Paying hospitals for quality: can we buy better care?

Can the health care system buy better antibiotic prescribing behaviour?

Post acute care: can hospitals do better with less?

Judging by reports in medical magazines and journals, 'early discharge schemes', better termed 'post acute care', are not popular with doctors. However, government policy encourages earlier discharge from hospital, so that the choice facing clinicians is to discharge patients early with support, or early without support, or deal with the consequences of length of stay overruns. Fortunately, gov...

Paying physicians for high-quality care.

1910 n engl j med 350;18 www.nejm.org april 29, 2004 1999, nearly a third of all recognized pregnancies ended in abortion, either induced or spontaneous, yet only 4 percent of all maternal deaths during that time were associated with any type of abortion.3 Dr. Marchetti asks why dilatation and evacuation is not used to evacuate the uterus in the case of fetal death. In fact, the procedure is ro...

We must--and we can--do better.

Can We Improve Access to Quality Pain Care for Patients?

Despite (or perhaps in part because of) these two mechanisms, confusion exists for the public about who is a pain specialist. Chiropractors, acupuncturists, naturopaths and many other providers can claim and – sometimes – advertise expertise in pain management. The American Academy of Pain Management uses an examination to qualify applicants and presents a certificate. While we desperately need...