BACKGROUND A growing body of evidence suggests that healthcare practitioners who enhance how they express empathy can improve patient health, and reduce medico-legal risk. However we do not know how consistently healthcare practitioners express adequate empathy. In this study, we addressed this gap by investigating patient rankings of practitioner empathy. METHODS We conducted a systematic re...

This article reports on a national study of collaborative relationships between general practitioners and other health care providers in 20 Division of General Practice projects. It argues that health care organisations will need to collaborate with others in the future and that much can be learnt from the literature on collaborative networks in business and community organisations. Successful ...

Vodou as an explanatory framework for illness has been considered an impediment to biomedical psychiatric treatment in rural Haiti by some scholars and Haitian professionals. According to this perspective, attribution of mental illness to supernatural possession drives individuals to seek care from houngan-s (Vodou priests) and other folk practitioners, rather than physicians, psychologists, or...

background: health system research (hsr) is system planning, coordination, monitoring and management of research resources and activities to achieve health and justice. as the main members of the health system, general practitioners (gps) play an important role in access to health care goals. the aim of the present study was to assess knowledge, attitude, and performance of gps in rafsanjan, ir...

rational prescribing increases the quality of health care and patient outcomes. in this study, the quality of drug prescription in specialist physicians in isfahan province of iran was assessed for evaluating the rational use of drugs and improving the therapeutic outcomes.this retrospective survey was conducted on a total of 7999530 prescriptions from all general and specialist physicians. the...

n engl j med 364;3 nejm.org january 20, 2011 193 phase of reform must slow the growth of health care costs and improve value through payment reforms, including bundling of payments and payments for episodes of care. Some savings will derive from implementation of innovative models of care, such as accountable care organizations, medical homes, transitional care, and community-based care. We bel...

COPD is considered a complex disease and global problem that is predicted to be the third most common cause of death by 2030. While managing this chronic condition, primary health care practitioners are faced with the ongoing challenge of achieving good quality of life and overall "wellness" for those affected. As such, a practical tool for monitoring quality of life in a clinical setting is re...

INTRODUCTION Interpersonal violence in South Africa is the second highest contributor to the burden of disease after HIV/AIDS and 62% is estimated to be from intimate partner violence (IPV). This study aimed to evaluate how women experiencing IPV present in primary care, how often IPV is recognized by health care practitioners and what other diagnoses are made. METHODS At two urban and three ...