A very large private health sector exists in low-income countries. It consists of a great variety of providers and is used by a wide cross-section of the population. There are substantial concerns about the quality of care given, especially at the more informal end of the range of providers. This is particularly true for diseases of public health importance such as tuberculosis, malaria, and se...

Background and Objectives: Corruption is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon emerging when people misuse their power for personal gain. The current study aimed to delve into the causes of corruption in hospitals and anti-corruption preventive measures. Methods: In this review study, national and international databases were searched using the keywords “corruption”, “health” and “hospital” an...

Over the past decade, there has been a rapid increase in the number of initiatives involving "for-profit" private health care providers in national tuberculosis (TB) control efforts. We reviewed 15 such initiatives with respect to contractual arrangements, quality of care and success achieved in TB control. In seven initiatives, the National TB Programme (NTP) interacted directly with for-profi...

The government has placed increasing regulations on child care over the last few decades. Until recently, informal care providers, those who care for only a few children in their home or the children's home, have been exempt from these regulations. Concerns over quality have led many states to consider increased regulation of this part of the child care market when government subsidized funding...

The evidence of the impact of informal care provision on the health of carers presents a complex and contested picture, depending on the characteristics of the care studied, including its duration, which has been relatively short in previous research (up to 4 years). Drawing on data from the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study, a 1% sample of linked Census records for respondents ...

BACKGROUND Clients and providers of health care can have contrasting perceptions about the quality of service. Provider perceptions are mostly devoted to design and delivery of services while those of clients are focused in the attention received. AIM To assess perceptions of health care providers and clients about client management and satisfaction with services provided. MATERIAL AND METH...

Unfortunately, informal payments for health care are responsible for a considerable share of patients' out-of-pocket payments in Iran (1, 2). Almost all health care users and providers are familiar with such payments with the name of “under the table payments” in Iran (3). About half of Iranian health care seekers have faced with such payments at least one time during a year (2). Although the i...

INTRODUCTION The shift of adolescents from a pediatric to an adult health care facility is a complex process. The objective of this study was to assess the transition/transfer process for adolescents with chronic diseases at Hospital Garrahan. METHODS Observational, cross-sectional, qualitative-quantitative study. Retrospective statistical data were obtained in relation to outpatient visits o...