OBJECTIVES This report presents information on the use of electronic clinical systems to support patient care in physician offices and hospital emergency and outpatient settings. Percentages of hospital emergency and outpatient departments with electronic patient medical records and automated drug dispensing systems are presented by selected hospital characteristics for 2001-02. Percentages of ...

background there is limited evidence on the course of health service costs before and after psychiatric inpatient treatment, which might also be affected by source of cost data. thus, this study examines: i) differences in health care costs before and after psychiatric inpatient treatment, ii) whether these differences vary by source of cost-data (self-report vs. administrative), and iii) predi...

Children and adolescents' access to Medicaid-financed behavioral health services was examined over 8 years in Tennessee (managed care) and Mississippi (fee-for-service [FFS]) using logistic regression. Managed care reduced access to behavioral care overall, overnight services (e.g., inpatient), and specialty outpatient services. Managed care also restricted the relative use of overnight and spe...

Health care services are increasingly delivered in outpatient settings. However, infection control oversight in outpatient settings to ensure patient safety has not improved and literature quantifying reported health care-associated infection outbreaks in outpatient settings is scarce. The objective of this analysis was to characterize investigations of suspected and confirmed outbreaks in outp...

If U.S. health care spending continues along current trends, our total spending will reach $4.3 trillion by 2018.v The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) estimates that about 68% of U.S. excess health care spending (as compared to peer OECD countries) results from outpatient care. Other key drivers include drug costs, inpatient care, health administration, higher physician compensation and investm...

We agree with CHOUDHURY et al. [1] that more patients (18–20%) could be managed at home by family practitioners with the application of current guidelines, but we would like to comment that a greater number of patients (approximately 60%) could be managed at home with additional supported home-based care. As described by the authors, factors other than disease severity often prompt hospital adm...

IMPORTANCE Previous work suggests an association between insurance status and location of presentation (emergency department vs outpatient clinic) for evaluation of uncomplicated acute rhinosinusitis (ARS). OBJECTIVE To investigate whether the quality of outpatient care for ARS likewise differs based on insurance status. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Cross-sectional study of 13 680 145 ...

The growing demand and the degree of patient care in oncological outpatient services, as well as the complexity of treatment have had an impact on the workload of nurses. This study aimed at measuring the workload and productivity of nurses in an oncological outpatient service. An observational study using a work sampling technique was conducted and included seven nurses working in an oncologic...

BACKGROUND Work disability involves large costs to the society as well as to the individual. Work disability is common among people with chronic pain conditions, yet few effective interventions exist. Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is an evidence-based work rehabilitation model originally developed to help people with severe mental illness obtain and maintain employment. The effectivene...