Survey: Public Attitudes to Primary Care Reform

Public attitudes to primary care reform.

In contemplating this column on primary care reform, many things came to mind. First was an anecdote from a friend of mine who comes from a small town where people frequently greet each other with the salutation,“What do you know for sure?” The standard response is, “Pretty quiet.” I think that anecdote probably best sums up how the public generally responds to primary care reform at the presen...

Communities and primary care reform.

Primary care attitudes to methotrexate monitoring.

BACKGROUND Rheumatoid arthritis affects 1% of the UK population. First-line treatment is with the immunosuppressant, methotrexate (MTX). This is generally regarded as a safe and effective medication when taken at the right dose, with appropriate monitoring. Very occasionally it causes serious harm or death. In 2006, the National Patient Safety Agency issued a safety alert following increasing r...

Public Opinion on Health Care Reform

We use multilevel modeling to estimate support for health-care reform by age, income, and state. Opposition to reform is concentrated among higher-income voters and those over 65. Attitudes do not vary much by state. Unfortunately, our poll data only go to 2004, but we suspect that much can be learned from the relative positions of different demographic groups and different states, despite swin...

Approach to economic evaluation in primary care: review of a useful tool for primary care reform.

OBJECTIVE To present an overview of the methods of economic evaluation in health care, using examples of studies applicable to primary care. SOURCES OF INFORMATION The main concepts discussed in this article were derived from expert opinion and substantiated with well respected textbooks and comprehensive Canadian guidelines. Examples of cost-effectiveness estimates were taken from the publis...