate in developing countries. However, glycaemia control remains suboptimal and insulin use is low. One important barrier is the lack of an efficient and effective insulin initiation delivery approach. This study aimed to document the strategies used and proposed by healthcare professionals to improve insulin initiation i...

Wealth-related inequity in the use of maternal healthcare services continues to be a substantial problem in most low- and middle-income countries. One strategic approach to increase the use of appropriate maternal healthcare services is to encourage the expansion of the role of the private sector. However, critics of such an approach argue that increasing the role of the private sector will lea...

Discussion on implementation of the Excellent Care for all Act, 2010 (ECFA Act), Bill 46, has focused on the hospital sector in Ontario, but it also has relevance outside the hospital setting. As primary healthcare, long-term care and home care all receive public funding, these sectors should be expected to be compliant with Bill 46. But does the act also govern government-funded (i.e., by othe...

The principal themes for the Biomedical Research and the Environment Conference Committee on Environmental Economics in Biomedical Research include the following: healthcare delivery companies and biomedical research organizations, both nonprofit and for-profit, need to improve their environmental performance; suppliers of healthcare products will be called upon to support this need; and improv...

In 2006, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) sued Target Corporation alleging that the retailer’s website was inaccessible to the blind, in violation of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) and various California statutes. Target eventually settled the case for US$9.7 million. The Target case presents an interesting dilemma to private sector healthcare providers. What corporate strate...

Background Sudan established a National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) in 1995. NHIF, despite the name, is a social health insurance scheme that predominantly enrols the formal sector workers, compulsorily, and the informal sector workers, voluntarily. The Government is targeting universal health coverage by 2031, by expanding the existing scheme. This paper aims to assess the insurance enrolment...

This paper presents the arguments in favor of government intervention in financing and regulation of health in Brazil. It describes the organizational arrangement of the Brazilian health system, for the purpose of reflection on the austerity agenda proposed for the country. Based on the literature in health economics, it discusses the hypothesis that the health sector in Brazil functions under ...

This article presents a model of the healthcare value chain which consists of a schematic representation of the Brazilian healthcare system. The proposed model is adapted for the Brazilian reality and has the scope and flexibility for use in academic activities and analysis of the healthcare sector in Brazil. It places emphasis on three components: the main activities of the value chain, groupe...

Source: Succeeding in Hospital & Health Systems M&A: Why So Many Deals Have Failed, and How to Succeed in the Future, Booz & Company, March 20, 2013 Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) among hospitals and healthcare organizations have been on the rise for several years now. Deals between hospitals, physician medical groups, long-term care facilities, and home health providers abound, with activity l...