OBJECTIVES To summarize major current trends and research in the field of sustainable health care systems. METHOD Synopsis of the articles selected for the IMIA Yearbook 2007. RESULTS Four excellent articles, four nations and four international peer-reviewed journals representing some important aspects of the research in this field have been selected for the IMIA Yearbook 2007. The first pa...

the key argument of this commentary is that patient choice has a broader meaning than suggested by consumerist choice models. in increasingly marketized health care systems with diversified and knowledge-based service arrangements, patients are continuously obliged to choose insurers, physicians or hospitals and treatments—whether they like it or not. however, health care users refer to a wide ...

background hiv/aids and tuberculosis (tb) are major contributors to the burden of disease in sub-saharan africa. the two diseases have been described as a harmful synergy as they are biologically and epidemiologically linked. control of tb/hiv co-infection is an integral and most challenging part of both national tb and national hiv control programmes, especially in contexts of instability wher...

The inner three arcminutes surrounding the Class 0/1 binary protostar L1551 IRS5 have been observed using the J = 1 → 0 transitions of the HCO, HCO, CO and CO molecular species. Since the line core of HCO is self reversed over a substantial part of our map, observations of isotopomers such as HCO are required in order to estimate the mass of the molecular gas in the immediate vicinity of IRS5. ...

This paper empirically evaluates whether government ideology and electoral motives influenced the growth of public health expenditures in 18 OECD countries over the 1971-2004 period. The results suggest that incumbents behaved opportunistically and increased the growth of public health expenditures in election years. Government ideology did not have an influence. These findings indicate (1) the...

Improving health care systems, while containing cost pressures, is a key policy challenge in most OECD countries. The recent economic and financial crisis has weighed heavily on fiscal positions – with gross government debt projected to exceed 100% of GDP in the OECD area by 2011 – and reinforced the need to improve public spending efficiency. Public spending on health care is one of the larges...

BACKGROUND At 44%, New Zealand has the highest proportion of international medical graduates (IMGs) in its workforce amongst OECD member countries. Around half of New Zealand's IMGs come from the UK NHS, yet only around 50% stay longer than 1 year post-registration with significant costs to the New Zealand health care system. Why these doctors go to New Zealand and do not stay for long is an im...

Much like waiting times for health services, the shortage of physicians and other health professionals poses a major health policy issue in many OECD countries. In this short commentary, I present indications that in Israel's periphery, the demand for advanced health services exceeds supply. This gap creates inequality in waiting times "across" geographical areas in the public sector and, moreo...