Explore the vast range of titles available.

Objective: With the participation of private hospitals in the health system, improving hospital efficiency becomes more important. This study aimed to evaluate the technical efficiency of public and private hospitals in Beijing, China, and analyze the influencing factors of hospitals’ technical efficiency, and thus provide policy implications to improve the efficiency of public and private hospitals. Method: This study used a data set of 154–232 hospitals from “Beijing’s Health and Family Planning Statistical Yearbooks” in 2012–2017. The data envelopment analysis (DEA) model was employed to measure technical efficiency. The propensity score matching (PSM) method was used for matching “post-randomization” to directly compare the efficiency of public and private hospitals, and the Tobit regression was conducted to analyze the influencing factors of technical efficiency in public and private hospitals. Results: The technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency of public hospitals were higher than those of private hospitals during 2012–2017. After matching propensity scores, although the scale efficiency of public hospitals remained higher than that of their private counterparts, the pure technical efficiency of public hospitals was lower than that of private hospitals. Panel Tobit regression indicated that many hospital characteristics such as service type, level, and governance body affected public hospitals’ efficiency, while only the geographical location had an impact on private hospitals’ efficiency. For public hospitals in Beijing, those with lower average outpatient and inpatient costs per capita had better performance in technical efficiency, and bed occupancy rate, annual visits per doctor, and the ratio of doctors to nurses also showed a positive sign with technical efficiency. For private hospitals, the average length of stay was negatively associated with technical efficiency, but the bed occupancy rate, annual visits per doctor, and average outpatient cost were positively associated with technical efficiency. Conclusions: To improve technical efficiency, public hospitals should focus on improving the management standards, including the rational structure of doctors and nurses as well as appropriate reduction of hospitalization expenses. Private hospitals should expand their scale with proper restructuring, mergers, and acquisitions, and pay special attention to shortening the average length of stay and increasing the bed occupancy rate.

IntroductionTo achieve universal health coverage, the Government of India has introduced Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB - PMJAY), a large tax-funded national health insurance scheme for the provision of secondary and tertiary care services in public and private hospitals. AB - PMJAY reimburses care for 1573 health benefit packages (HBPs). HBPs are designed to cover the treatment of diseases/conditions with high incidence/prevalence or which contribute to high out-of-pocket expenditure. However, there is a dearth of reference cost data against which provider payment rates can be assessed.Methods and analysisThe CHSI (Cost of Health Services in India) study will collect cost data from 13 Indian states covering 52 public and 40 private hospitals, using a mixed economic costing methodology (top-down and bottom-up), to generate unit costs for the HBPs. States will be sampled to capture economic status, development indicators and health service utilisation heterogeneity. The public sector hospitals will be chosen at secondary and tertiary care level. One tertiary facility will be selected from each state. At secondary level, three districts per state will be selected randomly from the district composite development score ranking. The private sector hospital sample will be stratified by nature of ownership (for-profit and not-for-profit), type of city (tier 1, 2 or 3) and size of the hospital (number of beds). Average costs for each HBP will be calculated across the different facility types. Multiple scenarios will be used to suggest rates which could be negotiated with the providers. Overall, the study will provide economic cost data for price setting, strategic purchasing, health technology assessment and a national cost database of India.Ethics and disseminationThe approval has been obtained from the Institutional Ethics Committee and Institutional Collaborative Committee of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India. The results shall be disseminated in conferences and peer-reviewed articles.

The Health Care Safety Net in a Post-Reform Worldexamines how national health care reform will impact safety net programs that serve low-income and uninsured patients. The \"safety net\" refers to the collection of hospitals, clinics, and doctors who treat disadvantaged people, including those without insurance, regardless of their ability to pay. Despite comprehensive national health care reform, over twenty million people will remain uninsured. And many of those who obtain insurance from reform will continue to face shortages of providers in their communities willing or able to serve them. As the demand for care grows with expanded insurance, so will the pressure on an overstretched safety net.This book, with contributions from leading health care scholars, is the first comprehensive assessment of the safety net in over a decade. Rather than view health insurance and the health care safety net as alternatives to each other, it examines their potential to be complementary aspects of a broader effort to achieve equity and quality in health care access. It also considers whether the safety net can be improved and strengthened to a level that can provide truly universal access, both through expanded insurance and the creation of a well-integrated and reasonably supported network of direct health care access for the uninsured. Seeing safety net institutions as key components of post-health care reform in the United States-as opposed to stop-gap measures or as part of the problem-is a bold idea. And as presented in this volume, it is an idea whose time has come.

