BACKGROUND Task shifting has been suggested to meet the demand for initiating and managing more patients on antiretroviral therapy. Although the idea of task shifting is not new, it acquires new relevance in the context of current healthcare delivery. AIM To appraise current trends in task shifting related to HIV treatment programmes in order to evaluate evidence related to the effectiveness ...

Limited stockpiles of vaccine and antiviral drugs and other resources pose a formidable healthcare delivery challenge for an impending human-to-human transmittable influenza pandemic. The existing preparedness plans by the Center for Disease Control and Health and Human Services strongly underscore the need for efficient mitigation strategies. Such a strategy entails decisions for early respons...

OBJECTIVE The present study was aimed at analysing socioeconomic inequity regarding the use of health services in Ecuador, inequity regarding the geographic distribution of healthcare-related human resources and reflecting on the challenges concerning equity which the Ecuadorian health system is currently facing. METHODS The Ecuadorian Demographic, Maternal and Infant Health Survey (2004) was...

Paediatric transport (PT) brings human and material resources to the locations where they are needed, and additionally, brings the ill child to where these resources are, which is particularly important when intensive care or emergency surgery are required. For this reason, PT is a key link in the chain of survival of the severely ill child and in providing continuity of care. Paediatric transp...

Background In order to meet the challenges presented by increasing demand and scarcity of resources, healthcare organizations are faced with difficult decisions related to resource allocation. Tools to facilitate evaluation and improvement of these processes could enable greater transparency and more optimal distribution of resources.   Methods The Resource Allocation Performance Assessment Too...

The past several years have brought intensive scrutiny to all aspects of our healthcare system’s performance. While other industries have widely deployed continuous improvement cycles and adopted waste-reducing lean production methods, the U. S. healthcare sector lags far behind. The growing cost of healthcare in the U.S. in the face of increasingly documented lackluster quality and daily harmf...

Today’s software systems rely heavily on complex resources, such as humans. Human-intensive systems are particularly important in our society, especially in the healthcare, financial, and software development domains. One challenge in developing such systems is that the system design must account for the constraints, capabilities, and allocation policies of their complex resources, particularly...