The Province of the Punjab underwent a number of attempts to decentralize the health sector in the 1990s. Among the most important were the decentralization of financial management within the district, the Sheikhupura PHC Pilot Project, the establishment of the District Health Authorities and District Health Management Teams, the creation of semi-autonomous hospitals and the programme of Distri...

BACKGROUND The United States (US) is reforming primary care delivery systems, including the implementation of 'patient-centered medical homes.' Alignment of provider incentives with desired outcomes will likely be important to the success of these delivery system reforms. METHODS This critical review uses a theoretical framework from game-theory models to discuss some of the dominant primary ...

BACKGROUND Continuity of medical care is widely believed to lead to better health outcomes and service utilization patterns for patients. Most continuity studies, however, have only used administrative claims to assess longitudinal continuity with a provider. As a result, little is known about how interpersonal continuity (the patient's experience at the visit) relates to improved health outcom...

Introduction: Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) have formed an integral component of the Irish healthcare system for past decade, yet factors leading its commencement, evolutions over this time, current model service delivery not been widely published. Aeromedical provision may vary significantly from country to and also regionally within countries. Health systems necessities, capaci...

iran is one of the most energy-rich countries subsidizing energy carriers, especially in the agricultural sector, to the extent that the resulting growth is at the expense of the environment. this study tries to investigate the potential impacts of energy price reform on the agro-environment, based on the marginal abatement costs (macs) of emissions. firstly, the energy demand function of the a...

BACKGROUND The Iranian health system, under the banner of family physician (FP) programme, has undergone substantial reforms to change utilization of health services, improve quality of care and enhance affordability. The national implementation of FP initiated in 2005 in parallel with rural health insurance (RHI) in rural areas and cities of <20 000 populations in Iran. The implementation of F...

BACKGROUND Incorporating behavioral health care into patient centered medical homes is critical for improving patient health and care quality while reducing costs. Despite documented effectiveness of behavioral health integration (BHI) in primary care settings, implementation is limited outside of large health systems. We conducted a survey of BHI in primary care practices participating in the ...

this paper critically reviews studies that have interpretively invoked communication accommodation theory (cat) for the study of patient-provider interaction. cat’s sociolinguistic strategies—approximation, interpretability, interpersonal control, discourse management, and emotional expression—are succinctly introduced and their use in studies of patient-provider interaction discussed. the majo...

INTRODUCTION We sought to determine the patient and provider-related factors associated with readmission after radical cystectomy (RC) for bladder cancer. In this era of healthcare reform, hospital performance measures, such as readmission, are beginning to affect provider reimbursement. Given its high readmission rate, RC could be a target for quality improvement. METHODS We reviewed bladder...

This paper critically reviews studies that have interpretively invoked communication accommodation theory (CAT) for the study of patient-provider interaction. CAT’s sociolinguistic strategies—approximation, interpretability, interpersonal control, discourse management, and emotional expression—are succinctly introduced and their use in studies of patient-provider interaction discussed. The majo...