BACKGROUND Adolescence has traditionally been thought of as a time of good health. However, adolescents comprise an important group with unique needs among State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) enrollees. Throughout the 1990s, there was increasing evidence of unacceptably high morbidity and mortality among adolescents from injuries, suicide, sexually transmitted diseases, substance ...

Poor health status, rapidly escalating health care costs, and seemingly little association between investments in health care and health outcomes have prompted a call for a "pay-for-performance" system to improve population health. We suggest that both health plans and clinical service providers measure and report the rates of 5 behaviors: 1) smoking, 2) physical activity, 3) excessive drinking...

nurses and other staff. Their main source of income is reimbursement. GPs are paid by a mixture of per capita payment and fees for services. Privately paid fees from patients or other services outside the National Health Service account for only a modest turnover [ 6 ] . GP offi ces are contracted to be open on all weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with the fi rst hour reserved for telephon...

As medical technology continues to expand and the cost of using all effective clinical services exceeds available resources, decisions about health care delivery may increasingly rely on assessing the cost-effectiveness of medical services. Cost-effectiveness is particularly relevant for decisions about how to implement preventive services, because these decisions typically represent major inve...

A Valdivia ([email protected])1, J López-Alcalde2, M Vicente3, M Pichiule4, M Ruiz5, M Ordobas6 1. Preventive Medicine Unit, Hospital de Dénia (Marina Salud), Dénia, Spain 2. Health Technology Asessment Unit, Agencia Laín Entralgo, Madrid, Spain 3. Primary Health Care, Area 8, Madrid, Spain 4. Preventive Medicine Service, Hospital Universitario de La Princesa, Madrid, Spain 5. Primary Health...

background: the horror of hiv/aids as a non-curable, grueling disease is a destructive issue for every country. drug use, shared needles and unsafe sex are closely linked to the transmission of hiv/aids. modification or changing unhealthy behavior through educational programs can lead to hiv prevention. the aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of theory-based education intervention ...

Past efforts to promote family planning in Pakistan have been disappointing, but between 1990-91 and 2000-01 contraceptive use has more than doubled. This rise has coincided with a concerted effort on the part of the Pakistani government to increase access to contraceptive services, particularly in rural areas. The Lady Health Worker Programme (LHWP), initiated under the Ministry of Health in t...

introduction: health care industry consists of an unexpected and confusing environment in which quality events play the important role. in such conditions, the necessary changes should be made. excellence models are general oriented frameworks that are able to achieve the above intention. materials & methods: this study is a descriptive cross-sectional study. data gathered by a standard checkli...

CONTEXT Evidence from diverse settings suggests that women often have limited control over their own reproductive health decisions. To increase uptake of preventive services and behaviors, it is important to understand how intrafamilial power dynamics and the attitudes of women, their husband and their mother-in-law are associated with maternal health practices. METHODS In 317 households in t...

BACKGROUND Medical homes are health care settings that offer continuous, comprehensive, accessible primary care; these settings generally involve pediatric and family physician practices or community health centers but can also involve gynecologists or internists. OBJECTIVES In this article, we review available evidence on the role of the medical home in optimizing adolescent immunization del...