background both rising healthcare costs and the global financial crisis have fueled a search for policy tools in order to avoid unsustainable future financing of essential health benefits. the scope of essential health benefits (the range of services covered) and depth of coverage (the proportion of costs of the covered benefits that is covered publicly) are corresponding variables in determini...

BACKGROUND Diabetes health services research often utilizes secondary data sources, including survey self-report and Medicare claims, to identify and study the diabetic population, but disagreement exists between these two data sources. We assessed agreement between the Chronic Condition Warehouse diabetes algorithm for Medicare claims and self-report measures of diabetes. Differences in health...

Background: Health utilization inequality is a major concern for health policymakers. Equality in utilization of services is very important for having a healthy society. The aim of this study was to describe inequality in dental care utilization in Iran, Therefore, concentration index, its curve, and the predictors of inequality in utilization of dental services and their spending were calculat...

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of residential, integrated treatment for co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders on healthcare utilization and costs. More specifically, we compared preand post-treatment utilization of emergency room (ER) services and hospital stays for medical, mental health, and substance use problems. Methods: Data from 1,394 pati...

BACKGROUND The incidence of self-reported acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut, and Iqaluit, Nunavut, is higher than reported elsewhere in Canada; as such, understanding AGI-related healthcare use is important for healthcare provision, public health practice and surveillance of AGI. OBJECTIVES This study described symptoms, severity and duration of self-reported AGI in...

Background and Objectives: Patient satisfaction is an important indicator of the quality of health and healthcare services. Most relevant studies in Iran have been conducted in the nation’s capital, and there is a lack of large-scale studies in other regions of this country. In order to help filling this gap, this study was designed to undertake a relatively large-scale assessment of patient sa...

BACKGROUND This study has a dual purpose: 1) identify determinants of healthcare service utilization for mental health reasons (MHR) in a Canadian (Montreal) catchment area; 2) determine the patterns of recourse to healthcare professionals in terms of frequency of visits and type of professionals consulted, and as it relates to the most prevalent mental disorders (MD) and psychological distress...

INTRODUCTION This study assesses trends in horizontal equity in the utilization of healthcare services from 1998 to 2008--a period of major economic and social change in Brazil. METHODS Data are from nationally representative surveys repeated in 1998, 2003, and 2008. We apply established methods for assessing horizontal inequity in healthcare access (the principle that people with the same he...

Background and Objectives: Outsourcing healthcare and the associated services has proven as an effective strategy for enhancing hospital performance and improving quality of services. Despite, the concept is relatively new in Iran, calling for studies investigating different aspects of the issue and its potential benefits. Thus, this study was conducted to explore the impact of outsourcing mana...

BACKGROUND We see a growing number of older adults receiving long-term care in industrialized countries. The Healthcare Utilization Model by Andersen suggests that individual need characteristics influence utilization. The purpose of this study is to analyze correlations between need characteristics and service utilization in home care arrangements. METHODS 1,152 respondents answered the ques...