Tuesday, May 22, 2007

How does American Health Care Measure Up?


Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: An International Update on the Comparative Performance of American Health Care
May 15, 2007 (updated May 16, 2007) | Volume 59

Karen Davis, Ph.D., Cathy Schoen, M.S., Stephen C. Schoenbaum, M.D., M.P.H., Michelle M. Doty, Ph.D., M.P.H., Alyssa L. Holmgren, M.P.A., Jennifer L. Kriss, and Katherine K. Shea; Editor:Deborah Lorber

Overview

Despite having the most costly health system in the world, the United States consistently underperforms on most dimensions of performance, relative to other countries.

This report—an update to two earlier editions—includes data from surveys of patients, as well as information from primary care physicians about their medical practices and views of their countries' health systems.

Compared with five other nations—Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom—the U.S. health care system ranks last or next-to-last on five dimensions of a high performance health system: quality, access, efficiency, equity, and healthy lives.

The U.S. is the only country in the study without universal health insurance coverage, partly accounting for its poor performance on access, equity, and health outcomes. The inclusion of physician survey data also shows the U.S. lagging in adoption of information technology and use of nurses to improve care coordination for the chronically ill.

Available as a free .pdf download ~ follow the link.

Friday, May 18, 2007

In Bid for Better Care ~ Surgery with a Warranty?

What if medical care came with a 90-day warranty?

Bypass by the book ~ that is what a hospital group in central Pennsylvania is trying to learn in an experiment that some experts say is a radically new way to encourage hospitals and doctors to provide high-quality care that can avoid costly mistakes.
New York Times

Who is Sick?


Social Networking meets Disease surveillance!

Here is an example of what is referred to as
a 'Medical Mashup' in the world of Web 2.0.
Check this out this weekend if you get a minute for
some FUN time on your computer!

So far no one from St. Kitts has reported in sick.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Our School was on Fire (Almost)






Thanks to Brian Berson (photographer) & Amanda Velasco,
2 of our IUON students,
last night's fire has been visually recorded!

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

How Healthy is your Hospital?

The Hospital Guide (UK)
Good quality information necessary for all


Understanding the reasons behind clinical outcomes is a key step in improving patient care.

"The value of information, and in particular the Hospital Guide, is not just about public accountability. It acts as a catalyst for informed partnerships. Partnerships within clinical teams and between managers and clinicians, in particular, but also with their patients and the wider community," said Dr Jack Tinker, Emeritus Dean at the Royal Society of Medicine.

Download a free copy of the Hospital Guide (PDF, 867k)

The report examines trusts' performances in several areas, including mortality, readmissions, patient satisfaction and excess bed days. Results were gathered from HES data and Dr Foster's annual Hospital Guide questionnaire.
A number of top-performing trusts are highlighted as examples of best practice.
For more information, see the methodologies used in the Hospital Guide (PDF).

The hospital guide launched with a special edition of Intelligence
and in The Daily Telegraph.