Recent years have witnessed a parallel and seemingly contradictory trend towards both the standardization and the customization of healthcare and medical treatment. Here, we explore what is meant by ‘standardization’ and ‘customization’ in healthcare settings and explore the implications of these changes for healthcare delivery. We frame the paradox of these divergent and opposing factors in te...

in a recent editorial in this journal pierre-gerlier forest foretells a coming revolution in health policy based on the synthesis of four conceptual innovations and one technological breakthrough. as much as i agree with the intellectual story told in this editorial i present a more skeptical view of the effect of paradigm shifts on healthcare systems on the ground. i argue that ideas triumph w...

1. Background information and objectives of the meeting 2. Recommendations for pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in the context of the WHO Biological Standardization Programme 3. The impact of the pneumococcal vaccines worldwide 4. Serological criteria for licensing pneumococcal vaccines 5. Outcomes of the studies conducted by the vaccine manufacturers: experience with

Background The retrorectal tumors represent a heterogeneous group of benign and malignant neoplasms which are currently treated without uniform criteria. The most used classifications are based on different histologic origin of these tumors, on their presumed nature (inflammatory or neoplastic), or on their size. A standardization of the surgical approach based on all these characteristics is s...

This paper describes interchange formats as an important subject of standardization. Building on reported experiences of interchange format design in specific domains, a list of design criteria is gathered addressing both the conception of the metamodel behind the interchange format and the serial representation.

The Wolpe-Lange Fear Survey Schedule was administered to 141 psychiatric outpatients who met the criteria for a primary Axis I diagnosis of one of the DSM-III anxiety disorders. Standardization data were obtained for this instrument and their clinical and research implications are discussed.

Methods Retrospective analysis of 46 pediatric patients with uveitis with or without underlying systemic disease treated with MTX at the University Medical Center Groningen (The Netherlands ) between 1993 and 2013. The SUN (Standardization of Uveitis Nomenclature) workinggroup criteria were used for endpoints. Other endpoints included visual outcome, steroid-sparing effect, cumulative dose MTX ...

Over the past 20 years herbal medicinal products have become a topic of increasing global importance, with both medical and economic implications. In developing countries in Africa and Asia, botanicals have always played a central role in healthcare. Data from WHO suggest that 65 to 80% of the populations in these countries depend on traditional and botanical medicines as the primary source of ...