The linkages between decisions about health research and policy and actual health outcomes may be extraordinarily difficult to specify. We performed a pilot application of a "road mapping" and technology assessment technique to perinatal health to illustrate how this technique can clarify the relations between available options and improved health outcomes. We used a combination of data-mining ...

BACKGROUND The creation of successful health policy and location of resources increasingly relies on evidence-based decision-making. The development of intuitive, accessible tools to analyse, display and disseminate spatial data potentially provides the basis for sound policy and resource allocation decisions. As health services are rationalized, the development of tools such graphical user int...

BACKGROUND Health professionals are required to collect data from standardized tests when assessing older patients' functional ability. Such data provide quantifiable documentation on health outcomes. Little is known, however, about how physiotherapists and occupational therapists who administer standardized tests use test information in their daily clinical work. This article aims to investiga...

OBJECTIVE To describe perceptions of the administrative procedures for seasonal bed closures and their consequences in the intensive care unit (ICU), and to critique this example of health care priority setting for legitimacy and fairness. DESIGN A qualitative study using case study methods and interviews with key participants. We evaluated fairness and legitimacy of the bed closure process u...