background the pursuit of equity in health and healthcare has been the key feature of health policy in india. however, despite the policy significance, the volume of literature available on this issue is scarce. therefore, this paper is an attempt to examine the horizontal inequities in healthcare utilization, consisting of outpatient and inpatient care in 15 major states and north-eastern regi...

Editorial To achieve universal health insurance coverage, China has launched three phases of health care system reforms. The first round of reforms was embarked on in the mid-1980s with the introduction of market incentives. The second round began in 1997 with the introduction of the Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI) scheme which provided health insurance coverage to all urban work...

background: a dramatic increase in healthcare expenditures is a major health policy concern worldwide. understanding factors that underlie the growth in healthcare expenditures is essential to assist decision-makers in finding best policies to manage healthcare costs. we aimed to examine the determinants of healthcare spending in iran over the periods of 1978-2011. methods: a time series analys...

The article by Brenna and Spandonaro on interregional mobility for acute hospital care in Italy raises important issues concerning social and territorial equity in a healthcare system. Based on Regions and private providers’ strategic behavior, the hypothesis adopted to explain patient cross-border mobility (CBM), demonstrated by statistical analysis, may be further explored using qualitative m...

OBJECTIVES We reviewed applications of big data analysis of healthcare and social services in developed countries, and subsequently devised a framework for such an analysis in Korea. METHODS We reviewed the status of implementing big data analysis of health care and social services in developed countries, and strategies used by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea (Government 3.0). We ...

We evaluated the factors influencing healthcare utilization among children aged < 5 years with pneumonia symptoms in Muntinlupa City, the Philippines. We interviewed 1,330 caregivers from 190 households per district in seven districts from March to April, 2009 using a standardized questionnaire to obtain information about demographic characteristics, access to healthcare facilities, and potenti...

INTRODUCTION Nonavailability of quality healthcare in mountainous, isolated, inaccessible sparsely populated regions is a universal problem. In this project, remote virtual healthcare was provided at Keylong and Kaza in Himachal Pradesh (HP) in North India. This innovative public-private partnership (PPP) provides 24/7 affordable healthcare to an alpine community where people commute 20-50 km f...

Ensuring adequate access to healthcare services by the people is a paramount goal of health care delivery policies in Nigeria. One of such initiatives is the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) that the government is test-running for ensuring adequate understanding of its modus operandi and likely constraints. This study examines household’s willingness to pay for National Health Insurance ...

BACKGROUND The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing at an alarming rate in developing countries. However, glycaemia control remains suboptimal and insulin use is low. One important barrier is the lack of an efficient and effective insulin initiation delivery approach. This study aimed to document the strategies used and proposed by healthcare professionals to improve insulin initiation i...