Many health care providers do not provide adequate language access services for their patients who are limited English-speaking because they view the costs of these services as prohibitive. However, little is known about the costs they might bear because of unaddressed language barriers or the costs of providing language access services. To investigate how language barriers and the provision of enhanced interpreter services impact the costs of a hospital stay. Prospective intervention study. Public hospital inpatient medicine service. Three hundred twenty-three adult inpatients: 124 Spanish-speakers whose physicians had access to the enhanced interpreter intervention, 99 Spanish-speakers whose physicians only had access to usual interpreter services, and 100 English-speakers matched to Spanish-speaking participants on age, gender, and admission firm. Patient satisfaction, hospital length of stay, number of inpatient consultations and radiology tests conducted in the hospital, adherence with follow-up appointments, use of emergency department (ED) services and hospitalizations in the 3 months after discharge, and the costs associated with provision of the intervention and any resulting change in health care utilization. The enhanced interpreter service intervention did not significantly impact any of the measured outcomes or their associated costs. The cost of the enhanced interpreter service was $234 per Spanish-speaking intervention patient and represented 1.5% of the average hospital cost. Having a Spanish-speaking attending physician significantly increased Spanish-speaking patient satisfaction with physician, overall hospital experience, and reduced ED visits, thereby reducing costs by $92 per Spanish-speaking patient over the study period. The enhanced interpreter service intervention did not significantly increase or decrease hospital costs. Physician-patient language concordance reduced return ED visit and costs. Health care providers need to examine all the cost implications of different language access services before they deem them too costly.

Background Nonattendance at scheduled appointments in public hospitals presents a challenge for efficient resource use and may ultimately affect health outcomes due to longer waiting times. Seven percent of all scheduled outpatient appointments in the United Kingdom are estimated to be nonattended. Various reminder systems have been shown to moderately reduce nonattendance, although the effect of issuing fines for nonattendance has not yet been tested in a randomized context. However, such use of financial incentives could impact access to care differently across the different socioeconomic groups. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of fines on hospital outpatient nonattendance. Methods/design A 1:1 randomized controlled trial of scheduled outpatient appointments was used, with follow-ups until the date of appointment. The setting is an orthopedic clinic at a regional hospital in Denmark. Appointments for users who are scheduled for diagnostics, treatment, surgery, or follow-ups were included from May 2015 to November 2015. Appointments assigned to the intervention arm include an attachment of the appointment letter explaining that a fine will be issued in the case of nonattendance without prior notice. Appointments assigned to the control arm follow usual practice (same system but no letter attachment). The primary outcome is the proportion of nonattendance. Secondary outcomes are proportions of cancellations, sociodemographics, and health-problem characteristics. Furthermore, the intervention costs and production value of nonattended appointments will be measured. An analysis of effect and cost-effectiveness will be conducted based on a 5 % significance level. Discussion The study is initiated and funded by the Danish Regions, which have the responsibility for the Danish public healthcare sector. The results are expected to inform future decisions about the introduction of fines for nonattendance at public hospitals. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials, ISRCTN61925912 . Registered on 6 July 2015.

Background Hospitalization may be a particularly important time to promote smoking cessation, especially in the immediate post-discharge period. However, there are few studies to date that shed light on the most effective or cost-effective methods to provide post-discharge cessation treatment, especially among low-income populations and those with a heavy burden of mental illness and substance use disorders. Methods/design This randomized trial will compare the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of two approaches to smoking cessation treatment among patients discharged from two urban public hospitals in New York City. During hospitalization, staff will be prompted to ask about smoking and to offer nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) on admission and at discharge. Subjects will be randomized on discharge to one of two arms: one arm will be proactive multi-session telephone counseling with motivational enhancement delivered by study staff, and the other will be a faxed or online referral to the New York State Quitline. The primary outcome is 30-day point-prevalence abstinence from smoking at 6-month follow-up post-discharge. We will also examine cost-effectiveness from a societal and a payer perspective, as well as explore subgroup analyses related to patient location of hospitalization, race/ethnicity, immigrant status, and inpatient diagnosis. Discussion This study will explore issues of implementation feasibility in a post-hospitalization patient population, as well as add information about the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of different strategies for designing smoking cessation programs for hospitalized patients. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov ID# NCT01363245

China's 3 year, CN¥850 billion (US$125 billion) reform plan, launched in 2009, marked the first phase towards achieving comprehensive universal health coverage by 2020. The government's undertaking of systemic reform and its affirmation of its role in financing health care together with priorities for prevention, primary care, and redistribution of finance and human resources to poor regions are positive developments. Accomplishing nearly universal insurance coverage in such a short time is commendable. However, transformation of money and insurance coverage into cost-effective services is difficult when delivery of health care is hindered by waste, inefficiencies, poor quality of services, and scarcity and maldistribution of the qualified workforce. China must reform its incentive structures for providers, improve governance of public hospitals, and institute a stronger regulatory system, but these changes have been slowed by opposition from stakeholders and lack of implementation capacity. The pace of reform should be moderated to allow service providers to develop absorptive capacity. Independent, outcome-based monitoring and evaluation by a third-party are essential for mid-course correction of the plans and to make officials and providers accountable.

Abstract Objectives To test the hypotheses that, compared with conventional outpatient consultations, joint teleconsultation (virtual outreach) would incur no increased costs to the NHS, reduce costs to patients, and reduce absences from work by patients and their carers. Design Cost consequences study alongside randomised controlled trial. Setting Two hospitals in London and Shrewsbury and 29 general practices in inner London and Wales. Participants 3170 patients identified; 2094 eligible for inclusion and willing to participate. 1051 randomised to virtual outreach and 1043 to standard outpatient appointments. Main outcome measures NHS costs, patient costs, health status (SF-12), time spent attending index consultation, patient satisfaction. Results Overall six months costs were greater for the virtual outreach consultations (£724 per patient) than for conventional outpatient appointments (£625): difference in means £99 ($162; €138) (95% confidence interval £10 to £187, P=0.03). If the analysis is restricted to resource items deemed “attributable” to the index consultation, six month costs were still greater for virtual outreach: difference in means £108 (£73 to £142, P < 0.0001). In both analyses the index consultation accounted for the excess cost. Savings to patients in terms of costs and time occurred in both centres: difference in mean total patient cost £8 (£5 to £10, P < 0.0001). Loss of productive time was less in the virtual outreach group: difference in mean cost £11 (£10 to £12, P < 0.0001). Conclusion The main hypothesis that virtual outreach would be cost neutral is rejected, but the hypotheses that costs to patients and losses in productivity would be lower are supported.

Background There is now convincing evidence that in industrialized countries therapeutic hypothermia for perinatal asphyxial encephalopathy increases survival with normal neurological function. However, the greatest burden of perinatal asphyxia falls in low and mid-resource settings where it is unclear whether therapeutic hypothermia is safe and effective. Aims Under the UCL Uganda Women's Health Initiative, a pilot randomized controlled trial in infants with perinatal asphyxia was set up in the special care baby unit in Mulago Hospital, a large public hospital with ~20,000 births in Kampala, Uganda to determine: The feasibility of achieving consent, neurological assessment, randomization and whole body cooling to a core temperature 33-34°C using water bottles The temperature profile of encephalopathic infants with standard care The pattern, severity and evolution of brain tissue injury as seen on cranial ultrasound and relation with outcome The feasibility of neurodevelopmental follow-up at 18-22 months of age Methods/Design Ethical approval was obtained from Makerere Unive r sity and Mulago Hospital. All infants were in-born. Parental consent for entry into the trial was obtained. Thirty-six infants were randomized either to standard care plus cooling (target rectal temperature of 33-34°C for 72 hrs, started within 3 h of birth) or standard care alone. All other aspects of management were the same. Cooling was performed using water bottles filled with tepid tap water (25°C). Rectal, axillary, ambient and surface water bottle temperatures were monitored continuously for the first 80 h. Encephalopathy scoring was performed on days 1-4, a structured, scorable neurological examination and head circumference were performed on days 7 and 17. Cranial ultrasound was performed on days 1, 3 and 7 and scored. Griffiths developmental quotient, head circumference, neurological examination and assessment of gross motor function were obtained at 18-22 months. Discussion We will highlight differences in neonatal care and infrastructure that need to be taken into account when considering a large safety and efficacy RCT of therapeutic hypothermia in low and mid resource settings in the future. Trial registration Current controlled trials ISRCTN92213707

Injuries are a major public health problem, resulting in high health care demand and economic burden. They result in loss of disability adjusted life years (DALYs) and high out-of-pocket expenditure. However, there is little evidence on the economic burden of injuries in India. We undertook this study to report out-of-pocket expenditure and the prevalence of catastrophic health expenditure for injuries related hospitalizations in public sector hospitals in North India. Further, we also evaluate the determinants of catastrophic health expenditure. A prospective observational study was conducted. Participants were recruited from three hospitals for all injury cases. Data were collected via face-to-face baseline interviews and follow-up interviews over the phone at 1, 2, 4 and 12 months post-injury. Prevalence of catastrophic health expenditure (more than 30% of consumption expenditure) and impoverishment (International dollar 1.90) were estimated. Road traffic injuries (57%) were the leading cause of injury. Direct out-of-pocket expenditure for hospitalizations was INR 16,768 (USD 263) while indirect productivity loss was INR 8,164 (USD 128). The prevalence of catastrophic expenditure was 22.2% with 12.2% slipping below poverty line. Prevalence of catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment was higher and significantly associated with poorest quintile, tertiary care hospital and increased duration of hospitalization (p< 0.001). The economic impact of injuries is notably high both in terms of out-of-pocket expenditure and productivity loss. A high proportion of households experienced catastrophic expenditure and impoverishment following an injury, highlighting need for programs to prevent injuries.